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