The Art of Running

As artist we create the world we wish to live in - as runners we use our bodies as a medium joined with the world. We display our art as speed, or gentle stride. The earth shares its art as hills, and stones, trees and air. And so our art mingles with the earth's - we are co-creators in a grand design. Yet the truth of art must remain a mystery. To defend the nature of our run is to weaken it's resolve to be played out with honesty, purity and passion. Our only role is to create, to run, to let the smile of creation play as a mystery on our lips and keep people guessing as to what we're up too. Mystery inspires - and soon our steps will lead others to their grand design as well. Stay centered in our own steps - and the world responds with peace and grace. 



Peace,

Eric

Solitary...Yet Together

Distance reveals our shared nature - a common self that belongs to earth and air. We are joined in a great belonging. Viewed as such the path we run becomes our own self spread before us - eager for our steps to reconnect in exploration. Distance no longer threatens but now invites our steps to remember this holy connection. And our steps caress the ground in a stride of devotion. We are recognized and welcomed and the world opens before us. There is only this...and every runner belongs and no path exist in the absence of our steps.

Peace,

Eric



It's Simple - All We Have To Do Is Run



Every run is part of something greater than itself - it's the earth asking for our presence and each step sings a rhythm in reply. To give ourselves fully to the run - body, mind and soul is to re-enter into a sacred wholeness now lost in everyday life. We can't give away the baggage that we carry, we can only allow the miles to strip us bare of all but our essential self. Spiritually naked, free from the weight of all concerns we surrender to the run. Our presence is given and received. Now we run as the infinite...meeting the world in its embrace. The run itself is the deliverance to this world. We enter by our refusal to fight what is and simply accept one moment at a time. Nothing more. Distance itself will no the work. All we have to do - is run. 

Peace,

Eric

Running With Duality and Beyond

The nature of running is expressed in the duality of motion and stillness - and yet in distance the two give way to one. We are stillness given form in the temporary game of life. We seek to know ourselves through motion and distance provides the template for exploration. Duality ends as our steps delivers a rhythm danced around a quiet mind. Intricate and intimate and soon shattered by thought - yet for moments stretched within a stride - we are part of this One great song.

Peace,

Eric

Running in The Center

Running centered in peace means bringing awareness to the still point within while cultivating a sense of detachment from the outer conditions that surrounds our run. It's a gentle nod of acknowledgment that while certain issues are bound to happen and to affect us - they certainly don't define us. The truth, our true nature is the witness that remains unaffected by the (all too) seemingly real illusions of life. We suffer for our wish for things to be other than they are - it's the grasping nature of the mind to seek pleasure and to hold it dear. When the mind finds no lasting pleasure then it repels what it once cherished and seeks again something new. It's an endless cycle. Until we learn not to take it all so seriously. Until we remember to smile and simply enjoy - resting in the awareness of life's fleeting nature. Every run seems to consist of separate steps - and yet each step contributes to the stride that delivers us to motion. Peace is found in the knowledge that no single step lasts - but our stride belongs to the infinite. We allow events and circumstances to bring us pleasure and often pain. That's the way of time and steps. Yet we run free in the peace found in our endless stride. That's the way of the infinite.  

Peace,

Eric



It's All Okay

There are select things that we can do that will make our run or race a success. Mentally and physically we prepare the best we're able. We fuel and hydrate well. We dress accordingly. Everything that we can account for we see too. And still the run is beyond our control. That's the nature of the world reflected in our steps. To grasp at the intangible aspects of life is too suffer. As runners we focus on our steps collected to a stride - each step brings an ending and then opens to a new world. Our stride contains the seeds of all possibilities - there is nothing to fight nor resist, nothing to grasp or avoid. We abide in the moment, aware of it's passing and grateful for its promise. With that in mind - we take one more step.

Peace,

Eric

Running With What Is And The Art of Acceptence

Distance running is the art of acceptance for what is and the wisdom to know that all change begins within the present moment. The state we find ourselves in now is the result of choices made within previous moments. Denial of what is happening now is a waste of precious energy. We accept, we adjust and we allow the spaciousness of the infinite to open in its limitless potential. It's not for us to decide what the next moment will bring - we act only in the present and draw faith from the perfection nature and knowledge we are not separate from this perfection. We don't control the hill, we simply climb it. We don't fight thirst, we drink when possible. We don't regret the distance run, but embrace the coming miles. All thing happen within the grace of a single moment. Staying centered here, we smile, and simply run. 

Peace,

Eric

Running With The World As Is

We run to bring the stillness of our being to unexplored regions of both our inner and outer worlds. Giving up the struggle of how far and how fast we return to primal travelers seeking shadows to offer light and joining in the play of their dynamics. We are part of all things and simply wish to experience every depth of our dimension. In the acceptance of duality we discover our singular expression - the steepest hill before us offers something different on its far side - and yet a hill it remains. We accept it on terms the world offers and bring our own grace to the experience. We bring our best to the world - and the worlds response if full of wonder. 

Peace,

Eric



No Effort Required

The path exist not to bridge two point of separation but to lay a single trail for the exploration of our spirits pleasure. The finish line is not our destination, there is no goal other than the realization that every moment is whole and complete and that we are the perfect awareness of each moment. No effort is required to reach this inner destination - only surrendering the concepts that keep us removed from our connection to the present moment. Thoughts that keep us distant from the quiet nature of our experience - thoughts of fear, worry and a rush to be elsewhere - won't be banished but they can be allowed to drift harmless, trackless through the mind. It's the weight of our emotions that keep them anchored in the infinite nature of our minds. Let them go with no hurry, no effort and with gratitude - they have sought to sever us well but from this moment on - the moment observed as breath and peace and spacious mind - there is no need for their presence. We have grasped the infinite - and will follow it home.

Peace,

Eric



Distance Doesn't Matter

• Distance doesn't matter - our stride itself is home. It's the peace found within this motion, calm and quiet that is important. This peaceful presence it the witness to time and distance. We carry it through life as the truth of our identity yet remain unaware of its reality. We have fooled ourselves into lives played out in shadows and illusions while the Witness hides in the light of who we really are. Running reveals the Witness - with enough miles we are stripped past the shadows and emerge within the light. And all the while our steps take us no farther than our very own breath and the beat of the heart against our chest. The truth is that near. We can view life through the serenity of the Witness. It takes only a slight shift of awareness - from questions asked to the observance of the silent presence behind the asking. With this shift we come home again and our stride never falters. We run. But distance doesn't matter. 

Peace,

Eric

Eventually - A Polished Stone

We are singular - yet part of something so much larger than ourselves. Distance running is the reduction of our singularity and the emergence into the universal. We merge into the infinite when infinite steps are taken. It's mysterious and at once the natural process of being. We let go of ego at the point where it simply can't sustain us - the miles have worn and shaped us to the spiritual curves of a stream polished stone. We don't resist the current - we surrender ourselves to the motion. And so we become more than runners - we enter the stream of a new current that carries us far from simply doing. We are motion now. We are the polished stones of being. 

Peace,

Eric

When It's Time to Run...

Once in motion - we are runners. There is simplicity in our actions and no need for additions given to our steps. We plan, we take the necessary actions to keep us in motion - and then we let go. This is our time and freedom waits for us to shed the layers of self that bind us to the daily grind. There is no self at the far end of running - we have lost it in the wake of steps given freely. Now we're running. Now we're alive as motion. Now we're beyond the need of doing - now we are truly being. 

Peace,

Eric



Just Run

We are runners. There is no need to divide in categories. We run. It's simple. And yet the mind loves to complicate and separate - we are fast or slow, we race or jog - and a thousand other thoughts that cloud the soul. Thoughts are not the enemy but they are the source of complications. If we believe them. Motion is our birthright and for most of us we were running soon after our very first steps. No instructions needed. No thought necessary. We gave ourselves to motion. We trusted. We were full of grace and the courage to surrender. Nothing has changed from these first hurried steps. Motion still calls. Our body still longs for the grace it once knew. It remembers. Trust it. Run without complications. Ignore the ten thousand questions that flitter through our head. Just run. Smile. Breathe. W are runners. 

Peace,

Eric



Racing With the Self/Running With the Infinite

Our steps are our deliverance to present moment awareness. With attention we learn to reside in the here and now of our experience - no projection towards a finish nor a wish for a single moment to pass. To reach this point we surrender our identity of everything other than spirit. A racer reaches a point where they may no longer be able to race, stride falters, fatigue sets in, and sense of identity crumbles. This may leave a racer without a trace of hope to continue, or even a reason too. For spirit it's a gift of freedom - no longer bound by an illusion we are free to receive the many gift that running offers beyond the concepts of the mind. The world now speaks directly to us, the sky offers itself as an embrace and the earth will meet each step with delight. It starts with surrender - and then....the infinite. 

Peace,

Eric

Racing With Spirit

Every finish line measures a finite distance. Every runner is infinite by nature. Even the longest race fails to contain the limitless potential of soul and stride. So why measure and why try? For the sheer joy of gathering with others in a solitary pursuit - we are singular worlds in a galaxy of distance sharing moments in our passing. Runners recognize this world in each - a salute of glance and nod. So we run a finite course yet remain unbound by measured concepts. We don't cling to a finish or tied to a goal. We simply run - everything else is just a bonus.

Peace,

Eric

Running In Harmony

Running is a singular pursuit by natures design - no one else wills the legs to go another step. Even as we gather in crowds to race or run together its an interior world where no one else may enter. Yet often we are given to measure our success or failures by benchmarks set outside our interior world. We race to beat others or to overcome an aspect of self we view as weak, we seek to beat previous times or go just a little bit farther. There is no wrong in competition or in striving to be faster or do our very best. But problems appear when use any of these as motivation that separates - that splits us from our own internal values as well from other runners. Our ultimate goal is always harmony. When we run in accord with our own nature we joined with the forces that hold the world together. No measure and no value outside of harmony will ever bring a sense of peace nor of lasting joy. Run simply in love - and everything will make sense. 

Peace,

Eric

Running With Simplicity

Running returns us to our original nature - even past the primitive to the primordial. It's not a choice of motion to survive but the spontaneous joy of our expansion. We move as a communion with the natural world. That's simplicity. Some runs have specific training purposes to reach certain goals - and yet every goal and all our desires stem from a singular urge to belong to something greater than ourselves, to rejoin a community of spirit and know that our soul is matched to the soul of the world. Often there is no realization of this until our mind grows quiet in distant miles and we feel the soul's longing for something unknown yet achingly familiar. Our bodies know. The stillness of our soul knows. And that's the drive that keeps on the path - a knowing beyond the mind. Keep the goals and train hard and accordingly - but don't lose sight of the true simplicity of why we run. To return. Always to return. 

Peace,

Eric

There's Music Already Playing

We run with a wisdom found in and beyond the body - a harmony of self and world unified to a single field of motion. When we are aligned with this field our steps fall in perfect rhythm to the sacred beat of the path we run. Perhaps only we can hear this song - music singular to those who cover great distance while remaining close to the land. No one else needs to hear. We are guided by this beat and our heart responds in a way that includes all who share this path. Listen to the song that plays for us alone. Our every step will sing along.

Peace,

Eric



Running Silent. Running Heard

Running is our voice. It's our chosen expression of being. In distance a runner goes deep within themselves and every step becomes a prayer heard through earth and sky. There is no need to announce our intentions as motion alone is enough to meet our deepest needs. There is a silent nod given to fellow runners on the road and trail - a shared understanding that we're each engaged in a singular pursuit that joins us together to the whole of all beings. A silent voice - yet the world has heard. 

Peace,

Eric

Runners Can Be Thoughtless

Thoughts are not the enemy. Our attachment to thoughts along with the importance and meaning we assign them are the troublemakers. When a hill becomes more than a hill - a mountain created by thoughts of tired legs and flagging will - we need a gentle reminder that this too will pass and each step brigs us nearer to its conclusion. We need to rest gently in the space between thoughts, the quiet, still point of our being. That's where spirit resides and its the source of all real power. Constant thoughts of good or ill will create a storm of emotions that tire us faster than any distance ever could. Yet that space, the gap that falls between thoughts is ever present, it's the ground of reality that remains as every thought passes. Find the gap and pause there - even as the legs remain in motion. This is peace. And it will carry us far.

Peace,

Eric



Running With Fulfillment

We are fulfilled by running - the extras - races, medals and recognition are but by products of the purity of our action. Even training to win or do well in a race is not about an end result but the process of daily commitment to something larger than ourselves. In the beginning of any endeavor ego plays a role - it's often the spark to a spiritual fire. Yet in the end ego is left behind as we pursue a truth that only freedom from attachments and expectation will bring. The true worth of a runner is not measured in arbitrary numbers or an imagined finished line - but in the grace of steps that's offered to the world. 

Peace,

Eric

Remembering Where Our Stride is Born

Deep down a runner seeks to return to original nature - our primal gift of motion and the grace of being. We become lost only in the absence of this awareness. Running is the vehicle of spirit. It's our return home. Stillness found in the midst of motion. Simply allow each step a full surrender - no agenda other than its kiss against the earth. Add nothing to this sacred formula. In this brief surrender - there is peace. There is the stillness of the infinite expressed in every step.

Peace,

Eric

Running With The Buddha's Smile

We run...not with hope but with faith in the

unfolding of what is now and the

continued perfection of all

things.

And in the stillness of this awareness - our motion

becomes the worlds caress. An offering of

self given with each step.

~

A lot can happen during a long run. A lot will happen during a long run. And so it is with life. We can plan - yet the unexpected will always occur and throw us off our game. Or maybe not. What if we had no overall agenda other than the allowance for all things is occur in their own right? It doesn't negate a general outline, preventive measures, or a preference for how we would like things to turn out - but it does allow for a spacious mindset that doesn't cling to anything and it prepared to deal with all things. It's running with a Buddha smile that welcomes life. All of it.

Peace,

Eric

Running as The Witness

Everything passes. No state that we may find ourselves in at any given time will last. Hills won't go up for ever and the downhill seems to end too soon. That's the nature of distance running. That's the way of life. Running is motion - and yet the spirit of running is found in the still, centered being of the runner. This is the witness. We are the witness. From the observation point of our deepest selves we are able to observe the scenery, to run the ups and downs and experience the ails and highs of the body from a unattached vantage point of wisdom and self care. We are at once intimate with every aspect of the one and free from grasping for anyone thing to remain. We are open. And free.

Peace,

Eric

Stepping With the Source

From the infinite...our

steps emerged -

And every mile a remembrance of

their home.

~

Trouble begins when we forget our Source. Running, work, relationships - life - if we forget that all of this is simply an extension of the Source of all things then we will suffer. More importantly we suffer when we forget that we are too are an extension of Source and that tending to this connection is the sole purpose of life.. Imagine that our every step is the reconnection of earth and self and it becomes a sacred exchange of energies. No more do we take and ask what more can be given - our mantra is how do we serve in a manner that best reflects who we are and nurtures the connection we serve with others.

Peace,

Eric

Free

Freedom...from self and all but

Self.

~

To run without an agenda does not mean we surrender our desires - even more so we have polished the gem of our true desire to shine all the more brightly against the passing whims that may distract us. A singular desire now blazes. We have come to value the simplicity of freedom above all else and running is the demonstration of this value. To cling to a lesser desire or small expectation keeps us limited to mere mortals in a race or on a long run - to surrender this misconception is to step fully into our identity as spirit given form and released as motion. Running with this realization brings an allowance for all possibilities to occur and the freedom to respond as fitting for someone not bound to conventional wisdom. We act in accordance to our highest wisdom. We run with spirit. We run as spirit.             

Peace,

Eric