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