Not a "lightworker", or a "darkworker".

[Zuvuya42]

I just read Steves article on the concept of a darkworker, and i dig the definitions he has for both sides of the coin, but im somewhat put off by the concept of one or the other, why is there not a third path?

For my whole thinking life, i have seen this again and again - black or white, left or right handed, etc. But isnt there something else? Why not a path that is simultaneously both - a third path?

I find that in my own life experience, i am very much both. I love to help people, i am passionate about it and dedicated to it, but i also take care of myself with the same fervor. I use my abilities (physical, mental, psycic, etc) to help both myself and others with absolute intensity. I do see a possibility of burnout with this, but at the same time, i am very much energized by doing both things. For instance, i love to cook. I get huge amounts of pleasure when cooking delicious food for other people, but i enjoy eating it equally as much. I feel very pleased knowing that my cooking has impressed people, but im also very satisfied in knowing that the quality of it is something they enjoy. And i do it for both reasons - because i will take pleasure in it (darkworking), and because they will as well (lightworking).
Cooking is just an example, but it also applies to magical/spiritual workings and worldly accomplishments.

I dont see this as being split down the middle, or contradictory. I feel like instead of focusing on one side of the coin or the other, im focusing on the coin in its totality. Certainly there are instances when my actions or thoughts are based on one polarity, but the majority of the time i function on both simultaneously. I realize that in the article steve has put forth he talks about both paths going to the same place, but it seemed to exclude the idea that the two paths can come together in a way that diminishes neither.

Indeed, there was a time in my life (when i was much younger) where i felt constantly at odds with myself, and i have also spent periods of time being entirely self serving or entirely selfless, but i have learned through those experiences that a person can live both polarities without sacrificing the quality of either one. The closest thing i saw to that idea in steves post was that such a person would be enlightened or in a higher state of consciousness, as both paths lead to that place. But i certainly dont consider myself to be, as i have enormous amounts of personal growth to do.
I did notice in a post (Darkworkers Everywhere!), someone said that you never know the motives of people in the grey area. I suppose thats true, because often times i find myself artificially playing to one side or the other to share some sort of information or input, but its entirely conscious and i dont identify with that role. I prefer to be unpredictable and outside personality archetypes, it keep life interesting! Who has decided that you have to define yourself as any one thing?


Your thoughts? Am i just deluding myself with all this? Is there a world of passion and life im missing by not picking a side?

[Brutha]

I find that in my own life experience, i am very much both.

No, you are neither.
It's not about doing things but about intentions and also not doing things.

I prefer to be unpredictable and outside personality archetypes, it keep life interesting! Who has decided that you have to define yourself as any one thing?

It's not about other people predicting yourself. It's hard to read motivations of other people and therefore you can't decide whether someone is a lightworker or darkworker and afterwards predict their behavior.

There the big question: Who are you?
By saying you want to be unable to predict your own behavior you are therefore implying that you don't want to find an answer to that question because any answer would be a prediction about yourself.

[dave marshall]

Hi,

this is the usual confusion created by this idea. If I were you I would settle for being a person, niether light or dark working!

Dave

[Ralph]

I'm too sleepy for a detailed post so I'll limit myself to pointing out the error in logic that leads to your questions.


Darkworking does NOT mean you take care for yourself more than for others

Darkworking is taking advantage over other people, climbing over dead bodies for only your gain. It's making world a worse place overall, but your situation gets better all things considered, while all otehrs are worse off overall.



You sound like a healthy lightworker to me. You aren't "neither" as others posted. You're a lightworker. Neither is a very disempoewring perspective of lack of burning passion. You definitely seem to have one.

[Zuvuya42]

Originally Posted by Brutha

There the big question: Who are you?
By saying you want to be unable to predict your own behavior you are therefore implying that you don't want to find an answer to that question because any answer would be a prediction about yourself.

Well, i actually said i like to be unpredictable to other people (which when read, sounds like an ego game, bah), and that i am very conscious of my own actions (mostly). I think i just misunderstood the concept of a darkworker, as the definition is quite different from post to post and leads to some confusion.
Also, i believe the term "wu wei" in taoism (and its equivalent in the dzogchen school of tibetan buddhism) refers to being completely spontaneous - being neither unpredictable or predictable, but beyond both concepts; especially on the internal level. Yet in the teachings surrounding spontaneous existence, it is presented that as a result you are completely unified with yourself and thusly know who you are entirely.

But i digress!

Thanks for the feedback, i understand what a "darkworker" is now.

[Trezker]

Originally Posted by Zuvuya42

but i also take care of myself with the same fervor. I use my abilities (physical, mental, psycic, etc) to help both myself and others with absolute intensity. *snip* but i enjoy eating it equally as much. I feel very pleased knowing that my cooking has impressed people, but im also very satisfied in knowing that the quality of it is something they enjoy. And i do it for both reasons - because i will take pleasure in it (darkworking), and because they will as well (lightworking).

Taking care of yourself and taking pleasure in what you do is NOT darkworking. If you didn't take care of yourself you'd be suffering from lightworkers syndrome.

You are a very good lightworker. How could you possibly enjoy sharing your food with others if you didn't like the food yourself first?

Rule #1 for strong lightworkers: You can't help others clean up their backyard when your own is a mess.

[pyrogen]

I really conceptualize that there is a third principle beyond dark/light, and that dark/light meet (around the back) to join with that third principle.

it looks like this:


.........|
..........|
..........|.......third principle (chaos?)
.d....../.\......l....
......./....\........
...../........\......
.../.<--->..\.....unpolarized/gray


Not a popular view and since I'm not a web millionaire or a Ph.D., not a lot to back it up with But there you have it.

[dave marshall]

Hi,

sometimes it seems to me that many people over analyze the theories put forward tangling up thier intelects. The issue with over analyzing an idea is that you polarize your thinking, intuition and mind.

This lightworker thing is just an idea, a confusing one in my opinion, but just an idea!

Dave

[Zuvuya42]

Originally Posted by dave marshall

Hi,

sometimes it seems to me that many people over analyze the theories put forward tangling up thier intelects. The issue with over analyzing an idea is that you polarize your thinking, intuition and mind.

This lightworker thing is just an idea, a confusing one in my opinion, but just an idea!

Dave

Agreed on both posts, Dave. I have been taking philosophy classes in college for the last few semesters and i was really put off by the amount of intellectual masturbation present. I have learned it that it can actually be fun (like its physical counterpart) if you dont take it too seriously. Its interesting though, since i made that post a friend and i were reading each others energy - its pretty useful, as sometimes its easy to hide things from yourself - so he reminded me to be more heart centered and i realized i have been overly in my head lately (school, ugh!).


In response to pyrogen, im with you on that one. I may be repeating myself, but perhaps the third place that dark and light meet is clarity/void/spontaneity (as opposed to chaos, which is still on the polarity trip) ? I was doing some meditation a while back and ended up having a dialogue of sorts with a "cosmic master". "She" brought it to my awareness that the light can be equally as blinding as darkness (an easy metaphor is to imagine staring at a lightbulb - your sight is as diminished as if the room were lightless). And to once again mention taoism, in the Hua Hu Ching ("unknown teachings of lao tzu") it constantly repeats the mantras of "forget" and "let go" in its assertion that all labels and thoughts need to be released in order to fully engage reality. Even Tantra prescribes the concept of living purely for a time, then passionately, then bridging the two as a means to walk the third path of mastery .

[Trezker]

Originally Posted by pyrogen

I really conceptualize that there is a third principle beyond dark/light, and that dark/light meet (around the back) to join with that third principle.

it looks like this:


.........|
..........|
..........|.......third principle (chaos?)
.d....../.\......l....
......./....\........
...../........\......
.../.<--->..\.....unpolarized/gray


Not a popular view and since I'm not a web millionaire or a Ph.D., not a lot to back it up with But there you have it.

Well I also have the view that when you draw dark/lightworker far enough they merge to the same path. Exactly how that path looks I don't know, but I can't imagine it's chaos. I think it's main characteristics is truth and order, when you reach that path you have reached a place where everything makes much more sense than when you're on the light/darkworker paths.

I imagine the chaos path is the path that isn't really a path but a trek through a shadowy forest between the dark and light paths. The chaos path can also lead to the path beyond the three, but it is a lot harder to follow.