The Running Sutras - Verse 8:4

The Blessed Lord Said:

Any offering - a leaf,

a flower or fruit, a cup

of water - I will accept it

if given with a loving heart.

                                           (Bhagavad Gita 9:26)

~

Our steps...laid down in worship to

something deeper than the

trail.

We are the giver and the gift received.

• Every step is an offering to the path and our stride is a prayerful response to greater gifts received. Beyond a token - we are giving the essence of ourselves back to the Divine. Motion, grace and a continuous surrendering of our lesser selves to embrace the whole - this is what we offer and again they are the gifts that we receive. Devotion is circular. There is no end in the infinite gift of giving.

 Peace,

Eric

* Verse 9:26 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 8:3

The Blessed Lord Said:

But the truly wise, Arjuna,

who dive deep into themselves,

fearless, one-pointed, know me

as the inexhaustible source.

                                          (Bhagavad Gita 9:13)

~

Every path a reflection - and our stride

unfolds to the infinite nature

within.

We are revealed in steps taken.

• All things pass. Yet the infinite remains. This is the source of existence, the core of our very being. Everything else is an illusion of time and space. When we run from the source we are able to tap into a strength far greater than that of the will - we reach the unlimited power of spirit. To do so requires the unconditional surrender of will and ego - these are tools of the mind and body. Surrender to the Self and we go beyond the need for tools. The Source provides. Our role is to simply run.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 9:13 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 8:2

The Blessed Lord Said:

Under my guidance, Nature

brings forth all beings, all things

animate or inanimate,

and sets the whole universe in motion.

                                                        (Bhagavad Gita 9:10)

~

Compelled - a silent urge for motion...and

our legs surrender to this

call.

We are tides to the pull of something larger.

• We are desire expressed as form and motion - a wish from the lips of the infinite to continue as a breath against the world. We know of a subtle force that whispers just a single word - run. This is our message and a spread of faith in every step - we run to seek an expansion of spirit and to know ourselves as the Self. There is no greater calling.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 9:10 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - -Verse 8:1

The Blessed Lord Said:

Just as the all-moving wind,

wherever it goes, always

remains in the vastness of space,

all beings remain within me.

                                        (Bhagavad Gita 9:6)

~

expressed as motion...our steps

explore the stillness of the

world.

No matter where we are - there is the path.

• Even in motion we are an expression of stillness - the essential nature of the Self displayed in contrast to our stride. We are silence given voice and spirit birthed in form. Yet still in all things - we remain infinite. This is the place from which we run.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 9:6 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 7:5

The Blessed Lord Said:



This Supreme Person, Arjuna,

who contains all beings and extends

to the limits of all that is,

can be reached by whole hearted devotion.

                                        (Bhagavad Gita 8:22)

~

It's the path - a breath of trail through

mind and wooded acres.

Our steps are infinite in their devotion.

• We are the Self and our steps deliver us to this revelation. Nature is our return - it's through distance of the mind reflected back as earth and sky and all of life that reveals the singularity of our existence. We run past ego into the realm of pure and simple being. Distance brings us home.

 Peace,

Eric

* Verse 8:22 translated by Stephen Mitchell. 

The Running Sutras - 7:4

The Blessed Lord Said:

I will teach you about the state

called the eternal, the absolute,

which those who strive toward me enter

desireless, freed from attachments.

                                                   (Bhagavad Gita 8:11)

~

Distance is our deliverance - each step drawn to

know itself larger in the stride.

To those who follow - the Absolute.

• The paradox - running leads to stillness. There is a depth of quiet found holy and only those who are free from the grasp of thought may enter. Our steps lead by the rhythm of their nature-  drawing us not only farther on the path but to the place where path and runner merge and a profound stillness pervades all things. Even in motion all is still, our steps a hush against the path and our heart beating as the quiet pulse of the world. We have reached the infinite - our stride unfolds in welcome. We've arrived.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 8:11 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 7:3

Meditate on the Guide,

the Giver of all, the Primordial

Poet, smaller than an atom,

unthinkable, brilliant as the sun.

                                                  (Bhagavad Gita 8:9)

~

Beyond steps - there is the stride, abiding in the

infinite potential of a promised

foot fall.

Beyond thought - there is the Self...

• Once fatigued - we often place our thoughts upon a single step, one step and then repeated until at last the Absolute stride is revealed. This is the path to the Self. We can begin every run with the same intent - our mind concentrated to the singular aspect of the Self and soon we find the whole world revealed in its potential. Our stride exists for this alone.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 8:9 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 7:2

The Blessed Lord Said:

Strong in the practice of yoga,

with a mind that is rooted in me

and in nothing else, and you will reach

the Supreme Person that I am.

                                             (Bhagavad Gita 8:8)

~

Fully engaged within a moments step - our

stride is infinite in its

reach.

Each step is its own reward.

• Our stride is the result of each step one pointed in its attention - in concentrated awareness their singularity is erased and the stride is born. We too belong in a union of more. The Self waits only for the awareness of our unity with the Divine. Our steps are a means of concentration and revelation - we become the Self as they become the stride. Running is our path to unity.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 8:8 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 7:1

Freedom is union with the deathless;

the Self is the essence of all things;

its creative power, called action,

causes the whole world to be.

                                        (Bhagavad Gita 8:3)

~

From stillness - we are expressed as motion. Our steps a

continuous sweep of space and time.

Yet stillness we

remain.

We run - to caress the world in motion.

• We run not just to realize the Self through distance - but to rejoice in every subtle recognition of the Self we find along the way. Motion is simply spirit seeking to know itself in contrast. In the realization of Self we become boundless in our expression and our every step is an exploration of our creative power. There is joy in Being and this simply can't be contained. The world exists for the pleasure of our Being.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 8:3 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 6:4

The Blessed Lord Said:

Those who know me, and the nature

of beings, of gods, and of worship,

are always with me in spirit,

even at the hour of their death.

                                                (Bhagavad Gita 7:30)

~

The path remains - even past final

steps and the stillness of

beyond.

Our stride continues.

• Know each step - feel its commitment to earth and stride - there is a pull to motion and our feet respond in worship to the ground. Stillness is our essence and motion a soft caress of space and time against us. We run in a prayerful understanding of our existence. Knowing each step - we commit to run forever.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 7:30 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 6:3

The Blessed Lord Said:

Veiled in my mystery and power,

I am not perceived by most men;

their deluded minds cannot see me,

the Unborn, the Changeless, the Undying.

                                                             (Bhagavad Gita 7:25)

~

We are revealed in distance - stripped by steps to

the essence of the Self. For this

alone - we

endure.

To know the Self - we run.

• Steps will never know the mystery of the stride until a letting go of their singularity - diving fully into the gathering ground that spreads before our feet. Distance is our deliverance. The path unfolds to the unity of steps. It's motion that reveals the essence of everything - as wind and storm carve a canyon - we too are revealed as holy space. We are the stillness that motion defines.

 Peace,

Eric

* Verse 7:25 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 6:2

The Blessed Lord Said:

There is nothing more fundamental

than I, Arjuna; all worlds,

all beings, are strung upon me

like pearls on a single thread.

                                           (Bhagavad Gita 7:7)

~

An illusion - as if every step existed in a

single world. And yet our stride

unfolds in infinite

wonder.

The path we run is endless.

• The path is the Self - the ground of our being that meets each step in realization. We are the path and steps are but an illusion that gives way to the reality of the stride. There is no arrival - only an awakening to the present moment and the awareness that the ground we run is found holy and full of the direct revelation of the Self. We are the path - and the path is infinite.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 7:7 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 6:1

The Blessed Lord Said:

Listen, Arjuna: I will tell you

how you can know me beyond doubt

by practicing nonattachment

and surrendering yourself to me.

                                            (Bhagavad Gita 7:1)

~

We know the path through running - our

steps given freely to something

larger than ourselves.

The infinite waits for our surrender.

• Distance strips a runner to bare essentials - a single step is our deliverance - and the trivial is discarded with every passing mile. We willingly give away the self we thought we knew. There is something larger lurking at the edge of thought - just beyond - another world, the infinite, the Self. Our steps will take us there.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 7:1 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 5:6

Striving with constant effort,

cleansing himself of all sin

through many lifetimes, as last

he attains his ultimate goal.

                                     (Bhagavad Gita 6:45)

~

A single step is finite in its giving - and yet the stride is

endless from this gift. We have this lifetime and

still more we have the infinite.

In a single step...we could run forever.

• There is right effort - with no strain but an act of devotion - we return countless times to purify ourselves through the steps we give to the path. We have chosen to be runners for the gift of effort - we face it full on with openness and a willingness to transmute suffering to the noble pursuit of knowing the Self through the distance that we cover. Our effort is wise. Our spirit is strong. Indeed through many lifetimes...we may run forever.

 Peace,

Eric

* Verse 6:45 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 5:5

Mature in yoga, impartial

everywhere he looks,

he sees himself in all beings

and in all beings in himself.

                                      (Bhagavad Gita 6:29)

~

The path is our reflection - infinite, open, and

full in its receiving. We run to know

ourselves in the distance of its

wonder.

Every step is joyful in discovery.

• We look to all things on the path as the Self rediscovering itself in distance - miles reflecting worlds both within and without . Nothing can be seen as separate and everything exist as an extension of the Self. As steps make up the stride - we too are essential to something vast and infinite. Distance is the template for this discovery. We meet the Self along the way.

 Peace,

Eric

* Verse 6:29 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 5:4

When his mind becomes clear and peaceful,

he enters absolute joy;

his passions are calmed forever;

he is utterly absorbed in God.

                                           (Bhagavad Gita 6:27)

~

Absorbed within the stride yet

still a journey of their

own -

Our steps are joyful in their meaning.

• Covering distance is not the goal - it's the process of our becoming - each step a leading moment into absorption into the timeless realm of the Self. Our steps a mantra to the path that brings us to realization. We run to know ourselves as the ground of our true being - our steps are the measured joy of our continuous self discovery. We run - for the pleasure of our being.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 6:27 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 5:3

However often the restless

mind may break loose and wander.

he should rein it in and constantly

bring it back to the Self.

                                   (Bhagavad Gita 6:26)

~

Our steps may wander - yet the stride remains

constant in its devotion to the

path.

There is only one direction home.

• Our minds will wander - and yet with the infinite patience of a singular intent -we will return our thoughts upon the path. Indeed there is only one direction, an inward journey to realization of the Self. We have faith in our stride to lead us there and every step becomes a signpost full of meaning along the way. Each step could be our awakening. The path unfolds in promise.

 Peace,

Eric

* Verse 6:26 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 5:2

When a man has mastered himself,

he is perfectly at ease in cold,

in heat, in pleasure or pain,

in honor or in disgrace.

                               (Bhagavad Gita 6:7)

~

We are stillness in a

world of motion -

Even as our steps are given to the

currents of the stride.

We remain in our perfection.

 

• Mastery is simply realization of the Self within - from this vantage we are untouched by the world at large and unmoved by inner storms of emotions. We run centered in the Self, joyful in motion and unconcerned beyond path and stride for they too are the Self in full expression.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 6:7 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Running Sutras - Verse 5:1

Know that right action itself

is renunciation, Arjuna;

in the yoga of action, you first

renounce your own selfish will.

                                             (Bhagavad Gita 6:2)

~

As if an answer to a silent call...our

steps echo through the distance

of their reply.

Surrendering to the run - every step found pure and holy.

• Surrendering all but devotion - we give ourselves to every run. The path is clear, it demands a holiness not found in selfish action. Our steps become pure in their devotion to the stride. In their surrender - we find our way. We now meet the world empty of all but the Self.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 6:2 translated by Stephen Mitchell



The Running Sutras - Verse 4:5

He who finds peace and joy

and radiance within himself -

that man becomes one with God

and vanishes into God's bliss.

                                          (Bhagavad Gita 5:24)

~

The path spreads in distance - always

farther yet still found beneath

our steps.

Here is where the race is won.

• Look no farther than the present step - the path is our deliverance. We run, not to seek the Self but to strip the barriers from our realization - the Self is always here, abiding in the very fabric of our being. Look no farther.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 5:24 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 4:4

A man unattached to sensations,

who finds fulfillment in the Self,

whose mind has become pure freedom,

attains an imperishable joy.

                                         (Bhagavad Gita 5:21)

~

We run - unattached to passing thoughts and

miles. Every step our

destination.

We find joy in our arrival.

• With every step the beginning and end of our destination we find ourselves at home in the one constant beyond change - the Self. Distance stripes a runner to the bareness of stride and Self - nothing remains that is not linked to the world at large. With the return of our original nature we become a witness to all that passes - nothing happens to us and yet everything occurs through us - we find ourselves as impartial creators to our own creation. In the realization of the Self, reality becomes the joy of every step. Each moment is its own perfection. And to this - we belong.

 Peace,

Eric

* Verse 5:21 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 4:3

Offering his actions to God,

he is free of all action; sin

rolls off him, as drops of water

roll off a lotus leaf.

                                                           (Bhagavad Gita 5:10)

~

Our steps are offered to the stride...becoming

more in the selfless action of their

giving.

Through distance - we give ourselves away.

Becoming.....

• Our breath is offered to the air, our heartbeat gives rhythm to the world, and each step becomes the stride of our expression. We run to give ourselves away. Our every act devout and purifying simply by the giving. It by the pureness of this offering that we find freedom - we reach an emptiness existing past the thoughts that hold us to the body. We find the Self and come to know it's the reality of who we are. There are no actions we seek to hold, nothing binds us to possession. We give. Our stride is the path to selflessness and the Self. And so we keep running.

 Peace,

Eric

Verse 5:10 translated by Stephen Mitchell. 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 4:2

Wholehearted, purified, mastering

body and mind, his self

becomes the self of all beings;

he is unstained by anything he does.

                                          (Bhagavad Gita 5:7)

~

Surrendering of self ...all steps are joined in

union to the stride -

And so our path is singular in nature.

• Yoga is a Sanskrit world that means to yolk, or join together - it is the art of union - bringing our Divine nature in harmony with our physical and mental aspects. Running is the perfect display of union, our steps must be selfless to harmonize within the greater stride, our mind is sharp and body in tune with internal and external surroundings. This is only the beginning - the preparatory actions that lead to our surrender to the Self. As steps let go in order to form the stride, so too do we surrender in order to join the greater whole of our reality. It's distance that leads us to union - a point comes in our surrender when we release all that we cling to within our little world of self and discover that we reside in a universe where all is connected through the Self and there are worlds within worlds in an endless stream of one. This is Self realization and the goal of yoga, it is the end result of tremendous miles we have tread upon the path. Once glimpsed, the Self will not be denied, it will call for further miles until again we find this union. We are the Self and miles provide this revelation - once remembered - our steps are free in the holiness of their expression.

 Peace,

Eric

* Verse 5:7 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 4:1

The true renunciate neither

desires things nor avoids them;

indifferent to pleasure and pain,

he is easily freed from all bondage.

                                   (Bhagavad Gita 5:3)

~

We seek nothing beyond the stride - knowing that

our every step contains the world.

We abide within the moments

offering.

• We are not asked to renounce anything - we seek freedom not by avoidance but in non-attachment. In the distance of a run a thousand things may happen - we are the internal witness to them all. We know that all things pass and that every experience belongs to the finite world. Yet we are infinite beings and see beyond distinctions. A hill includes a climb and a descent and our stride only knows continuation - so we are joyful in our response. We climb and smile and smile and descend. We are free from the wish for a hill to be anything other than the suchness of a hill. We are learning to embrace the whole of our experience and view our preferences with a smile - they too belong.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 5:3 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 3:7

A man is not bound by action

who renounces action through yoga,

who concentrates on the Self,

and whose doubt is cut off by wisdom.

                                  (Bhagavad Gita 4:41)

~

We gain freedom in surrender - a letting go yet

still belonging to a whole.

And so our stride is held by the

faith of every step.

The path is vast -our steps eager to explore.

• We surrender to nothing - giving ourselves to the promise of emptiness left behind by the passing of our concerns and expectations. This is sacred space. It's the path that stretches beyond boundaries and waits for our steps to find its hallowed ground. Yet first we must make ourselves worthy - we let go of doubtful steps and find our authentic stride. It's this surrender that frees us to the Self - we are no longer bound by the smallness of the world - our stride is infinite and the path beckons us to explore. Have faith that every step is leading us beyond a simple finish line. We are more than racers - we are the Self given to a body - we are runners on an infinite quest of letting go and finding more.

 Peace,

Eric

Verse 4:41 translated by Stephen Mitchell 



The Yoga Of Distance Running - Verse 3:6

When a man has let go of attachments,

when his mind is rooted in wisdom,

everything he does is worship

and his actions all melt away.

                              (Bhagavad Gita 4:23)

~

Once given fully to the path...our

steps tread on holy ground -

And our stride is pure in its devotion.

• Wisdom, as seen through the lens of yoga and the Bhagavad Gita, is the clear perception of unity and sacredness of life. We are joined on the path - by the path itself - in a holy union of earth, sky and fellow runners. What seems as a void between ourselves and the world is actually a thread that binds us in a shared experience of being. We are Self meeting the Self through the means of separation - an illusion of space and time. Once perception is cleared to reality, we can no longer ignore this connection and our response becomes pure in deep devotion. Everything is sacred. Our steps become a prayerful caress against the earth and each breath a silent song of worship to the air. We are part of something grand, something joyful and more we are essential to existence itself - nothing exist apart from us. Running is no longer a simple action - it's a full throated cry of Being. Our stride is an exclamation - we are runners and every step is holy to the world.

 Peace,

Eric

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 3:5

Surrendering all thoughts of outcome,

unperturbed , self-reliant,

he does nothing at all, even

when fully engaged in action.

                         (Bhagavad Gita 4:20)

~

Our steps think nothing of the stride - they

are content within the moments

offering.

And this alone is their becoming.

• We run with what the moment offers - and in return we surrender all that we cling to at the moments door. Our goal is to enter each moment new, reborn in our original promise. There is no need to shed fatigue - only the notion of how we wish our legs would feel. In this way we run beyond the confines of tired, sore and other labels. We engage in running as an artist - our steps a mindful stroke against the canvas and yet unattached to our creation at large. Each stroke adds to the deliverance of a masterpiece. Our steps will always deliver us to another moment. We need to go no further. We have arrived.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 4:20 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 3:4

With no desire for success,

no anxiety about failure,

indifferent to results, he burns up

his actions in the fire of wisdom.

                           (Bhagavad Gita 4:19)

~

Our stride is boundless - and every step '

commits only to a single

moment.

There is freedom found in letting go.

• As a runner we have choices that affect the outcome of our run - and every choice spirals in an endless probability of events. Given the weight of such choice it would be easy to find ourselves anchored with indecision and then regret for events that turn bad. Karma Yoga teaches that we make a choice based on gathered knowledge and intuitive guidance and then instantly release our hold on events. Wisdom dictates the we become responsive beings instead of reactive doers. This is freedom. We are not bound by choice or following results. We simply offer our response. In this regard success and failure are judgments of the mind and the after flow of each response - the reality exists beyond labels. To be boundless - commit to single step - and then let go. This is how we find our stride.

 Peace,

Eric

*Verse 4:19 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 3:3

This is how actions were done

by the ancient seekers of freedom;

follow their example: act,

surrendering the fruits of action. 

                             (Bhagavad Gita 4:15)

~

Our steps are given wholly to the stride - leaving

nothing in the wake of their

becoming.

Surrendering to the Self - we run with pure abandon.

• Running is enough - it's not just motion, it is our arrival - and we find ourselves in the perfection of every step that gives of itself to bring us here. There is great faith to every step - a refusal to remain anchored to the ground and yet surrendering its flight once more. By this selfless action our stride is born and we too must let go of all save motion. In our refusal to cling to ground or sky we are free of laws that bind us to either - we belong solely to the Self and our stride become an expression of this freedom. This is the joy of running: the continuous grace of simply letting go.

 Peace,

Eric



*Verse 4:15 translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Yoga of Distance Running - Verse 3:2

However men try to reach me,

I return their love with my love;

whatever path they may travel,

it leads to me in the end.

                        (Bhagavad Gita 4:11)

~

Regardless where steps may fall...our

stride points true in its

direction.

We run in the certainty of our salvation.

• However we begin - running leads to grace. We can't help but to surrender to fatigue, to bend under the weight of time and elements. Distance will break us all - and we were meant to be broken. This is the path of our destruction. This is the path of our salvation. True grace eludes the ego - we can't think or will it into existence. Grace is already here and waits only for our surrender. Yet first we have to exhaust the ego and this can't be done by force - we break the ego down with repetition - a single step repeated. If we know this - if we truly know that each step is leading to the grace of Self - then each step becomes a holy act, a gift of love received and given to the Self. Indeed we tread on holy ground. We soon see that the path itself is our salvation and the choice to run was never really ours - we were called to give voice to this expression and the path exists only as means for our steps to sing. Every song is different and yet the voice in which we sing belongs to all. Running is our song and grace belongs to those who sing it.

 Peace,

Eric

* Verse 4:11 translated by Stephen Mitchell