Follow

Trackless - we leave only thoughts behind. And those who wish to follow must seek their way with an empty mind. The path is ours alone.

~

There is valuable information available for runners - books, videos and encouraging words and advice from those who have gone before and covered the miles we seek to run. We learn from every source. Yet in the end it is all left behind for the value of our own instinctive surrender into the unknown. We can be guided, supported and befriended - but we will take each step alone as another's truth is just a finger pointing at the moon. The path waits for our own experience, steps and understanding before unfolding as the way.

Peace,

Eric

Become

each step a return - to earth, to air...to

something deep within

ourselves.

We are travelers on a homeward path.

~

With every step a return to a deep familiar - there is no rush to be beyond the present moment. We enjoy what we become and then just as brief another step is taken and again we are reborn.

Peace,

Eric

Initmate

We find the earth through single steps. And the sky is passed against our lips. In certain moments - we are intimate with the world.

~

Running is how we find these moments

Peace,

Eric

Definitition Of A Step

It's the flesh - pressed against

another world.

Becoming one in the step of its connection.

~

Where do we leave off and the world begins? Only a thought divides. Our steps remind us of our connection - a quick press against the earth and again lifted briefly to the sky. We lose our sense of separate self in the easy repetition through changing worlds. Ground and air are but different aspects of one and our steps a thread in this connection. There is no becoming - only a shifting awareness of now our touch to earth and now once more to air. The reality of now remains one. We are literally earth/air/runner in dependence of attention. In this awareness we are free to draw from the source of our belonging - we are circulating a continuous stream of steps and identity that contain all aspects of the world.

Peace,

Eric

Running From Innocence

from a thought - and so our steps flow in

fear or beauty

~

Every step declares the path and each is taken with a thought in mind. Yet preceding thought is the clear, naked awareness of our nature. Run from there. How? Begin with disbelief. Not every thought belongs to reality. Until we make them so. Until we believe them. And then the world solidifies. Self-inquiry is the art of gentle questioning. Is each thought true? Is it always so? And deeper still - who is the one asking? These question are our return to original mind. Asked in innocence we are returned to innocence. Our steps processed from here.

Peace,

Eric

Through Us

distance runs through us - unfolding to the

pace of our

acceptance

~

Distance runs through us, time runs through us, all things must pass their course through our existence for the simple reason that nothing is separate from the reality of our true nature. We are all things. The mistake most often made is on viewing distance as a an outer place to be overcome - rather it is an aspect of self to be explored, experienced and enjoyed. There is no place to arrive and no time in which to strive for - there is only the moment viewed as an extension of existence ready now for our awareness. Run, relax and be present.

Peace,

Eric

Running - No Meaning/Deeper Meaning

the ground between us - eager for the

steps of our connection

~

And so much more - running is the final realization of earth and step. It's the dharma of completion. Each step the fulfillment of gravity and the reason for the earth's abiding presence. Running is not just an act of love - it's love expressed as motion. Of course too running is just a simple act. Exercise. Devoid of deeper meaning.

Nothing is ever quite the way it seems.

Peace,

Eric 

Our Response

We are responsive - supple in thought and action. The world is as offered and our addition is acceptance. This is original mind. And yet we still affect change. By refusing to grasp what ebbs and hoard what flows we are joined in union with all things. The subtle aspect of our nature - the essential I Am of who we are - is merged to the world in its passage. Our self is now essential and the world shines with our brightness.

~

To be a responsive runner means to accept the earth in all conditions and merge our steps against the ground. We listen to the will of nature and allow ourselves to be a voice in the chorus of Her song. Our body speaks to us of thirst and hunger and it's joy and struggle. We are tender in response. The mind offers thought and will and we give our allowance for their passage - they serve the greater good and then they're gone. There is no need to cling. And so comes freedom.

Peace,

Eric



Greater Will

Follow - for every step there is a path. Nothing more is needed. Our agenda is fixed only in the mind and a greater will extends itself for exploration. Trust. Home is the direction we are facing.

~

All we have to do is run. Or walk. Or nothing at all. It's our adventure.

Peace,

Eric

Its Own Reward

No effort given - for even struggle is a gift to overcome. In later miles we continue simply for the pleasure of continuing. There are no goals.

Distance is its own reward.

Peace,

Eric

No Distance

There is no distance until the moment of a step.

Until then - only the boundless

nature of the

mind.

~

Run - as if our steps belonged to non-existence. 

No Concern

No distance lies outside the mind. Within a single step our stride is stretched forever. There is no need to concern ourselves beyond this moment. Our needs are met with every step.

Peace,

Eric

Follows

There is a flow to all things - steps and path meet in their own perfection. Each ready to be more by their own degree of lessening. There is nothing to resist. Our own perfection follows.

Peace,

Eric

Again

We are the center - and yet the world divides by each thought and demand. Returning to original mind is the acceptance of what is. Running a great length is brought by the simplicity of a single step. Life isn't complicated. Every step is a return to the absolute promise of the present moment. Running brings us to center - again. And again,

Peace,

Eric

Step Lightly

Lightly - our steps

fall to their

own

belonging.

~

Running isn't a serious concern. It's a joyous occasion of retuning steps to their source and the breath again becoming mingled through the world. It's a reuniting. And sometimes it hurts. In infinite ways we find balance - joy and suffering two sides belonging to each other. We run in the middle - certain only that our steps will fall.

Peace,

Eric

Belonging

A deep belonging  - breath to air and steps against earth. Running is the return of all things to original order.

Peace,

Eric

All Things Reach

Meeting - somewhere between a steps release and its reception by the earth. All things reach. Our initial contact is that place between. It's a place where at once both earth and runner are less and yet greater still - than the moment just before.

Peace,

Eric

Through Distance

We seek - yet not to know how far we can run. But to see how much further we exist. Our steps meet themselves through distance.

Peace,

Eric

Not Here

We're not here. Boundless in existence - we are too vast to be contained. Running is the infinite channeled to a moments touch against the earth. We're not here. Yet in single steps we find the world.

Peace,

Eric



We Exist Beyond

We exist beyond - our steps and thoughts no more than brief anchors to earth and form. Running is two worlds at once. Only one is eternal. That's are destination - more so it is our realization. In truth we are never absent from the reality of home. The farther we run the closer we get to the bliss of this existence. Running - through sheer repetition of breath and steps - takes us again to who we are beyond the veil of life's illusions.

Peace,

Eric 

Something Remains

It's the foot to earth - the placing of a single step and the holiness found in its connection to the ground. This one moment. Nothing else is our concern and nothing exists beyond the sanctity of this touch. Everything else within the measured distance of a run is temporal in its reality. Even our steps will fade and one day too the earth as well - yet our touch, our touch remains eternal.

Peace,

Eric

Things That Shift

Reality shifts with every step. Our world is the belief held deepest at the moment. The gift of running is the insight found in the insular world of distance. We are confined to the extended realm of body - steps making miles that hold us briefly captive in thoughts of joy or pain depending on what the moment offers. Yet soon we find beneath shifting realities is an ever present witness to change. That's the insight. Something remains in calm awareness through miles and shifts of thought. That's our primordial mind that resides independent of constant flux. This is the center of response. It's our true reality. The more we again identify with this truth the less reactive to circumstances we will be. Running becomes a choice filled response to all that passes. And every choice will come with peace.

Peace,

Eric

Belonging

Before distinctions made - we exist only within gratitude. As the breath belongs in a singular state where the gift and giving are one - we too are of this same belonging. No thought is needed for the natural breath. And so running precedes distinctions. It's an expression of gratitude and is returned as a prayer across the earth and joy drawn and given as the breath.

This is our belonging.

Peace,

Eric

The Way Things Are

It's the way things are - simple, elegant and a

grace lent to those who

follow.

~

Of course we forge our own way - we make our own world in accord to the force of thought and will. It only gets us so far. There is a subtle ease to reality - no bird in comfort and wellness struggles with flight. Flying is the natural expression of a bird and is as prayerful as any word spoken in mass. A bird is not confused by its nature because there is no whispered doubt within its mind. Flight is the shared synchronicity of wind and command. And then the bird surrenders to the air.

We know motion - running is an extension of our being. Flight given to the ground. Trust that there too is a greater synchronicity between steps and earth and breath and air. Our command to self is run. There is nothing more to do - but surrender to the way.

Peace,

Eric

Don't Believe Everything We Think

Only distance - yet not measured by sight or steps. Not measured at all. Until a single thought whispers far away. And everything changes. Distance simply is - it's the unfolding of an aspect of self before projection or judgment. Until we perceive otherwise. A thought makes all the difference. Nothing is far until we think it's so. Imagine running before the perception of time took over, before we thought of distance as anything other than a stretch of unexplored. That's the nameless mystery existing before thought and label. That's the nature of the Tao. Here is the secret - don't believe everything we think. Be fluid in thought and form. Smile. Run.

Peace,

Eric

It's Over

A world contained - and not a single

step yet taken.

Distance spreads in all directions.

~

The whole within a fraction of a thought - it's all here. One step contains all of distance. To know this is to know the world. To run like this is to cherish each step for its completion. The journey's over. We're home. And now each step is just a celebration.

Peace,

Eric

Race To Win

One step - and then

the infinite.

There is no attainment.

~

It's all here. There is no finish line - our every step is in the perfection of the moment. We run not to arrive but to be. A race is simply a measuring point of pleasure that extends far past the arbitrary lines of start and finish. It's a game we play. To play it well we must forget that we exist at all points along the way. To win - we must only remember.

Peace,

Eric

Original Bliss

At first - there was no distance. Only a long stretch of Being in the simplicity of bliss. There was no such thing as far away. And then we dreamed of separation. Running is the long awakening from this dream. It's the reality of every step being the continued center of all that is. There is no striving to be here. It's the return to our original bliss.

Peace,

Eric

Some Different Ways Of Looking At The Very Same Thing

From one step - the entire world curves to meet us. In a single breath we breathe the cosmos. There is no alone. Running reminds us of our connection.

~

Seen again:

The universe extends itself to experience a moment as our breath and the patch of earth that greets our steps. That is our connection.

~

And seen once more:

There is only the universe - and infinite ways for it to experience itself.

There is no separation.

~

So is this useful for running? Maybe. If we know that the infinite has channeled itself into a finite piece of earth to experience a single step - we may take that step with just a little more reverence. Perhaps if we realized that we have brought the very fabric of the universe against our lips in a kiss of breath - we would breathe our love into the world. In the very least we may find that we belong within the world. And run just a little longer.

Peace,

Eric



Dreaming/Waking/Dreaming

How can we know? We have never dreamed this world before. Each step is another realm of possibilities. To wake with a dream and know that we are dreaming - that is freedom. To wake and choose again a dream that feeds our passion - that is the art of living.

Peace,

Eric 

Smile First

Our view is seamless - only aspects of self yet explored by thought or steps. We are constantly arriving at our point of origin. Each step is where we begin and every breath is how we end. Running is simply the expansion of awareness at a chosen rate. No one is really faster than another in the recollection of self - it's a contest between reflections. Who ever smiles first wins.

Peace,

Eric