The Second Being-Obligonian Striving: The Instinctive Need for Being

"...to have a constant and unflagging instinctive need to perfect oneself in the sense of Being."

In the First Striving, we learned to provide what is really necessary for the planetary body. This is foundational: without sufficient rest, nourishment, air, movement, and impressions, the Work cannot begin.

While the body is the instrument, the music is to awaken and perfect the Being. Where the first striving orders the vehicle, the Second striving ignites the driver. It calls us to recognize that the real purpose of life is not survival, not comfort, not accumulation, but the gradual perfection of Being; the emergence of a conscious, unified, and enduring self.

What is "Being"?

The Work distinguishes between knowledge and Being. Knowledge is information, facts, concepts, and skills. Being is the density of reality within the person: the level of consciousness, the integration of the centers, the stability of the "I".

One can have vast knowledge but very little Being. A professor may know the structure of the atom but still live mechanically, enslaved to anger and vanity. Conversely, a peasant may have little formal knowledge but possess dignity, presence, and compassion; qualities of Being.

Being is measured not by what we know, but by what we are. It is our inner weight, our ability to remain conscious, our freedom from identification, our capacity to endure the friction of transformation. The Second Striving directs us to make this perfection of Being the instinctive axis of our life.

"Constant and Unflagging Instinctive Need"

Notice the language. It does not say, "an occasional wish," or "a strong desire when convenient." It says:

• Constant: not sometimes, but always present as a background frequency.

• Unflagging: not growing weary or slack, but steady through moods and circumstances.

• Instinctive: not a borrowed idea, not an artificial resolution, but something that arises from the very marrow of one's existence.

This is more than discipline; it is a transformation of the center of gravity. Ordinary life is centered on satisfying personality: the wish for recognition, security, pleasure, or control. The Second Striving demands that the center shift to Being: the wish to awaken, to grow, to become real.

The Inner Fire

In many traditions, this unflagging need is described as a fire within. The alchemists spoke of the "inner furnace" that refines base matter into gold. The mystics spoke of a "hunger for God" or a "thirst for righteousness." In the Work, it is the instinctive drive to perfect Being.

But fire does not appear by itself. It must be struck, fed, and tended. The First Striving clears the ground, gathers the wood, and protects the hearth. The Second Striving is the spark and the ongoing flame. Without it, the Work becomes mechanical, a checklist of exercises. With it, even the simplest practice is animated by meaning.

The Striving and the Centers

The Work teaches that man is divided into centers or "brains":

• The Intellectual (thinking) center.

• The Emotional (feeling) center.

• The Moving (body skill and habitual life) center.

• The Instinctive (automatic survival) center.

• The Sexual (creative energy) center.

In ordinary life, these centers are disorganized, running at odds with one another. Thought says one thing, feeling another, body yet another. We are fragmented.

The Second Striving demands that these centers be harmonized, coordinated, and refined. The instinct for Being becomes the magnet that draws them into alignment. Then energy, which was scattered, becomes concentrated. Being thickens. Presence grows.

Obstacles to the Second Striving

1. Identification Our ordinary state is one of constant identification: we are lost in thought, swallowed by emotion, consumed by circumstance. In identification, the instinct of Being is forgotten. To remember oneself in the moment is already an act of striving.

2. Laziness and Comfort The planetary body craves ease. Personality craves distraction. Together, they conspire to keep us passive. The Second Striving calls us to resist this inertia, to accept discomfort, to do what is necessary rather than what is pleasant.

3. Borrowed Aspirations Many seekers mistake enthusiasm or curiosity for the instinctive need of Being. But enthusiasm fades. Genuine striving must be rooted deeper than emotion or idea. It must become part of one's very organism.
   

Practices for the Second Striving

1. Self Remembering At random times, pause and ask: Am I here? Sense the body, feel the breath, listen to the surrounding sounds. Hold the fact of your own presence. Even 10 seconds of real self-remembering can shift the axis of life toward Being.

2. Non-Identification When caught in anger, fear, or desire, observe: This is in me, but is not all of me. The striving for Being requires that we separate ourselves from our states, to stand as witnesses instead of victims.

3. Conscious Labor and Intentional Suffering The Work defines these as the essence of inner work: - Conscious Labor: doing what is necessary, not what is convenient, with awareness. - Intentional Suffering: willingly bearing the friction of going against habit and self-love. Each time we resist a mechanical impulse, we strengthen the instinct for Being.

4. Daily Inner Accounting At day's end, review: Where did I strive for Being today? Where did I forget? This quiet reflection waters the seed of constancy.

The Second Striving and the Law of Seven

The Law of Seven, the law of process, says that no effort proceeds in a straight line. It always requires correction at the "intervals" where energy falters.

The Second Striving is exactly such a correction. Without it, our efforts to awaken stall after initial enthusiasm. The striving supplies new impulse, renews direction, and keeps the process alive. It is the "shock" that prevents decay into sleep.

In alchemy, the second stage of transformation is called Dissolution. After the crude materials are calcined (burned down to essentials, as in the First Striving), they must be dissolved in a solvent so that their elements can recombine.

Likewise, the Second Striving dissolves our mechanical identifications and disperses the hard crust of personality. What remains is the essence, ready to be re-formed under conscious direction.

The Taste of Being

When the Second Striving is active, life itself changes taste. Ordinary activities, such as walking, working, and speaking, are infused with presence. Suffering becomes material for transformation. Time becomes substance rather than emptiness.

This is not an abstract improvement but a tangible difference in the experience of existence. One feels more real. Even amid struggle, one senses a center of gravity that does not vanish with every shift of mood. This is the beginning of individuality.

Pitfalls on the Path

• Romanticism: confusing emotional longing with actual striving.

• Harsh self-criticism: confusing striving with self-hatred or perfectionism. Real striving is fueled by sincerity, not guilt.

• Waiting for ideal conditions: postponing effort until life is easier. The striving must be practiced in the very conditions of ordinary existence.

The Second Striving in Daily Life

How does one embody this in practical terms? It means that in every activity, working at a desk, washing dishes, talking with a friend, there is a secondary current: Am I awake? Am I aligning with Being?

This does not mean constant tension, but a gentle background reminder. Over time, this reminder becomes instinctive. It is as if a second life runs alongside the first, quietly orienting every action toward conscious growth.

Preparing for the Third Striving

The Second Striving prepares directly for the Third: "the conscious striving to know more and more about the laws of world-creation and world-maintenance."

Why? Because only a person who feels the unflagging need for Being will seek real knowledge. Otherwise, knowledge remains an intellectual decoration. The instinct for Being creates the hunger for understanding. It is the fire that drives the quest for law.

The Second Being-Obligolnian-Striving is the pivot of inner life. It takes us from the care of the planetary body to the deeper labor of perfecting Being. It demands constancy, not in bursts of enthusiasm, but in the steady vibration of an instinctive need.

To live with this striving is to re-center our existence. No longer is life about comfort, success, or distraction. Life becomes the field of conscious labor, the workshop of Being.

It is not easy. In fact, it is the opposite of easy. But it is also the only way to become real. As we move to the Third Striving, we will see how this instinctive need naturally expands into a quest for knowledge: to penetrate the laws by which worlds are created and sustained, and to align ourselves with them.

Pierce!,

September 1, 2025