What’s the difference between a lightholder and a lightworker? Why do many lightholders seem to be unaware of events like Ascension or don’t discuss them if they are aware?
As far as I know, no enlightenment teacher like Adyashanti, Eckhart Tolle or even Ammachi has referred to the events of 2012. Why might that be?
I’m not sure what the reason might be, but I’d like to speculate a little on the subject of lightholders and lightworkers if you’d permit me. I’ve been unable to find any discussions of the matter so I’ll need to make my distinctions newly.
For the purposes of this discussion, the distinction that I’m making between lightworkers and lightholders is that the former follow the path of serving humans and other life forms in the outer world and latter follow the path of seeking enlightenment in the inner world.
I’m not saying that everyone would or should see the situation this way. I’m saying that I’m using the terms to distinguish between the two groups in this way to see what usefulness the distinction can offer.
Both lightworkers and lightholders serve the Divine Plan. Let me restate that Plan here.
The Divine Plan in its most general form is that God should meet God in a moment of enlightenment. God is formless and all that is. There is no second, no other than God. And God is in no way material so He/She/It has no tools or senses with which to see Him/Her/Itself. How is God to meet God therefore?
God the Creator, the Formless Transcendental (not the God of this universe) created life forms so that they could rise up in consciousness from unconscious awareness of their true identity as God to conscious awareness of it.
We prodigal children wander virtually endlessly in the world of the Divine Mother. The Divine Mother is God in motion, God as sound, God as matter, mater, Mother. God the Mother is the first step-down transformation of the still and silent Transcendental God the Father. Christians call the Divine Mother the Holy Spirit; Hindus call “Her” (“She” is not a she any more than “He” is a he) Shakti, Kali, Durga. (1) The Mother is consciousness in the form of a creative, primal universal vibration often signified as Aum or Amen.
We wander from lifetime to lifetime learning our lessons and growing in consciousness under the beneficent guidance of the Mother’s universal laws like karma, attraction and free will. We go from enlightenment to enlightenment until we finally merge again into the ultimate Source from which we came, reunited with God.
When we do, God has met God. The purpose of life has been fulfilled.
One can achieve enlightenment in various ways. The lightworker follows the path of service, which Hindus call karma yoga. The effect of following the path of service is to reduce the pull of ego or selfishness and expand the pull of love. With ego reduced and love expanded, the individual’s identity as God is manifested in the course of action.
The lightholder turns from the world of action and quiets the mind. In the still pool of the mind where not a ripple of thought stirs the mind’s surface, in the windless place of the mind where the candle of attention does not flicker, the seeker recognizes the God within.
Thus both paths lead to God.
The Ascension that the lightworker serves is a stage of enlightenment. The lightholder also serves enlightenment. Whether viewed as Ascension or as enlightenment itself, both lightworker and lightholder are serving the purpose of life.
Why lightholders may not be as aware of the events of 2012 culminating in Ascension may turn out to be for the following reasons.
The lightworker’s attention may primarily be directed outward, to the realization of God through the service of others; the lightholder’s attention may primarily be directed inwards, to the realization of one of the forms of God or the Formless God, usually but not always within the individual’s own field of awareness.
The lightworker’s attention must of necessity be concerned with what happens in the outside world, often with the news, the baseline of events that shows the impact of his or her lightwork and areas where more lightwork is needed.
The lightholder’s attention may not be on the news at all, but may follow inner events and even drop away altogether at times from what may or may not be happening in the outside world.
A lightworker may feel unable or unwilling to spend a great deal of time focused inward; a lightholder may feel unable or unwilling to spend a great deal of time focused outwards. This inward focus may explain in part why many lightholders might not be aware of the events of 2012 and especially Ascension.
So the first explanation why spiritual teachers like Adya or Eckhart may not be emphasizing Ascension is that they may not be following the baseline of news that we are. Eckhart has written The New Earth, to be sure, but there is no mention in it of the events of 2012 or Ascension. I’m not sure if Adya follows the news or not. I’ve never heard him refer to it.
Why Amma does not mention Ascension I’m afraid I don’t know. I visit her yearly but have never wished to brave the extensive lines to ask a question. There are other avatars in the world as well and I’m not aware of them mentioning it either. That remains a mystery to me, I’m afraid.
However their inner lightwork, I believe, suits lightholders to ascend as much as their outer lightwork does the lightworker. There’s no need, as far as I’m aware, to worry about their future. But equally there may be no profit in wishing that they were somehow aware of the events of 2012 or actively assisting us lightworkers in promoting Ascension or doing the work that results from NESARA, Disclosure, the mass arrests, etc.
Lightworkers and lightholders follow different paths to God. But there are in fact many more paths than simply these two. Let’s spend a moment on that subject, if you’ll allow me.
The avatar Sri Ramakrishna came to Earth to show us that there were many paths and that all genuine paths lead to God. God Himself, according to Sri Ramakrishna, arranged the varieties of paths to take into account our levels of knowledge and varieties of temperament:
“God Himself has provided different forms of worship. He who is the Lord of the Universe has arranged all these forms to suit different men in different stages of knowledge.
“The mother cooks different dishes to suit the stomachs of her different children. Suppose she has five children. If there is a fish to cook, she prepares different dishes from it — pilau, pickled fish, fried fish, and so on — to suit their different tastes and powers of digestion.” (2)
He advised us: “Let each man follow his own path. If he sincerely and ardently wishes to know God, … he will surely realize Him.“ (3)
Sri Krishna made the same point:
“Whatever path men travel
Is my path:
No matter where they walk
It leads to me.” (4)
He gives examples:
“Some see me one with themselves, or separate:
Some bow to the countless gods that are only
My million faces.” (5)
“Some [yogis] withdraw all their senses from contact with exterior sense-objects. For these, hearing and other senses are the offering, and self-discipline the sacrificial fire. Others allow their minds and senses to wander unchecked, and try to see Brahman within all exterior sense-objects. For these, sound and the other sense-objects are the offering, and sense-enjoyment the sacrificial fire.” (6)
Sri Ramakrishna once said that it didn’t matter if we jump into the lake, dive in, or fall in. All entrances work the same effect. (7) So therefore it doesn’t matter whether we serve as lightworkers or lightholders. All genuine paths lead to God by the same miracle of enlightenment. And that miracles fulfills the purpose of life.
So, many lightholders may not wish to hear about 2012 and Ascension and may not join us until the skies fill with space ships or the ascended masters return. Their slowness in not awakening to what is happening in the world is nothing to worry about. Their lightholding practices are as valuable to the whole effort and as profitable to themselves as our lightwork is. The contribution they make in anchoring the light to Earth is as much a part of the Divine Plan as our work in spreading that light around the Earth.
Footnotes
(1) On the nature of the Divine Mother, see:
- On the Nature of the Divine Mother or Holy Spirit
- The Law-Giving Mother and Her Lawful Universe
- The Natural Law was Created by the Father through the Mother
- In the Beginning Was the Word
- Is the “Holy Spirit” Feminine?
(2) Swami Nikhilananda, trans., The Gospel of Sri Ramakrishna. New York: Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center, 1978; c1942, 81. [Hereafter GSR.]
(3) Ibid., 30.
(4) Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, trans., Bhagavad-Gita. The Song of God. New York and Scarborough: New American Library, 1972; c1944, 51.
(5) Ibid., 81.
(6) Ibid., 53.
(7) “You see, the thing is somehow or other to get into the Lake of the Nectar of Immortality. Suppose one person gets into It by propitiating the Deity with hymns and worship, and you are pushed into It. The result will be the same. Both of you will certainly become immortal.” (Paramahansa Ramakrishna in GSR, 217.)