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Can you help liberate other sentient beings when you have not finished working on one's self?

Sometimes, guidance on the path arrives in unexpected forms.
One may even learn profound lessons from the mistakes of others.

Even if a practitioner is not yet enlightened, they can still guide others who are just beginning the path. The teachings may not be flawless, but sincere effort and intention still plant the seeds of understanding. In time, newcomers find their own footing, and sometimes, the imperfect teacher learns just as much through the act of teaching.

As an old Indian sage once said, “If you don’t feel that you are enlightened, you can always try to be.”

@Tavs said:
Can you help liberate other sentient beings when you have not finished working on one's self?

With certainty, no. But then it is very difficult to place another beings feet on the spiritual path. The most you can do is drop occasional hints, fingers pointing to the moon. And hope that someone will be receptive.

It reminds me of a story… Ram Dass and his guru Neem Karoli Baba were handing out photographs of the Baba, and Ram Dass noticed that his master seemed to be picking out all kinds of people of low prospects in life. He said, “How can you give your photograph to such low-lives?” Neem Karoli Babs replied, “if they can feel, even for a moment, that they too could be a great sadhu, a spiritual man, then that would be a very good thing. If just one in a hundred is inspired by the photograph to change his life, it will have served it’s purpose.”

@Tavs said:
Can you help liberate other sentient beings when you have not finished working on one's self?

Maybe not liberate, but I think you could help get them to where you are.

One of the categorizations of Buddhism talks about 3 types of Bodhisattva, king like, shepherd like and ferryman like. King like gets to enlightenment first then brings people along, Amitaba Buddha is the archetype. Shepherd like brings other to enlightenment before oneself, Avalokiteshvara is the archetype. Ferryman brings others along with oneself, not sure of which Buddha/bodhisattva is this kind.