How does an enlightened person function without a sense of self ?

[RedLantern]

An enlightened person may well asked us," How can you function with a sense of self? How are you able to be able to endure all the unpleasantness of fear,jealousy,grief and pride,your own and other people?
Don't you ever get sick of the endless scramble to accumulate more and more,of the need to always be better than or ahead of the next person,of the nagging feeling that you might just lose it all?
It seems that enlightened people get along quite alright in life.It is the unenlightened ones,you and I ,who have all the problems and the cause of problems...LOL!
That's very attractive idea but at the same time rather alarming one too,don't you think?

[eyesoftara]

An enlightened being do have a sense of self but not in the way an unenlightened person has. The enlightened person are wise in that while operating as an individual in samsara, his motivation is solely to benefit others to the extent even if it is needed that he doesn't sleep or eat or even if he has to die for others if it benefits them, he will. If it is upon him to manifest as a billionaire, he will; to benefit others.

So, it is the motivation that differentiate an enlightened being and an unenlightened being. For the unenlightened being, the motivation ranges for difference individual and is never a 100% pure, even if he is a practitioner.

[cookie]

I can imagine an enlightened one should be functioning with a much higher reason then SELF. As we check our own practice carefully, the real happiness comes from others/external and NOT SELF. But because we have been conditioned to think that the SELF gives us the happiness and hence we indulge in SELF. This has only resulted in us experiencing short term happiness but continuous challenges and obstacles which bring us sufferings.
On another note, we could be in a situation where we are doing lots of tasks, running around, facing challenges etc  "for an enlightened being". But I believe the reality is, these tasks are to help US curb/control our negativities and delusions. They are instructions from the enlightened being to benefit US and NOT for the benefit of the enlightened being. Enlightened beings don't need our "help". They are enlightened !!