Published

My piece  - Holy Waters has know been published with Elephant Journal and I couldn't be happier. I don't submit much or often - it's not an enjoyable task for me. I guess I prefer the solitude of my own blog and its audience of one (two? three?) Yet from the moment I first started reading Elephant Journal, with their variety of spiritual articles, blogs and poems, I knew that I wanted to be a part of it in some small way. Many poems were rejected and this is the first of two that have so far been approved for publication. It's my hope to gain a greater audience for what I do and in return use this opportunity to gain a greater clarity for what I am able to offer. So it starts here.


http://www.elephantjournal.com/2014/02/holy-waters-eric-paul-mccarty-poem/




Peace,
Eric

The of Distance Running - #6

The Tao is called the Great Mother:
empty yet inexhaustible,
it gives birth to infinite worlds.

It is always present within you.
You can use it any way you want. 

                                                            *

~
Our stride....infinite worlds in
every step.
And so the distance
lengthens.

We run in timeless realms of wonder.

When we run to the point of emptiness. Devoid of goals and expectations and all but the simplicity of  motion - we enter inner worlds of pure awareness. In the moment of our surrender we are not hopeless - we have reached the point beyond hope, where legs and heart are fueled by an infinite source of wonder. Will power takes us far yet spirit takes us farther. Every step leads to a lessening of self and a greater sense presence. Our run begins here. Yet now the path is inwards.

Peace,

Eric

* Verse 6 of The Tao Te Ching translated by Stephen Mitchell



The Tao of Distance Running - #5

The Tao is like a bellows:
it is empty yet infinitely capable.
The more you use it, the more it produces;
the more you talk of it, the less you understand.

                                                                                        *

~
Our stride is empty of all but the
beauty of earth and the
steps we offer.


We run in the endless bounty of earth and heaven.

Running simply is. Empty of design it conforms to expectations. To run free we match the absence of opinion with steps that are unafraid to venture through unknown territories of the mind. Running free grants favors - there is no judgment on fatigue, nor on terrain  - all conditions pass through the void of our concern. We are runners. And motion is the only voice we seek to hear.

Peace,

Eric 

* Translation of Tao Te Ching by Stephen Mitchell


The Tao of Distance Running -#4

The Tao is like a well:
used but never used up.
It is like the eternal void:
filled with infinite possibilities

                                                                     *


Our stride...a length of hope laid holy
to the ground. And every step a
seed of promise.


We run in the garden of the infinite.

~

We run in the spirit of possibilities - no mile holds less than the infinite and our steps carry us not to an ending but to moments yet explored. A run never truly ends - just a pause on the border of imagination - where trail and road wait in the absence of our stride. With no end we are free to wander eternal acres of mind and spirit and our feet respond in ways beyond the body. We are light - and motion is our given grace.

Peace,

Eric 

*Tao Te Ching verse translated by Stephen Mitchell 



The Tao of Distance Running - #3

The Master leads
by emptying people's minds
and filling their cores,
by weakening their ambition
and toughening their resolve.
He helps people lose everything
they know, everything they desire,
and creates confusion
in those who think that they know.

                                                                        *


We run in the void of expectations...and empty of
thoughts that held us falsely to
a single moment -
Our stride is filled with promise.

~

We are not just runners - we are travelers, our motion a reflection of an interior journey. Every step we seek to empty ourselves of concepts, of limits, and to lose our sense of who we think we are. In the void brought by distance covered- we find this emptiness matched with the promise of our infinite identity. We run to lose everything we thought solid and gain the mystery found in the fall of our steps and the grace of earth that waits to greet them.

Peace,

Eric

*

Tao Te Ching Translated by Stephen Mitchell 

The Tao of Distance Running -#2

Things arise and she lets them come;
things disappear and she lets them go.
She has but doesn't possess,
acts but doesn't expect. 

                                                  *

~


Our steps possess nothing save for
moments touched upon the
earth.
And so we hold the
world in motion.


Our stride is light and shines with meaning.

• Without distinctions a runner runs with the grace of no concerns. There are no obstacles when the path is seen as sacred. Everything belongs and everything is in the order of its perfection. Our role is to simply run. A hill is approached as a thing of beauty - the body responds to the thoughts we hold clear and effort applied and then let go. No thought or motion wasted. We run the hill and then beyond. There are no distinctions when everything holds beauty and all is holy - fast or slow, hills and flat - all versions of a sacred run. Every action is in perfect accord to what arises and so becomes without effort. Free of expectations every moment becomes our arrival. Every step is home.

Peace,

Eric

*
Tao Te Ching translated by Stephen Mitchell

The Tao of Distance Running -#1

Free from desire, you realize the mystery.
Caught in desire, you see only the manifestations. *

~

We run in the freedom of soul and

body - content with what the

path offers.

Yet eager for mysteries

unexplored.

Our steps explore shadows and sun.



• Running is pure - it's motion undefined and expressed in contact with breath and air and steps against ground. Allowed to simply be we are neither fast nor slow but infinite travelers covering interior distance seen as road and trail. Do not measure - the trails we seek are unseen. Do not compete - and those who run along side us are companions. Do not compare - and every road becomes eternal.Wanting no more than this - the freedom to move unrestricted by the boundaries of flesh and mind - we are realized in spirit and the unnamed nature of the run.

Peace,

Eric

*

Tao Te Ching translated by Stephen Mitchell