Taoism explained by Winnie-the-Pooh
About the life lessons that we can learn from a small, friendly bear
“What day is it?” asked Pooh. “It’s today.” squeaked Piglet. “My favourite day.” said Pooh.
This is the best quote from the Winnie-the-Pooh series by A. A. Milne ever. It contains a level of mindfulness that many people in today’s society would envy. And there is much more to learn from this “bear of very little brain”, as he calls himself sometimes. Driven by common sense, friendliness, and thoughtfulness, Pooh gets himself through life pleasantly.
When reading these stories as a child, I did not notice the underlying messages. It was only a few months ago that I discovered a book called The Tao of Pooh written by Benjamin Hoff, who analyses the stories of Pooh from a philosophical perspective. Using quotes, fragments and some of the main characters, Pooh, Piglet, Rabbit, Eeyore, and Tigger, the basics of Taoism, a spiritual tradition of Chinese origin, get explained.
In this post, I am taking you through the highlights of the book in order to introduce you to Pooh’s perspective on the world. Maybe you see some similarities with your own habits or events in your daily life. I really hope that it inspires you to go back to the classical stories that happened in the Hundred Acre Wood and reflect on how this can affect your life a little as well.
Tao — what?
Taoism emphasizes on living in harmony with the Tao. To be honest, it is difficult to find a specific definition of this term. Some say it is the universe, but others say that you have to come up with your own definition. Hoff describes it as something in between: the power behind everything between earth and heaven. All of this was written around 500 B.C. in the main book of this doctrine, the Tao Te Ching.
I can imagine that it is still rather vague. So let me try to summarize it into one sentence: fundamental Taoism is managing your way through everything that happens in your daily life, appreciating it, and learning from it. The natural result of this lifestyle would cause happiness. Serenity combined with a bit of humor are important aspects to reach this goal. I can illustrate this with another quote from Pooh:
People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day!
In a lighthearted, humorous manner, Pooh puts things in perspective. The line “nothing is impossible”, which you hear often, contains a high level of ambition. This quote shows that Pooh masters the art of non-doing, which helps him (and probably many others) in his daily life. This attitude is an example of Taoism in practice.
Having introduced you to the fundamentals of this fascinating doctrine, it is time to deep-dive into the habits and behaviors of some characters individually. While reading, you might think about that one friend, neighbour, or even yourself who resembles such a character. That is not necessarily a bad thing according to Christopher Robin:
You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
Piglet
Piglet is a worrier. His anxiety hinders him in his daily life as he does not leave his house when it is raining, or when the wind is blowing too hard. After all, he might get wet or blown away, right? Worrying is not necessarily a bad thing: it can be helpful when you are about to do something dangerous or thrilling. Yet, you should not fall in a worried spiral as this can get stuck in your habits and behavior in your daily life. This could happen to Piglet since he is constantly looking for things that make him anxious. Therefore, he is lucky to have a friend like Pooh who goes with the flow and helps him put things in perspective.
Rabbit
Rabbit is a busy bee, always in a hurry and unable to slow down. Like many others in today’s society, Rabbit seems to live off a to-do list. He does so because he believes that the reward is always around the next corner, and the corner after that, etc. Being stuck in this treadmill, he embodies stress. Someday, he will receive the “grand price”, but until then, he needs to keep going. By doing so, he misses out on enjoying the simple things in life, like eating a bit of honey with Pooh.
It is very tiring to live this way. Yet, we cannot blame someone like Rabbit, since it has become normal to work overtime, and to reply to emails at 11 pm. Many people do this every day in order to achieve their goals. When all these rabbits would tell Pooh proudly about their new projects, I think that Pooh would reply: “What? Better than honey?” These four words show, in a nutshell, that Pooh masters the art of enjoying the small things in life. Rabbit could benefit a lot from taking this advice, because, as Pooh said:
Sometimes the smallest things take up the most room in your heart.
Eeyore
Eeyore has a gloomy mindset, is very pessimistic, and thrives on life’s miseries. For example, whenever Pooh wishes him a good morning, he never agrees that it is actually a good morning. Also, when he does not receive any presents from his friends on his birthday, he assumes that no one cares.
The danger of pessimism is that it will become habitual, just like the worried spiral of Piglet. On the other hand, the benefit of optimism is that it protects us from anxiety, depression and improves our mental health. Shifting our perspective on events in our daily life from a pessimistic to an optimistic view can change our entire experience. Obviously, this is difficult. However, if you try, you will see that it helps you recover from disappoints and gives you more resilience. For example, if Eeyore would have been a bit more optimistic, he could have known that his friends would celebrate his birthday, but at a later time that day. Sometimes, you can see a minor change in Eeyore’s behavior that shows that he tries. After all, as A. A. Milne said:
Weeds are flowers too, once you get to know them.
Tigger
Tigger is an authentic, fun character as he has lots of energy, is friendly and very bouncy. Yet, these characteristics can also get him into trouble. For example, Rabbit is not happy with Tigger bouncing on him and wants to teach him a lesson in order to make Tigger more humble. Rabbit takes Tigger on a trip into the woods and deliberately loses him after a while. Obviously, this does not go as planned and the opposite happens: Tigger finds his way back, and Rabbit gets lost. Even more: Tigger goes back, finds Rabbit and helps him get back home safely.
The message behind this story is that authenticity is important. Rabbit wants to change Tigger, but that is not necessary at all: Tigger is good as he is. We can turn every negative characteristic into a positive one. Tigger might be very energetic, which might be annoying sometimes. However, this also enables him to help Rabbit find his way back home. So you should celebrate those characteristics!
Pooh
And, last but not least, let us discuss Pooh, the embodiment of a Taoist. He masters the art of non-doing or allowing, also called Wu Wei in Taoism. He enjoys (the simple things in) life, works with, appreciates, and learns from whatever happens. Pooh goes with the flow and allows the rest to follow. For example, when he does not know what to do with his day, he sits down, eats some honey, enjoys the weather, and eventually meets one of his friends to start a new adventure with. What does this tell us? Pooh does not fight against the current, but masters the art of allowance.
So, what do Pooh and his friends teach us?
First, we see that Pooh and his friends form a close group of friends. Sure, it is a rather diverse party. Yet, together, they experience and conquer many challenges because they complement each other. For example, if Tigger is very excited about doing something thrilling, Eeyore and Piglet temper his enthusiasm slightly. Yet Tigger can get them out of their comfort zone. As mentioned in the section about Tigger, everyone is good as they are. That holds for all characters in this story. Although they could all learn something different from Pooh, they do not need to change (a lot) at all. And the same holds for us, the audience.
Piglet, the worrier, should watch out for the worried spiral. A friend like Pooh can help him put things into perspective. Busy rabbit, who is always racing against himself, should try to calm down and enjoy the simple things in life. Maybe he can start by appreciating the sunrise, the taste of a fresh carrot, or a friend coming over. Eeyore, the pessimist, could try to shift his perspective on events in his life to an optimistic view. This will change his experience of that event and prevent the pessimism from becoming habitual. Bouncy Tigger has a very authentic personality. He should not let others (or himself) tell him that he should change how he is. After all, it defines him: that makes him Tigger. Pooh, the Taoist, masters the art of non-doing and allowing. He goes with, instead of against, the flow and enjoys the simple things in life. He appreciates and learns from the events that happen in his life.
I hope that all these analyses, quotes and anecdotes from A. A. Milne’s masterpiece have given you another interesting perspective on people’s behavior and reactions to certain events in daily life. Maybe you have even learned something completely new. My advice: do not remember all of this at once. Pooh would not do that either. He would continue his day, seeing what it will bring him this time. After all, it is Pooh who said:
I do remember, and when I try to remember, I forget.
