I've always had a fascination with religion (I'm a lapsed-Catholic-turned-Atheist) from a following-building perspective.

The Noble Eightfold path is one of the principle teachings that followed Buddha's enlightenment:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Noble_Eightfold_Path

The first path is "Right View" and is very much about swallowing the red pill:

"It is the right way of looking at life, nature, and the world as they really are for us. It is to understand how our reality works."

Six of the remaining paths are very much themed around "Do no harm" and very anti-Dark Triad traits - Pure Blue Pill.

However: "Right Effort" (an aspect of Samahdi, or "Concentration") seems very Redpill: an exhortation to improve yourself (albeit most of the teachings are couched in a very bluepill way)

I'm sure I'm not alone in feeling that swallowing the bitter pill was a mini-enlightenment on the world around us.

Did Buddha take both the Red Pill and Blue Pill (the Purple Pill) and did the Blue Pill win?

And if it did, is there a pure Red Pill/Dark Triad variant of the same philosophy? A Dark Buddhism, if you will - think Yin and Yang as the complementary forces.

I don't want to turn this into a religious debate, but happy to be flamed as long as my arguments are rebutted.

Thoughts?