Self knowledge & Self mastery
Intelligent people know others.
Enlightened people know themselves.
You can conquer others with power,
But it takes true strength to conquer yourself.
Ambitious people force their will on others,
But content people are already wealthy.
Prudent people will abide.
People unconquered by the idea of death will live long.
People who live according to their means last long.
Indeed. =D>
An excerpt from “THE TAO OF POOH,” by Benjamin Hoff
[i]
Winnie the Pooh has a certain way about him, a way of doing things which has made him the world’s most beloved bear. And Pooh’s Way, as Benjamin Hoff brilliantly demonstrates, seems strangely close to the ancient Chinese principles of Taoism. The ‘Tao of Pooh’ explains Taoism by Winnie the Pooh and explaines Winnie the Pooh by Taoism. It makes you understand what A.A. Milne probably meant when he said he didn’t write the Pooh-books for children in the first place.
Over the centuries Taoism classic teachings were developed and divided into philosophical, monastic, and folk religious forms. All of these could be included under the general beading of Taoism. But the basic Taoism is simply a particular way of appreciating, learning from, and working with whatever happens in everyday life. From the Taoist point of view, the natural result of this harmonious way of living is happiness.
One of the basic principles of Taoism is P’U, the Uncarved Block. The essence of the Uncarved Block is that things in their original simplicity contain their own natural power, power that is easily spoiled and lost when that simplicity is changed. This principle applies not only to things, but to people as well. Or Bears. Which brings us to Pooh, the very Epitome of the Uncarved Block. When you discard arrogance, complexity, and a few, other things that get in the way, sooner or later you will discover that simple, childlike, and mysterious secret known to those of the Uncarved Block: Life is Fun. Along with that comes the ability to do things spontaneously and have them work, odd as that may appear to others at times. As Piglet put it in ‘Winnie-the-Pooh’, “Pooh hasn’t much Brain, but he never comes to any harm. He does silly things and they turn out right.”
Owl instead, is the opposite of Pooh, the Knowledge for the sake of Appearing Wise, the one who studies Knowledge for the sake of Knowledge, and who keeps what he learns to himself or to his own small group, rather than working for the enlightenment of others. That way, the scholars can appear Superior, and will not likely be suspected of Not Knowing Something. After all, from the scholarly point of view, it’s practically a crime not to know everything. But sometimes the knowledge of the scholar is a bit hard to understand because it doesn’t seem to match up with our own experience of things. Isn’t the knowledge that comes from experience more valuable than the knowledge that doesn’t?
While Owl’s little routine is that of Knowledge for the sake of Appearing Wise, Eeyore’s is that of Knowledge for the sake of Complaining About Something and Rabbit’s is that of Knowledge of Being Clever. As anyone who doesn’t have it can see, the Eeyore Attitude gets in the way of things like wisdom and happiness, and pretty much prevents any sort of real Accomplishment in life. Cleverness, after all, has its limitations. Its mechanical judgments and clever remarks tend to prove inaccurate with passing time, because it doesn’t look very deeply into things to begin with. The thing that makes someone truly different -unique, in fact- is something that Cleverness cannot really understand.
"A fish can't whistle and neither can I." There's nothing wrong with not being able to whistle, especially if you're a fish. But there can be lots of things wrong with blindly trying to do what you aren't designed for. Unfortunately, some people aren't so wise, and end up causing big trouble for themselves and others. The wise know their limitations; the foolish do not. To demonstrate what we mean, we can think of no one better than Tigger, who doesn't know his limitations ('Tiggers can do everything'), which brings him in lots of trouble. Piglet instead knows his limitations and that's what makes him sometimes braver than you would expect from such a small animal. So, the first thing we need to do is recognize and trust our own Inner Nature, and not lose sight of it. Inside the Bouncy Tigger is the Rescuer who knows the Way, and in each of us is something Special, and that we need to keep:
“Tigger is all right really,” said Piglet lazily.
“Of course he is,” said Christopher Robin.
“Everybody is really,” said Pooh. “That’s what I think,” said Pooh.
“But I don’t suppose I’m right,” he said.
“Of course you are,” said Christopher Robin. [/i]
Have a lovely Saturday,
Sara 
Your name is Sara…?
…I like that name…
You know I studied Taoism and read almost 100% of it…
Have a great day.
I really dig this.
I love tao. I should re-read the tao of pooh.
I like winnie the pooh too.
thanks for posting this Bessy.
Cheers,
gemty
Your welcome! Here is some information you might like to read:
What is the Tao?
Enlightenment begins by understanding the philosophy of life as taught by Lao Tzu, the founder of Taoism. It is here that “spirituality” must be clearly defined so that the goal of “enlightenment” is not confused. Without completely understanding the goal of spirituality, the process of enlightenment is akin to driving a car through dense fog.
Once the goal is understood, enlightenment is obtained through applying Taoist principles in every day life. This is accomplished by training yourself in an array of disciplines designed for mental, physical and spiritual development.
The “Tao” is too great to be described by the name “Tao”.
If it could be named so simply, it would not be the eternal Tao.
Heaven and Earth began from the nameless (Tao),
but the multitudes of things around us were created by names.
We desire to understand the world by giving names to the things we see,
but these things are only the effects of something subtle.
When we see beyond the desire to use names,
we can sense the nameless cause of these effects.
The cause and the effects are aspects of the same, one thing.
They are both mysterious and profound.
At their most mysterious and profound point lies the “Gate of the Great Truth”.
You can be any religion and still find some great wisdom from this ancient Chinese philosophy from over 3,000 years ago.
Sara
Indulgence
Straighten yourself and you will not stand steady;
Display yourself and you will not be clearly seen;
Justify yourself and you will not be respected;
Promote yourself and you will not be believed;
Pride yourself and you will not endure.
These behaviours are wasteful, indulgent,
And so they attract disfavour;
Harmony avoids them.
the tao of pooh is a very good book… i need to get that back. i lent it to somebody a while back and i don’t know where it is. hmm… 
best thread ever, by the way.
Not to seem overly uptight, but this is just patently incorrect, for a couple reasons.
Lao tse was (arguably) the first person to place characters on parchment that illustrated concept and precept of living Tao.
The roots of Taoism are much further back than Lao tse, some estimate as far back as possibly eight thousand years … aside, its’ roots are in the shamanism of the nomadic, then later, “settlers” of the Yellow Plains. Early tribal shamanism to say the least.
Tao preceeds all, including Lao tse, who was possibly just the first official arbiter of the Way, nothing more.
creation imp,
Thank you for the nice compliment about the thread. I didn’t do it to enlighten, but to become enlightened by all of you.
Mas,
I am a new student of the Tao philosophy and I have read many of your interesting exchanges among LA, tentative and yourself. Please jump in and tell us more. The Tao is so profound, I think - at least what I have read so far. I can read it many times over and find new things each time as my experiences change. The gift that keeps on giving. Would you agree?
Which translation do you favor?
Sara
I asked LA about her sig in a PM and I was wondering whether she would tell us her toughts of it. It is quite lovely and has such a profoundness to its meaning. LAAAAA… where are you?
[i]Ever desireless, one can see the mystery.
Ever desiring, one can see the manifestations.
Tao Te Ching [/i]
Sara
Of course lady Bessy, Tao nourishes all. It could be no other way.
The fact that you experience new things each time your read, shows intense growth in perception and aware, again, the natural way.
Although my Mandarin is far from complete, I am diligently working on it, and so far the preferences are for Grass style and the most archaically difficult … Imperial script. Still working hard on it, but a total novice thus far.
More of my time has lately been with the archaic forms, much of which is prose like.
I am no one to enlighten anyone else lady Bessy, least of all someone who already knows to seek. You already do well enough on your own, and my knowledge is only enough to confuse one already set upon the path.
Better to share, than attempt positions of superiority and inferiority.
Well, this is my shallow understanding.
The sig is profound.
It means that our desires block our insight. In the spiritual sense, when cultivating spiritually, our desires take us away from our spiritual self while having no desires means we are able to enter into the mystery. It’s beautiful really but very difficult to comprehend.
You mentioned somewhere about being a free spirit. Well that is what the term truly means. One who can see the mystery is truly free.
A
If you don’t mind Bessy, LA’s signature expresses precisely what I believe.
“Reach out to the limits of your capacities, to others and to God” and you will be free. Try to fill the void and you will be restricted by the consequences. Remember, “reach out… and smell the rose.”
DEB
Compare my sig with that of A. All three of Simone Weil’s quotes IMO have a direct relationship with the quote from the Tao. Do you see it?
“Reach Out” yes, but what is doing the reaching? This is the incredible depth of Simone’s concept of Prayer:
This is desireless affirmation and is totally different than the state of being dependant on affirmation+negation or duality. This quality of consciouos affirmation has no negation. It is here IMO where the mystery resides. As such it contains our essential question, our prayer… as a natural response. There is no BS, no judgement, in this state since it is impossible to sustain in the presence of a lie. But in desiring, one values the manifestations of personality she refers to. Becoming caught up in this level for meaning denies the achievements beyond the abyss which for us are anonymous and a mystery.
It is amazing how easy it is to slide over these things unaware of so much profound subtle psychology.that permeates such ideas
i will admit i am not a taoist but i do love the tao. beautiful and wise, simultaneously simple for a child but complex for an adult.
During the civil wars in feudal Japan, an invading army would quickly sweep into a town and take control. In one particular village, everyone fled just before the army arrived - everyone except the Zen master. Curious about this old fellow, the general went to the temple to see for himself what kind of man this master was. When he wasn’t treated with the deference and submissiveness to which he was accustomed, the general burst into anger. “You fool,” he shouted as he reached for his sword, “don’t you realize you are standing before a man who could run you through without blinking an eye!” But despite the threat, the master seemed unmoved. “And do you realize,” the master replied calmly, “that you are standing before a man who can be run through without blinking an eye?”
I have another crystal clear interpretation of LA’s signature but in a post somewhere above it says, “Promote yourself and you will not be believed.” It is my language. What can I say?
Nick wrote;
Nick, I have tried to translate Simone’s quotes into a language I understand, mine. I think I have 1 & 3 translated but #2 has me stumped. If I didn’t know better I’d be thinking I was as dumb as a sack of hammers. 
Well then DEB, do not promote yourself but rather put your interpretation forward. That would be most valuable.
A
You are too kind liquidangel. The self-promotion requires that you take about 2 minutes to read my post “Life: a reaction to the void”. For that I apologize. At the very end I mention a clear flawless fabric of existence that we could create by us being “ever desireless”. Just before the end I introduce our present fabric of existence that by us being “ever desiring (is colored by)… the manifestations”.