My understanding of the lightworker/darkworker polarities

[Baltar]

I have a pretty good understanding of the darkworker polarity (which I've posted about in other threads), and I think I'm starting to understand the lightworker polarity now. Here's my understanding: being a lightworker doesn't mean going out of your way to do Good Deeds any time there's an opportunity, or putting other people's needs ahead of yours. It means deciding what the optimal use of your time is such that you will provide value to the greatest amount of people.

This means that you triage, as Steve says. The difference between a polarized lightworker and an unpolarized person is that the lightworker won't let distractions get in the way of their primary mission. Once you're polarized as a lightworker, you figure out exactly where your time is best spent to provide value/service/help to the greatest number of people. Based on this knowledge, you can always decide when something requires your attention and action or is not important enough in the grand scheme of things. For instance, for Steve it makes more sense to spend time writing blog entries (which have the potential to help millions of people) than spending time answering as many individual emails as he can (which at most might allow him to help a dozen people a day perhaps).

This is something that was bothering me about what it means to be a lightworker. Like most people, I thought that being a lightworker means always putting other people's needs ahead of yours and taking every opportunity that you see to help people. But this would be lightworker syndrome. It seems that it's easiest to see the two extremes of the lightworker and darkworker syndromes rather than the practical application of them, which is why we're seeing so many "I don't get this" threads.

Ultimately, as I see it the two polarities boil down to a difference in sources of motivation and lenses used in looking at our lives and the world. Lightworkers believe that they're safe in this world -- that nothing can harm them (i.e. your spirit is invulnerable) and that fear is an illusion. They believe in abundance, that their purpose is to put value out into the world, and that this value will be mirrored back to them by the universe (Steve has certainly proven that this works). Lightworkers are always at peace regardless of their life situation. Knowing that they provide great value to people makes them happy.

Darkworkers believe that they're unsafe in this world, that they can be harmed, that fear is real and must be conquered and harnessed. They believe in scarcity, that they must compete for resources with other people, and that they can only attain safety and peace by gaining power and strength (both internal and external). Darkworkers provide value explicitly as an investment that they expect to get a calculated return on. If they don't see an obvious ROI (return on investment) for something they could do, they won't do it. Having power, fame, wealth and admiration by others makes a darkworker happy.

This is my understanding of the two polarities, and I hope it helps others in understanding them. Personally I'm not polarized yet, though I have been raised with a darkworker slant (actually, very confused unpolorized parents ). However I haven't yet decided which way I'll go. Both have their advantages and disadvantages, but ultimately the choice depends on what things you value in life. People who want fame and recognition for instance (remember -- there's nothing wrong with this!), are better off being darkworkers. If you care more about how much of a positive difference you can make in the world, you'd make a good lightworker.

[Adrienne]

Baltar
That is a very nice synopsis. Much appreciated.

Thanks
Adrienne

[Erin Pavlina]

By jove, I think you've got it. Very nice explanation. Well done!

[Steve Pavlina]

You got it!

[Level1]

I have come to similar conclusions about polarity but you have put it very succinctly. It does seem to be about the underlying "framework" or "mindset" you choose and less about specific goals. The paths to wealth and abundance, peace and security are different, but the end results are similar.

I mentioned as examples in another post Oprah (successful lightworker) and Bill Gates (successful darkworker). Both are famous, wealthy and are running highly capitalized charities.

Bill strove to dominate the personal computer software market and has almost succeded in becoming a monopoly. But after the Conquests he started the Bill and Melinda Gates foundation and along with Warren Buffet's contribution it is a 33 Billion dollar charity. Probably the wealthiest in history it is designated to reduce poverty and foster education on a global scale. (darkworker's are evil?) http://www.gatesfoundation.org/AboutUs/

Oprah has made self development, enlightenment and education through the television medium (an medium not known for such things) into a empire and in doing so has created a vast "community" of like minded people linked together through her own persona. As maybe the first woman billionaire she has already commited over 50 million dollars to various charities around the world, some of them her own. Her story is impressive for any aspiring lightworker.
http://www.oprah.com/about/press/abo...ss_bio.jhtml#3

Different paths, but the end results are similar. If you can't decide which way to polarize because you have concerns over being morally correct, these two examples illustrate how the universe does not favor one side over the other. We can choose either framework, but in doing so your decisions will be clearer and your goals will be easier to align to your purpose.

[wolfgang]

Originally Posted by Baltar

ILightworkers believe that they're safe in this world -- that nothing can harm them (i.e. your spirit is invulnerable) and that fear is an illusion. They believe in abundance, that their purpose is to put value out into the world, and that this value will be mirrored back to them by the universe (Steve has certainly proven that this works). Lightworkers are always at peace regardless of their life situation. Knowing that they provide great value to people makes them happy.

Darkworkers believe that they're unsafe in this world, that they can be harmed, that fear is real and must be conquered and harnessed. They believe in scarcity, that they must compete for resources with other people, and that they can only attain safety and peace by gaining power and strength (both internal and external). Darkworkers provide value explicitly as an investment that they expect to get a calculated return on. If they don't see an obvious ROI (return on investment) for something they could do, they won't do it. Having power, fame, wealth and admiration by others makes a darkworker happy.

It's not a polarity is what my reaction is now.

It's a spectrum that starts at the hording darkworker and ends at the drained lightworker. Along the spectrum you have a darkworker that stops giving at the bondary of the personal self. Then the lightworker that is able to give to family and community, which includes the lightworker's self. If the lightworker continues along the spectrum, eventually he/she becomes a drianed lightworker.

The attention to self gets expanded and detached along this spectrum. A sick darkworker is all self, the good lightwoker has self and others, the sick lightworker has detached from the personal self and becomes ill.

Also going along the spectrum toward lightworking includes anything before this position on the spectrum. Any fear the darkworker has is also part of the lightworker, in a different way. Maybe the fear shows up as concern for others, as well as self.

[fretho]

I know a girl who bet everyone in her school that she could keep a vow of silence for a week -- including no laughing or appearing to laugh. She made a lot of harsh bets with others, and it kept her going. She actually won the bet. It's something I doubt I could ever do.

Although I initially resisted this polarity idea, in some ways it is starting to resonate with me a bit more. Particularly now that I know it has to do with motivation and energy, not content. I have often creatively used the love motive for things other people seemed to use the fear motive for.

The separation of content and energy is an important concept. I enjoy being filled with loving energy, and have plenty of reasons in my life to take it seriously. Fear energy has always been hard for me to take seriously, so whenever someone insinuates that I have something to fear by not doing something I simply get drained of motivation. It appears that if I want to be a successful grey, I'll need to learn to take fear more seriously. Whereas if I polarize to the light, I won't have to... I'll just have to ignore or transmute the fear energy.

[Still Growing]

Baltar,
Nice post.

I agree, it wouldn't be productive for a lightworker to take short term positive steps that countered the overall optimal output for the greater good as a individual and as a collective.

But I disagree with the absolute labels. You make it sound so simple.

You say Bill Gates is a Darkworker but can't he also say that the manner he's worked in was for the benefit of the most people? His foundation is much larger than Oprah's for example. He has succeeded financially but can usually be seen in his Ford SUV. He doesn't seem to be extremely polarized towards the dark in his personal life but in his business life he is extremely shrewd. By your and Steve's theory, Bill would need to be consumed by the dark side to be effective.

You labeled Oprah as being a Lightworker but do you know for a fact that she never operates on fear or greed? I suppose you'll argue her 10,000 shoe collection is ultimately benefiting the masses.

My point is that its very difficult to label people and its much more complex.

[firehorse]

Hi,

Originally Posted by Baltar

Darkworkers believe that they're unsafe in this world, that they can be harmed, that fear is real and must be conquered and harnessed. They believe in scarcity, that they must compete for resources with other people, and that they can only attain safety and peace by gaining power and strength (both internal and external). Darkworkers provide value explicitly as an investment that they expect to get a calculated return on. If they don't see an obvious ROI (return on investment) for something they could do, they won't do it. Having power, fame, wealth and admiration by others makes a darkworker happy.

Darkworking makes sense to me if the primary motivation is inflow.

I just can't generate any emotional energy for light working/giving projects. I feel like a fish out of water.

However, I can much better visualise 'goals' coming towards me. I know the universe is abundant and I can pull it towards me. As a result of 'darkworking' intention, project ideas towards my goal pop into my mind which also benefits other people along the way towards my goal.

It's easier for me to get the energy moving by pulling in, rather than pushing out.

Best regards
Alan

[jacmac1]

People who want fame and recognition for instance (remember -- there's nothing wrong with this!), are better off being darkworkers

What can be beneficial about this, as fame and recognition are fleeting?

You labeled Oprah as being a Lightworker but do you know for a fact that she never operates on fear or greed? I suppose you'll argue her 10,000 shoe collection is ultimately benefiting the masses.

By definition, I think Oprah is most certainly leaning on the Darkworker side. Her main focus is on fame and recognition. She does operate on a lot of fear - as her weight battles indicate. Look at her campaign to hunt down the child molesters. Everything Oprah does is very self-serving. Her name must be on it, she must be in control of it, and she must be given credit. Only in a secondary way does Oprah's acts benefit others - mostly the joy in herself comes from what she is achieving and accomplishing - she is driven in that way and therefore it is never enough.

Having power, fame, wealth and admiration by others makes a darkworker happy.

THis is very true about Oprah, just check out five years worth of O magazine covers - you'll not see another face but her's and that's just a small example.

[shant121]

Thank you Balter! its amazing how quickly i'm manifesting answers to my questions

[Baltar]

Thanks everyone for your replies! I'm glad that my post is serving its purpose of helping people better understand the polarity concept. I wrote it with a lightworker slant, meaning that I genuinely wanted to write something that would help others. Though, I didn't realize that I was doing it for that reason until I was almost done writing it.

I've made a few other posts with a darkworker slant in the last few days, and this was the first post I've made recently where I clearly understood (by the time I was finishing it at least) that I was writing with a lightworker slant. I find that it's not always possible to determine if you are writing (or doing any other action) with a slant in one or the other direction because if the slant is weak it may be too neutral to feel it. But if it's strong it should be easy to determine what it is.

When I wrote with a darkworker slant I felt powerful. This is actually a good feeling, and being a darkworker by all means doesn't mean living in fear and suffering. Don't confuse it with the Dark Side in Star Wars ("fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, hate leads to suffering"). That's not what it is. It's a feeling of superiority to some extent. Something like "you can't hurt me because I'm more powerful than you". But I've found this power feeling to be a bit unsettling. It felt like a bit too much for me. Or perhaps it just didn't feel right and I wanted it to end which is maybe why it felt unsettling.

Personally I don't think I could polarize to a darkworker (although my father would probably like that) because of all the things that I've learned in recent years. I think at this point I've already come to like the abundance/fear is not real/nothing can ultimately harm us philosophy. The seeds for it have been planted in my mind a few years ago when I read an article by Steve on his Dexterity Software web site. That site is gone, and Steve didn't repost that article on this site, but it's still available online here in case anyone's interested in reading it.

[JJH]

Great post Baltar, makes a lot of sense.

But this way of looking at it (which has Steve's stamp of approval), just goes back to what a lot of people are saying: the further up the consciousness scale you go, the further you go towards the light side. Which Steve has said is not correct.

Now, this could just be my way of seeing things (as the more my own consciousness expands, the closer I polarize to the light - because it's just my natural inclination). Could be diffferent for others - but I live in an abundant universe where fear is a thought form. There is only a source of love and well-being. And one only experiences hate, fear and evil to the degree to which they resist the flow of the universe...

[Baltar]

Originally Posted by JJH

Great post Baltar, makes a lot of sense.

But this way of looking at it (which has Steve's stamp of approval), just goes back to what a lot of people are saying: the further up the consciousness scale you go, the further you go towards the light side. Which Steve has said is not correct.

One way to look at it is to use the same Levels of Consciousness that Steve wrote about, but replace outward flow with inward flow. For instance at the level of Reason, Steve writes: "You’ve reached the point where you say, 'Wow. I can do all this stuff, and I know I must put it to good use. So what’s the best use of my talents?' You take a look around the world and start making meaningful contributions."

Steve writes about outward contribution here, but what if you reverse it? Instead of your motives being contribution to others, you think of how you can better help yourself. You can put your talents to good use to help yourself or others, but you're still putting them to good use (tapping them to create value) in both cases. Same goes for higher levels like Love. Instead of love of everything around you, it's love of self. This is one possible interpretation of the equal ability of both polarities to get to the same levels of consciousness. It just won't look or feel the same for both polarities.

I think ultimately it'll always remain confusing though, because each polarity requires a completely different philosophy of thinking in order for things to make sense. If something is written from the point of view of one polarity, it won't make sense when applied to the other. Thus since the Levels of Consciousness article is written with a major lightworker slant, it doesn't work in its original form when applied to the darkworker philosophy. In that sense understanding both polarities (and in particular understanding that they're both equally legitimate) means using subjective reality instead of objective reality. In an objective reality there's only one correct choice, but in a subjective reality both can be correct.

[Sunsingh]

I'm still unclear as to how the darkworker path is equally good as the lightworker path.
So, my understanding is that when someone is a more polarised lightworker/darkworker, it simply mean that the individual is more powerful. It doesn't refer to networks, external resources etc. Both have love. The LW has love of self and others (b/c how can you have universal love of others if you don't also love yourself - our separation from God and other souls is only due to a wall of ego right?) while the DW has a selfish love of self. Also, it seems that the LW ends life with a lot of positive karma while the DW ends life with a lot of negative karma which must be paid off.
So, how is being a DW just as good (not morally speaking) as being a LW when the LW ends up in a much more advantageous end position?

[firehorse]

Hi,

Originally Posted by Sunsingh

So, how is being a DW just as good (not morally speaking) as being a LW when the LW ends up in a much more advantageous end position?

A dark/inflow/yin worker has choices too.

As an example, Bill Gates is giving away most of his money to good causes. Along the way he has 'unified' an operating system so software & hardware people have a common target. Although some may grumble, no one else has done anything similar. And he has given lots of jobs to lots of people.

And now he's spending billions on good causes, (what lightworker wouldn't like to do that too!), and not hoarding much of it before he goes. ABC News: Why Bill Gates Is Giving Away His Fortune

Net 'money' in won't be very much compared to how much inflow he has generated, and in the end, his outflow will almost be as much as his inflow.

After all his good causes will he still have such a 'heavy' karmic debt? What if some of the scientific projects he is sponsoring has a major breakthrough?

Maybe he will leave a legacy like the Alfred Nobel, whose wealth came from explosives but whose name is attached to the Nobel peace prize! Maybe Bill Gates wealth came from Microsoft, but will be remembered for something else??

I'm not 'sticking' up for Bill, I grumble too , but he's just an easy example to use.

Best regards
Alan

[Sunsingh]

That's a really good point. However, my understanding is that intention matters. if you give something away with selfish intentions (eg. this will make me look good) it will not be as karmically beneficial as giving something away for altruistic intentions (eg. i want to help). although both are good.
Even though all our souls are connected and the altruist gains satisfaction from giving, I still see it as more selfless than giving in the first example.

From what I've read of Nobel (which isn't much), he wanted dynamite to be used for peaceful purposes only, such as road construction and clearing tunnels.

[tc33]

Originally Posted by Baltar

Personally I don't think I could polarize to a darkworker (although my father would probably like that) because of all the things that I've learned in recent years. I think at this point I've already come to like the abundance/fear is not real/nothing can ultimately harm us philosophy. The seeds for it have been planted in my mind a few years ago when I read an article by Steve on his Dexterity Software web site. That site is gone, and Steve didn't repost that article on this site, but it's still available online here in case anyone's interested in reading it.

Baltar: thanks so much for posting your interpretation of lightworker vs darkworker, but thanks especially for posting that older article that Steve wrote. That's a very empowering article that gave me a much-needed perspective shift with regards to the essense of my being and the consequences of adopting that perspective. Thanks for planting more seeds in my brain; now it is my turn to nurture them.

Steve: please repost that article on this site; I believe it is a holistic yet concise essay that bridged a lot of gaps, at least for me. I realize you have rehashed some of the concepts in more recent articles but I was never able to put them all together until I read the article Baltar wrote. Thanks for your consideration, and especially your insight.

- Tom

[Katrina]

Thank you very much for this post. It helps a lot.