Page 12 - Mangwanani Magazine June 2020 Edition

Lessons in Mindfulness from

the Tao of Pooh

It’s nearly four decades since Benjamin Hoff released his
bestseller, The Tao of Pooh. The book focused on Taoist
life lessons. Taoism is a philosophy with its origins in China.
Taoism teaches listeners how to live in harmony with the
In the Tao of Pooh this idea of accepting
universe. What Benjamin did was to show that
practitioners are not automatically wise women and the ow of life is captured:
men from the Far East. Rather, the real master of Tao “To know the way,
was Winnie the Pooh. we go the way,
we do the way.
The Tao of Pooh offers precious life lessons which truly
resonate with our new reality. The central character of The way we do,
the book is Winnie the Pooh. Winnie personies the Taoist the things we do,
belief of non-action, or merely being. Other characters,
it’s all there in front of you.
like Piglet, Owl, Tigger, and Eeyore represent the human
predisposition to overcomplicate things in life. But if you try too hard to see it,

you'll only become confused.
Taoism: The word Tao means ‘path’ or ‘way’; and Taoism
I am me and you are you.
has its roots in an ancient book written in about the 3rd
As you can see;
century BC −Tao Te Ching (The Way and its Power) by
Laozi; although some believe the book was written by but when you do,
different authors. Still, in simple terms, the philosophical the things that you can do,
tradition which emanated from the book explains how you will nd the way.
to live life sensibly. It teaches us that change is one The way will follow you.”
constant in our lives; and that balance does not last for
long. More so, we should follow the path that will offer us
the least resistance, such as water does, and merely go
with the ow.

www.mangwanani.co.za pg 9