Being in the Way

By Chris Dewey

Author Chris Dewey tends to think that we find resonance in life with ideas, rather than the form of a thing. Dont think of this book as a book of poems; instead, think of it as a book of ideas. Ideas come from asking elegant questions in a search for truth and from continuing the process so long as we breathe.
Breathe with these words, ask some questions, look for ideas, and search for your own truth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Balboa Press
• Release date: Jan 28, 2013
• ISBN: 9781452566689

Chris Dewey

Chris Dewey is a life coach, entrepreneur, writer, and retired university professor. He is part scientist and part artist and has published as a geologist, martial artist, nature photographer, and poet. Chris currently makes his home in Austin, Texas.

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Copyright © 2013 Chris Dewey.

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The author of this book does not dispense medical advice or prescribe the use of any technique as a form of treatment for physical, emotional, or medical problems without the advice of a physician, either directly or indirectly. The intent of the author is only to offer information of a general nature to help you in your quest for emotional and spiritual well-being. In the event you use any of the information in this book for yourself, which is your constitutional right, the author and the publisher assume no responsibility for your actions.

Certain stock imagery © Thinkstock.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Thinkstock are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

ISBN: 978-1-4525-6668-9 (e)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-6667-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4525-6669-6 (hc)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2013900416

Balboa Press rev. date: 1/24/2013

Contents

Dedication

Prologue

Tao One

Life’s Beach

Ocean Light

The Last Albatross

The Event

The Old Man and the Knowing

Less-ness

Yesterday, Tomorrow, The Way

Mariner of Life

Tin Box

Koan Unresolved

Koan Rephrased

Für Elise

Tao Revisited

For Harry Graham

Waiting

Crossroads of Tao

Cycle of Poems on the Journey

Koan at the Crossroads of Tao

Finding Peace Along the Way

The Paradox of Being

The Wheel of Life

Encounter with a Lesser Self

Finding Home

First Breath

Footprints in the Past

No Thing

Seeking Truth

Shadows and Dust

The Edge of Reason

The Pier

Connection

Debt

Memory

Reduction of Ego

Unshed Tears

Frogs

Learning Patience

Nobility

The Arrogance of Life

The Empty Room

Words

Delusions

Sad Old Age

Wreckage

Waiting for Spring

Dreams

Dreams 2

Pain

Clouds

Stranger to Self

Nagging Doubts

Isolation

Graham

Smooth Stone

Creating Self

Beth

Train Ride

A Wake or Awake?

Struggle

Dawn

Unwanted Child

Unwanted Offering

Long, Hard Night

A-musing

Laughter

Mountaintops

Smile

Vignettes

Lesson of the Toys

Prayer

Beginning

Plum Tree

Darkness

Ashes

Chasm

Loss

The Whirlwind and the Lotus

Looking Back

Gone

Walls

Choices

Silence

Nostalgia

Passion

Blue

Implication of Truth

Full Moon

A Walk

Heart Lotus

Sitting

Fog

Demons

The Great Amusement

The Great Pain

Sorrow

Tiny Moments

Finding the Elusive

One Day

Options

Blank

Consequences

An Undiscover’d Life

Footprints

Questions

Path Ahead

Dark Night

Childwood

Making Sense

Eternal Truth

Search

Undertow

One Eye Open

The Great Answers

Freedom

Just Suppose

Autumn Leaves

Fall Shadows

Open Hands

Foundation

Empty Rooms

Dawn to Dusk

Another Lesson from the Buddha

Walk Away

Hermit by the Lake

Words and Thoughts

Un-reasonable Boundary

Open Hand

Sun and Sword

Pieces of Thoughts

Many Voices

About the Author

Dedication

We humans are not as different from one another as we might think. Consequently, I offer my poems to those who find resonance within them and to those pilgrims on the journey of life who have read the following words and been touched by their wisdom:

"To see a world in a grain of sand,

And a heaven in a wild flower,

Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,

And eternity in an hour"

William Blake

Prologue

I tend to think that we all seek a sense of belonging and a sense of place amid the turmoil of what we call life, but we create scant opportunities amid the hubbub to stop, and just ‘be’. We rarely take the time to ponder the big questions, but we can feel them nudging us, below the surface.

It is my hope that in this work you might find a sense of resonance and understanding that will make your path through life, or along the ‘Razor’s Edge’ a little lighter, freer and more peaceful. I guess that this is why I chose the title for the compendium as a deliberate double entendre.

In one interpretation of the title we can see ourselves as our own greatest obstacle to awareness, insight and wisdom. In the other interpretation of the title, I am speaking to those rarified moments of flow, when we move effortlessly through an event, as though we were in a state of grace. In those moments of bliss and enlightenment we are truly in the Way. All of which makes me laugh, because it is foolish to