Topic > Winnie The Pooh: The Master of Flow

Nowadays, people in the world have a distinct inability to relax; with an abundance of things to do, places to see, and technology to use, stressful lifestyles thrive. Individuals often find themselves desperately struggling to gain control over every aspect of their lives, which ultimately distances them from their goals. To get rid of these little problems, you need to connect with your inner Pooh. Benjamin Hoff, in his book The Tao of Pooh, uses Winnie the Pooh and other illustrations to describe Taoism. It tells how a true Taoist flows with the characteristics of Wu Wei, knows that the experience of life is sweet, and sees the world and himself as uncarved blocks. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay With so many ups and downs, it may seem difficult to define life as anything other than unpredictable. However, as Hoff explains the basics of Taoism, it is the experiences of life that make it sweet, not the events themselves. He begins by comparing the three teachings of Asia to a painting called The Vinegar Tasters. The image depicts K'ung Fu-tse, Buddha and Lao-tse testing vinegar; “The first has a sour expression, the second has a bitter expression, but the third smiles” (Hoff 3). The reference describes the Taoist view of life. While others were disconcerted by the taste of the bitter liquid, Lao-tse smiled in recognition of the unique experience. Hoff goes on to explain that “The basic Taoism we are concerned with here is simply a particular way of appreciating, learning, and working with whatever happens in everyday life” (Hoff 5). Philosophy does not force the idea that everything in the world is positive, because there will be times on both sides of the spectrum. Instead, it promotes the importance of experience; Whether it's a good or bad moment, enlightening lessons can be found in every type of experience. For life to be seen as truly sweet, it must be seen as an uncarved block, from the perspective of an uncarved experience. block. Once again, Pooh is used as an example of this very point. “Pooh looked at his two paws. He knew that one of them was the right one, and he knew that when you decided which of them was the right one, then the other one was the left one” (Hoff 12). Hoff uses Pooh's ambidextrous state to paint him as an uncarved block. Pooh went through his entire life without being assigned a dominant hand. Only with this action does he demonstrate that he is in a state of complete balance. In addition to living a balanced life, Pooh approaches situations with the mind of a Taoist. He uses his simplistic logic to get himself and his friends out of the forest, while any further escape attempts send them back to the pit they started from. “I thought if we looked for this well, we would be sure not to find it, which would be good, because then we might find something we weren't looking for, which might be just what we were looking for.” why, indeed” (Hoff 13). Seeing the results repeated as they attempted to find their home and simply went around in circles, Pooh realized that the only logical thing to do was to look for the pit. This reflects the idea of ​​Taoism which describes how one must pay attention to natural patterns to understand how nature works. Once an individual is familiar with the flow of the world around him, he is able to relax and go with the flow. . Hoff uses the example of an old man who emerged from raging rapids completely unharmed. The old man explains his method; “I go down with the water and I go up with the water. I follow him and forget. I survived because.