Seek Shelter in the Precepts.

Study Part One.

Jun 15, 2025

It’s just the way things work here.

The Way It Is.

There is nothing to achieve. Everything you do is like eating. You do not eat just one time you eat periodically until the body no longer can sustain life. And you do this continuously. Everything works this way.

You do not put forth effort just one time you put forth effort until the body no longer can put forth effort. Most of your time is put into the effort you make. You may think you are going after something and getting somewhere but you are not. There is nowhere to go and there are no graspable results. If you think there are results you are merely thinking about an illusion.

The effort, however, is vital.

If the result is where your focus is, you do not know how things work here. You are fooled and you live a fool’s life. You are going after something that does not exist. It’s not to say you don’t run after stuff, you do. But it is a trick. You are like a trained dog who sits in hope of a treat. You use your effort foolishly because you are the property of the dominant conditioning of your family and culture. The conditions and your own instincts and impulses own you.

The effort is like a bag of gold and you must decide where to spend it. What do you spend it on? How do you use it? This question is important. At some point you’ll run out of effort but until you do it is important to know how you use it.

There is a lot of talk about being happy and peaceful or content. It’s a lure to entice your instincts. Perhaps you are hooked on this bait. These baits are still baits. The baits of happiness and peace confound your effort.

The effort to realize “the way it is” is effort to renounce the results whether it be security, peace, happiness or contentment. There is nothing enduring here. It is the way it is. You need effort to be able to face the way it is without any emotional collapse.

In order to do nothing and to add nothing one needs effort. You need effort to stay still. It is demur. It requires effort to live a life free of self-interest. It takes effort. Freedom from self-interest is to do nothing and to add nothing of your conditioned, instinctual or impulsive views. And this freedom requires effort.

Your effort is vital.

You have ideas or illusions about what leads to a happy, peaceful life. And you may pursue these illusions. You may have ideas or illusions about what freedom is. And you may pursue them. There is no enticement. It’s up to you how you spend your effort.

There’s nothing to achieve. There is, however, seeing how it is here and using your effort until you run out.