The Tao of Pooh

by Benjamin Hoff

earth was in essence a reflection of heaven, run by the same laws—not by the laws of men. These laws affected not only the spinning of distant planets, but the activities of the birds in the forest and the fish in the sea. According to Lao-tse, the more man interfered with the natural balance produced and governed by the universal laws, the further away the harmony retreated into the distance. The more forcing, the more trouble.

the world was not a setter of traps but a teacher of valuable lessons. Its lessons needed to be learned, just as its laws needed to be followed; then all would go well.

the basic Taoism that we are concerned with here is simply a particular way of appreciating, learning from, and working with whatever happens in everyday life.

From the state of the Uncarved Block comes the ability to enjoy the simple and the quiet, the natural and the plain.

“The wise are not learned; the learned are not wise”—an

“Lots of people talk to animals,” said Pooh. “Maybe, but . . .” “Not very many listen, though,” he said. “That’s the problem,” he added.

It’s just that there is Something More, and that Something More is what life is really all about.

everything has its own place and function.

When you know and respect your own Inner Nature, you know where you belong.

there can be lots of things wrong with blindly trying to do what you aren’t designed for.

That doesn’t mean that we need to stop changing and improving. It just means that we need to recognize What’s There. If you face the fact that you have weak muscles, say, then you can do the right things and eventually become strong. But if you ignore What’s There and try to lift someone’s car out of a ditch, what sort of condition will you be in after a while? And even if you have more muscle than anyone alive, you still can’t push over a freight train. The wise know their limitations; the foolish do not.

Once you face and understand your limitations, you can work with them, instead of having them work against you and get in your way, which is what they do when you ignore them, whether you realize it or not. And then you will find that, in many cases, your limitations can be your strengths.

Having little understanding of themselves, they have little respect for themselves, and are therefore easily influenced by others.

The Way of Self-Reliance starts with recognizing who we are, what we’ve got to work with, and what works best for us.

So quite often, the easiest way to get rid of a Minus is to change it into a Plus.

But if you do the right things, they will come back in the right ways. And sometimes those very tendencies that you dislike the most can show up in the right way at the right time to save your life, somehow.

Mistakes are made—or imagined—by man, the creature with the overloaded Brain who separates himself from the supporting network of natural laws by interfering and trying too hard.

Tao doesn’t force or interfere with things, but lets them work in their own way, to produce results naturally. Then whatever needs to be done is done.”

Egotistical Desire tries to force the round peg into the square hole and the square peg into the round hole. Cleverness tries to devise craftier ways of making pegs fit where they don’t belong. Knowledge tries to figure out why round pegs fit round holes, but not square holes. Wu Wei doesn’t try. It doesn’t think about it. It just does it. And when it does, it doesn’t appear to do much of anything. But Things Get Done.

The surest way to become Tense, Awkward, and Confused is to develop a mind that tries too hard—one that thinks too much.

Things Work, then they work the way they need to, no matter what you may think about it at the time.

Sensitive to Circumstances.

One of the most convenient things about this Sensitivity to Circumstances is that you don’t have to make so many difficult decisions. Instead, you can let them make themselves.

The Bisy Backson has practically no time at all, because he’s too busy wasting it by trying to save it. And by trying to save every bit of it, he ends up wasting the whole thing.

No matter how Useful we may be, sometimes it takes us a while to recognize our own value.

In order to take control of our lives and accomplish something of lasting value, sooner or later we need to learn to Believe. We don’t need to shift our responsibilities onto the shoulders of some deified Spiritual Superman, or sit around and wait for Fate to come knocking at the door. We simply need to believe in the power that’s within us, and use it. When we do that, and stop imitating others and competing against them, things begin to work for us.

once we see what the situation is and what we can do about it, we need to utilize everything we find along the way in order to accomplish whatever is required. More often than not, the things we need are there already; all we have to do is make use of them.

“From caring comes courage.”

when it comes to enjoying life and making use of who we are, all of us can; it’s just that some don’t.

Do you want to be really happy? You can begin by being appreciative of who you are and what you’ve got.

Wisdom, Happiness, and Courage are not waiting somewhere out beyond sight at the end of a straight line; they’re part of a continuous cycle that begins right here. They’re not only the ending, but the beginning as well.