The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 3:1

Released from greed, fear, anger,

absorbed in me and made pure

by the practice of wisdom, many

have attained my own state of being.

                                          (Bhagavad Gita 4:10)

~

Our steps made pure by repetition on the path - we

now find grace in the Self of

our existence.

The path is always holy.

• Once surrendered - we become more. If we confine our steps to familiar paths then we never enter the grace found in letting go. Running takes us on an interior journey even as our feet explore the limits of the body. What we find is that we tread a path of purification that makes us worthy to  become the Self of our true existence. In a paradox of events - the farther we run the less we identify with the mind and body. Distance destroys the ego and creates a holy space for the Self to reside. We're on the path of this realization even as we believe we're simply running on trail and road. Often is seems that ego senses its diminished importance and rebels with a stronger presence. It's an illusion. We're being purified. Keep running. There is wisdom found on the path  - we take a step, release, and keep faith in the grace of our stride.

  Peace,

Eric

*Verse 4:10 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - 2:7

Men say that the senses are strong.

But the mind is stronger than the senses;

the understanding is stronger

than the mind; and the strongest is the Self.

                                                      (Bhagavad Gita 3:42)

~

In distance - the Self expressed through steps and

stride. Beyond body and past the mind...we

find our true existence.

We run - to reach this destination.

• Our steps will eventually falter - and yet the stride itself goes on forever. Steps are small, fragile measures within a stride. A runner knows the importance of a single step, we can will one more step past the point of our exhaustion, our senses can draw us further to a goal, we taste victory and smell the final miles. But still our steps will betray us. The stride is the endlessness of our path that waits beyond steps - it's always present and holds the promise of our existence. Our stride is the extension of the Self - and when we reach past the point where our steps can carry - it is the stride that sees us through. The stride holds emptiness as hope for willful steps - surrender here, leave the pain found in body and mind and simply be the grace of motion. The magic of the stride is always present yet only found on rare occasions. We are limited by our attachments to thought and body. Magic is reached when we surrender our steps to the stride and ego to the Self. In each exchange we become something so much larger than before - this is why we run - to expand from a single step and find our stride within the infinite.

 

Peace,

Eric

*Verse 3:42 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 2:6

Through the unwise cling to their actions,

watching for results, the wise

are free of attachments, and act

for the well-being of the whole world.

                                           (Bhagavad Gita 3:25)

~

Our steps are selfless - giving wholly of

themselves in a length of stride.

And too we run in a lessening of self to

gain the world -

Every step becomes our connection.

• Free of attachments, unconcerned for results beyond the present moment - distance becomes the unlimited stretch of our existence. We are opened and open to the world - an exchange of self for Self. There are times we run unaware of this reality. The world cramps to the size of ego and leaves us grasping for identity - we are the leader or loser, the one who suffers or runs strong - we become attached to the roles we play. And yet there are moments as well when the world is split wide open - we see beyond the smallness of possessions and give away all of ourselves freely. We become the Self of our true identity. Distance is the gift that makes this possible for many. Running, surrendering moment by moment that which we cling too - is the grace that makes this possible for all.

  Peace,

Eric

Verse 3:25 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 2:5

Without concern for results,

perform the necessary action;

surrendering all attachments,

accomplish life's highest good.

                               (Bhagavad Gita 3:19)

~

Boundless - our stride is confined only by

steps not taken. There is freedom

found in letting go.

We run...seeking nothing beyond a single step and the

world opens to the grace of our stride.

• Running is the pleasure of spirit in motion. It is freedom displayed. The Self - our essential nature - is unconcerned with all comparisons. There is great fun in racing and yet deep joy is found only when we relinquish the need to compare ourselves with others, with past performances, and with goals attained or unattained. We can race in this deep joy, released from the fear of failure and the stress of success. Simply let go of all but the boundless nature of Self and stride - there is nothing this excludes. The world becomes our playground.

  Peace,

Eric

* Verse 3:19 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 2:4

He has nothing to achieve by action,

nothing to gain by inaction,

nor does he depend on any

person outside himself.

                                                               (Bhagavad Gita 3:18)

~

Beyond purpose - there is a calling. Our stride is

our response. We run for the

sole pleasure of

running.

We are free in the Self of our expression.

• There is no reason to run - and yet we do. Fitness can be gained by many means. We don't run for exercise. It's not physical, it's not mental - it's each of these seeking to know itself through motion. It's spirit, beckoned from stillness for the joy of its response. We explain this to no one - we simply share our delight. We are not seekers on the path - we are the path itself. Without seeking, our steps our here for their own pleasure.

 

Peace,

Eric

*Verse 3:18 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 2:3

But the man who delights in the Self,

who feels pure contentment and finds

perfect peace in the Self -

for him, there is no need to act.

                              (Bhagavad Gita 3:17)

~

With no need to run - we find ourselves expressed as

perfect motion. Running for Self and

stride alone.

There is joy on the path of true contentment.

• There come a point in  - a certain distance - when running is revealed as union of Self, stride and path. It may be fleeting, yet it holds the promise of our enlightenment. Our steps add nothing to the Self - they are the means of shredding layers of all that stands between our realization of the truth of who we are. Our steps reveal the distance between the Self and ego and bridge the space between the two until the Self is seen as the final step of our arrival. We run in thought and body until the Self is realized and then there is only spirit merged in holy union. Every mile is our deliverance.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 3:17 translated by Stephen Mitchell. 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 2:2

The whole world becomes a slave

to its own activity, Arjuna;

if you want to be truly free,

perform all action as worship.

                   (Bhagavad Gita 3:9)

~

We run - our stride lengthened in

devotion. And every step

we give as prayer.

We tread on holy ground...and breathe a sacred air.

* There is a holy communion between Self and stride - a whispered urging to let the earth be holy and our feet a given prayer. Our thoughts turn distance to a test of will. The ground is fought for every mile. We become adversaries of the path and our stride a weapon of self destruction. Our bodies are imprisoned by this frame of mind - the Self kept hidden by the ego's cry for more. Freedom is found in the quiet devotion offered to the path. Yes, we tread on holy ground and breathe a sacred air. Our stride is an act of worship - the Self laid down as prayerful steps. This is Creation and our steps partake in the making of the world. We have found a gift - given from heaven and our joyful response is offered in return. When our run is performed as an act of worship - we run free of earthly bonds.

Peace,

Eric

*Verse 3:9 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 2:1

The superior man is he

whose mind can control his senses;

with no attachment to results,

he engages in the yoga of action.

                            (Bhagavad Gita 3:7)

~

We are not swayed beyond the path - our stride is

given to motion yet unconcerned in

our arrival.

Our steps are sure in their direction.

• Distance is a measurement of circumstances as well as miles. Our steps respond with a natural will of their own - sure and trusting of a deeper wisdom. There is a greater communication between the ground and our feet - a silent language between Self and stride. With a clear mind we enter this conversation as well. Not swayed by thought or impulse - we observe the shifts of fate unattached to outcome. We have faith in our stride - with no concern beyond the present step. Nothing else is needed. 

 

Peace,

Eric

(Verse 3:7 translated by Stephen Mitchell)



The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 1:8

The man whom desires enter

as rivers flow into the sea,

filled yet always unmoving -

that man finds perfect peace.

                              (Bhagavad Gita 2:70)

~

We are the stillness of Self expressed through

motion. Our stride unwavering on the

path. There is no absence of

desire -

Yet every step points true...and the

run itself is all that matters.

• We don't run in the absence of desire - desire is the fuel that carries us to the path. Yet too we seek not to be swept by emotional currents that offer only distraction. As the ocean's depth remains unmoved by even the greatest storm above - so too does the Self remain secure in stillness. Desire is the runners fuel but not the path itself. We aware of the play of desires and chose our participation wisely - unattached to outcome - knowing fully that commitment to stride and Self is the end of all desire, it's our arrival to the sacred north our steps have always aimed for. Even if we didn't know it. In full awareness all desires become one just as every step becomes the stride. 

 Peace,

Eric

(Verse 2:70 translated by Stephen Mitchell )

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 1:7

The wise man lets go of all

results, whether good or bad,

and is focused on the action alone.

Yoga is skill in actions

                                                                (Bhagavad Gita 2:50)

~

Beyond our stride - only

steps yet taken.

And further still is no

concern.


We give ourselves to every step...and let go with each one taken.

• Results follow action. In running our singular focus is on a step. Our stride is what follows as each step is taken and then let go. Perfection is allowed. Yet if we were to judge and hold each step in scrutiny - there would be no action. Our stride would falter from the start. A larger point still is that we ourselves are but one step in an infinite stride taken by the Self. Action is taken through us - a step does not judge itself, it becomes the stride by its surrender - and by our letting go we become once more the Self in our arrival.     

Peace,

Eric

*Verse 2:50 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 1:6

On this path no effort is wasted,

no gain is ever reversed;

even a little of this practice

will shelter you from great sorrow.

                                                            (Bhagavad Gita 2:40)

~

Our stride - no more than a single step taken in the

promise of a moment. And now infinite

patience brings us here -

the faith of one more moment.

Our steps are never wasted.

~

• The greater part of our path is unseen - our run is a deeply felt journey that is only displayed in steps. The real run is within. We measure distance by outer standards, goals, times and a finish and yet the true goal of distance is to diminish ego through fatigue of will and physical strength until at last we find the ultimate source of power and endurance - the Self. The Self is our identity beyond ego, it's our shared union in reality. We are the Self. This is why runners gather for a solitary pursuit - a common discovery of a greater recognition through the trials of fatigue. So every run is an offered opportunity of discovery. The events that occur - from the high to the low - are in perfect order and bring us a moment of their grace. In this regard a single step is equal to a journey. And no step is ever wasted.  

Peace,

Eric

*Verse 2:40 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 1:5

Know what your duty is

and do it without hesitation.

For a warrior, there is nothing better

that a battle that duty enjoins.

                          (Bhagavad Gita 2:31)

~

Once on the path - there is only the run. We now belong to a

singular objective, no thought of time nor

even finish -

There is only the step that we have

taken.

Stretched before us...our stride leads to certainty.

• On the path, we have only one task to perform - run. There is no room for doubt, there is no need for fear or uncertainty. If we do but one thing, if we simply run in the certainty that this is what we're here to do - there can be no failure. Our success is internal, there is no measure of gain or loss outside our singular task. If we know this - there is nothing more to know of running.              

Peace,

Eric

*Verse 2:31 translated by Stephen Mitchell



The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 1:4

These bodies come to an end;

but that vast embodied Self

is ageless, fathomless, eternal.

Therefore you must fight, Arjuna.

                                                                                          (Bhagavad Gita 2:18)

~

We must run. The Self calls to be expressed as motion - we have been

chosen and perhaps too we have known this path before. Beyond the

body - and we are runners still. Our stride is formless, continuous,

and lasting  - our steps reborn through many lifetimes.

Through this life and then beyond - our run

continues.

• For whatever reason - we are runners now. Distance is our home and every step leads further to its comfort. Yet to know ourselves as runners is to dismiss the miles and steps. Even our body. It's the Self, existing beyond a runners form, that seeks expression. This is who we are, the truth of our reality - we are a higher force, intimate with the body, yet not of the body. The steps we take are not the stride but simply follow in its wake. When the body fails and steps falter - the Self continues. If we identity with the body than we find ourselves bound to form and all the weight that holds it down. When we see the truth of who we are - the Self residing in a body - we are free, formless and given flight along the path. Only the body tires - The Self continues on forever.

Peace,

Eric

*Bhagavad Gita verse 2:18 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

- 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 1:3

Physical sensations -cold

and heat, pleasure and pain -

are transient: they come and go;

so bear them patiently, Arjuna.

                                            (Bhagavad Gita 2:14)

~

We are stillness - the very depth of our being. Our bodies, gifted as the

means to know distance. Yet the Self, residing in stillness, we

remain. From this depth we watch all things pass -

unaffected by the world at large.

It's this still-point of being, the Self, that is the runner. We rest our

awareness here and allow the body to endure. Miles pass and

time follows - and still we are the witness.

Smiling at it all.

Peace,

Eric

*Portion of the Bhagavad Gita translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - 1:2

Just as, in this body, the Self

passes through childhood, youth,

and old age, so after death

it passes to another body.

                                         (Bhagavad Gita (2:13)

~

Our steps are reborn in the continuation of our stride. In the endlessness of the

Self the stride is a thread between lifetimes. Every run is a finite span

within the infinite - our bodies, simply a vehicle for Self expressed

through time. Distance is the mirror of our

journey - a story told through

every stage.

With the run finished our stride remains, unseen, yet complete. We will run

another day and again the Self will seek its full expression in the

steps we take.

Peace,

Eric

The Yoga of Distance Running

Never was there a time

when I did not exist, or you,

or these kings; nor will there come

a time when we cease to be.

                                                     (Bhagavad Gita 2:12)

~

Even in passing our stride is timeless - we have committed to

Self a moment between earth and step that remains

lasting in it's joy.

Our bodies will one day cease in their existence. The path itself will one

day end. Yet our stride is an extension of Self, always reaching in an

endless stretch of pure devotion. Our present steps lay the

ground work to forever.

Peace,

Eric

* Verse 2:12 translated by Stephen Mitchell 



The Promise of Our Stride

We suffer when we cling to any preferred experience - a moment holds a single step and within that instant a thousand worlds are offered. Yet we process one and disregard the others with little thought that the very next step will open again to these worlds. We cling as if our stride holds but one step and the experience found within is permanent. In truth our stride is infinite and what each step brings is temporary in existence. Pain and pleasure both offer gifts to be explored as long as that is what the moment holds. We open ourselves to the world our step delivers, drinking deeply of the wisdom found, and then again another step with a different world. There is no need to drag the past into our present step - our stride offers the grace of letting go along with the magic of beginnings. We simply run - and give ourselves to each world found. 

Peace,

Eric



Running As Is

We match our stride with the spaciousness of mind and nature - all things flow with grace and ease. Even as we struggle through the distance of our run we are at once surrendering concepts that bind us to suffering. The struggle itself becomes our embrace of letting go and the freedom found in release. We cling to nothing and yet remain open to the worlds provisions. We provide aid to all in need and comfort to those lost in their own internal battles - even if it's just a few kind words and caring glance. We accept what's offered in return. There is a gratefulness for every step that finds the earth. Everything is found here - in this moment - and our mind stretches in the wide expanse of our surroundings. 

Peace,

Eric



Stripped - The Art of Running Bare

Through distance we are stripped to essentials - physically, emotionally and spiritually. The need beyond the basics of the run are left at home.The weight of thought and opinion falls easily. Spirit is all we perceive. Running is the primordial expression of our being - stillness lent to motion for a moment of its grace. To experience the bare essences of the self we simply let go of all things we are not - from thought to form we drop all conceptions. What is left is beyond concept and can't be described - but we know it - we recognize it - it's who we are. Through distance we are stripped of all things but one - the spaciousness of our true nature.

Peace,
Eric


The Complete Art of Running

Every step is complete - each holds an arrival and departure in their moment on the earth. We collect steps within a stride and at once the path welcomes us in our completion. There is nothing left to be done, nowhere we have to go and distance becomes the means of realization - we are home. Knowing this we no longer strive to reach a finish measured by anything other than our own arrival. We run by our own standards - obeying outer rules while engaged in our own inner conversation of events. A race becomes a gathering of singular aspects of the whole - runners each belonging to a greater completion still. There is no one to beat when our steps are matched in union. There is only joy - a happiness born of knowing who we are and why we are here and having nothing left to prove. We are complete. 

Peace,

Eric



Our Stride Is Infinite

In the absence of fear our stride is infinite. Fearful thoughts limit the distance we run and the borders we strive for. And yet a thought itself in boundless - without the mind grasping for its return, a thought would pass harmless though the mind, leaving no trace behind. Fear is a warning of the senses and serves us well in keeping the body safe. If we are able to create a little space between the initial stirring of fear and our response to it we are able to enter a realm beyond the "flight or fight" pattern that keeps us limited in choice and awareness. Spaciousness is not a state to be achieved - it's a recognition of self and being. We are spacious by nature. As we run in greater distances our mind begins to identify with the endlessness of our stride, the space between steps and length of breath drawn. We remember who we are and see with eyes newly accustomed to witnessing the infinite. We are now beyond the grip of fear and choices unfold in a limitless option of one - how deeply will we extend ourselves as love in every step and situation. In the absence of fear - love is who we are.

Peace,

Eric



Running As Perfection

The perfection of our run is not measured by our performance. Running distance is beyond concepts such as finishing times and medals - they are the fringe bonus of our actions. Perfection isn't measured, it's realized in awareness as each steps plays out its role to make a stride. We are nature's art and our steps are used as brush stroke of her perfection against the earth. To judge ourselves unworthy of our role is to judge mystery - the brush displays its faith in the guidance of the artist's hand. We take no missteps. We are guided in a singular purpose of learning to express ourselves as love in any given situation. In this regard not a single mistake is ever made. As the distance of a run spreads before us - we surrender - and greet each step as opportunities of our expression. Love, faith and gratitude. 

Peace,

Eric



It's Going To Hurt - But You Don't Have To Suffer

A single step contains the whole run. Distance is measured by the mind and our legs respond to the thoughts we hold. It's the acceptance of what is found within each moment that frees us from suffering. The legs will ache and we will still thirst and hunger - yet these conditions are the perfect expression of the miles and work we have put in. To wish otherwise is to invite suffering. The very next moment we may find a reserve of strength, hunger may abate and thirst satisfied. This too is perfection. Every step delivers the wonders of a new world - our stride contains a universe. We are simply explorers of what is - nothing more. Nothing else is needed. 

Peace,

Eric



Non-Doing (Yet) Running

Perhaps there is some confusion on the matter of non-doing and running - of allowing and intending. The basis of our reality is stillness and from this point the smallest intention flickers in the birth of motion. Yet stillness remains our reality. Running is the allowance of our stillness to caress the earth. No effort - we do nothing. A single intent and then let go. Rain drops intend to reach the sea and yet the course of their travels remain a mystery. There is no need to know. We run with the same faith as a drop of rain - we know that we will cover ground, we intend a single step to birth a stride, and we have faith in the mystery of it all. 

Peace,

Eric



Running Alone Together

We are pieces of a whole and more - we are the whole as well. As runners we become mindful of a shared aloneness. As miles accumulate our loneliness expands to truly be a lone experience of all that is. Nothing, no one, can excluded as then we enter back into duality and our run lessens again to separate worlds. Running seems solitary only in the illusion of thought and body. In stillness we are the hushed nature of reality. In motion we sweep the world with the stride of our caress. Distance is the common factor that removes illusions of being kept apart. We run to know ourselves as whole. We run to know ourselves as one. We run to find ourselves together. 

Peace,

Eric



Rely On The Unseen

Rely on the unseen. Many things will aid our steps through distance - water, fuel, shoes - yet it's the unseen that carries to our finishing steps. When all else ends there will always and only be the infinite. When we can relinquish one thing at a time - discarding comfort as well as discomfort - we reach the single point of freedom where there is nothing else to give away, nothing left to grasp and nowhere to turn but within. There's nothing left - yet everything is here for our existence and we exist for all things. When we reach this point, when the unseen pulses through the very ground of our being - we run. 

Peace,

Eric



Yield

We don't fight the path - not of life and not the one we run. To yield is to find strength in the way things are within each present moment. Our strength lays not in fighting an immovable object or racing every hill. We yield outer force to return to the center of our being -where the nature of the self is to flow, abide and flow again. Efficiency over force is power. In this way we endure forever. 

Peace,

Eric



Allowing Perfection

Perfect. Each moment of every run is perfection. Our thoughts may judge otherwise however. Yet the simple act of recognizing the inherent "rightness" of the moment brings a speciousness of mind that can allow us to simply be within the experience without an attachment to our preferences. We bypass the judgmental mind with awareness of it's presence and good humor at its activities. Even our judgment is perfect within the moment - awareness smiles at this. The world is aligned for our steps and the air is ripe for breath. Simplify. Run, breathe, smile. Beyond this is complications and belongs to the realm of the thinking mind. We are pure. We are awareness. We are beings of motion - running. 

Peace,

Eric

Terence Mckenna - Nobody knows jack shit about what is going on

Running As a Means To An End (of self)

Speed, time and distance are all means to plumb the depths of why we run - why we truly run. The reason we run is expressed as uniquely as each individual runner and yet is as common as the ground we run together. There is something silent, still, and peaceful that waits on the other side of thought and feeling. It is our essential self and it is beyond all means used on the path to reach find it - and still it is not separate from the means. It's all things. We're all things. Distance strips us of the illusions of I, me and mine. The path no longer unfolds before us - we unfold as the path. We may still take great pleasure in performance and competition - but we are unattached to the final outcome of all finite games. Running has delivered us to the infinite...and now nothing else will ever do. 

.

Peace,

Eric

Arnold Mindell on Process Oriented Ecology: Junk as Trash and Value

Run Without Effort

Run without effort. This is no contradiction - and doesn't imply that we won't work hard or run fast when it is time to do so. Yet even on the steepest hill and quickest stride we will remain without effort as long as we stay centered in the reason we are running - love. There is a holy communion between are steps and the earth. We breathe air that has touched the heavens. This is a shared experience of body, soul, ground and sky. Trees vibrate in our presence and birds sing for our pleasure. We return the favors with the grace of our stride and smile on our lips. If we are not loving what we are doing - even the work and sweat ad toil - than it simply means we are resisting what the present moment holds. Release, breathe, relax and simply take one more step. There is indeed a promise that will be delivered. 

Peace,

Eric