The Tao of Pooh

I\'ve just finished the most enlightening book I\'ve ever read and suprisingly enough it\'s one of the most simple.  The Tao Of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff.  I have Spudz to thank for the excellent recommendation...thank you, Spudz.

I\'ve basically come up with this, enjoy if you will.

“Do without doing.”  You really have to ask yourself how far the simple implication of this would take us as beings.  It in itself is simple as it doesn’t require any effort to implicate, things will happen as they naturally do.
     
Everything but ourselves acts on an unconscious level, that is it lives on instinct alone.  To act without the thought process is natural and inherent to every living being on this planet, it is simply action and reaction.  It is only because we have the capacity to think that we can perceive anything to be something other than it just is.

We are slaves to action/reaction, it is through the thought process we deduce whether something is good or bad then act based on that reasoning.  Throw reasoning out the door then the experience is neither good or bad, it just is.  Things are as they are.

Free will and choices are nothing more than reacting based on perception, it is from this we’ve come up with the principles of right and wrong behavior, morals.  Acting on the conscious level we clout our thoughts with what we think is justice or just deserved, we ignore the fact that is just is. I suppose the question is why do we bother to judge?  I can come up with nothing more than to serve our own egos.  It is because of our egos we get in to trouble.  We are to busy contrasting ourselves with others and the rest of the world that we lose sight of what’s important, our own self.

We become obsessed with everything we are not and constantly try to make up for it by striving to reach for something that simply isn’t there.  Reaching the goal is only as satisfying as the journey to get there.  That is different for everyone.

To quote one of my favorite musicians,”Once I know who I’m not then I’ll know who I am.” - Alanis Morissette.

Knowing one’s self can not be taught and it can not be given.  It happens through experience and experience alone, each of us are different in our abilities and I believe that is for the simple sake of helping each other.  You can only begin to play your part when you realize who you are and stop worrying about who you’re not.  Simply live, simply do.

I\'m not suggesting anyone live by this, and I\'m by no means imply I know the secret to happiness.  I\'m merely sharing with you a glimpse as to what\'s made me come to realize it\'s perhaps more simple than we make it to be.

I don\'t know who I am but I won\'t know until I figure out who I\'m not.  Experience is the only way to reach an understanding of self and you might as well enjoy it until you get there:)

Discuss.

[GmanJoe]

HEY! I was the first one to point you in the right direction, didn\'t I?

I told him about the book.

You gave him a stupid little remark I believe.

And your welcome.

I suggest anyone interested in this, grab a library card (yes, a library card) and check it out.

I have the both of you to thank, I can certainly say I\'ve been more happy in the last 48 hours.  

I am one of those who constantly compares myself to those around me then adjust accordingly to fit what I hope they like...usually compromising what I like.  I never realized it\'s a struggle I just can\'t win...instead I\'ll make it work for me.

On another note though...

I\'m having a discussion with a friend of mine about what he believes cultural acceptance is and that we can never be anything other than what we are born in to.

I told him our labels don\'t define us, it\'s our abilities and experience.

^Is it that hard to understand?

[GmanJoe]

Originally posted by Spudz
I told him about the book.

You gave him a stupid little remark I believe.

 

HEY! I told him about Taoism, bub. Don\'t make me be your anti-Spuds.

Originally posted by GmanJoe
". . ." anti-Spuds.

Well, you wouldnt be alone.

:nopics:

Hmph, wasnt funny the first time either eh?

Well at least your post count went up- :rolleyes:

_

Im guessing that was an attempt to be funny?

Im guessing no one else thought it was.

ViVi, Your trying to ruin a perfectly good thread.

An attempt to get this thread a bit more involved...

"Once I know who I\'m not then I\'ll know who I am."

What is it you have experienced that you simply said wasn\'t something you are interested in?  Broad terms really as I don\'t expect anyone would want to give a day by day account of what they\'ve tried.

I\'ve tried competing sports, real estate, marketing (school wise anyway), clubbing, and recreational drugs.  

I could never get in to sports, I participated in them while in elementary school.  I played both baseball and basketball through sixth grade.  I could never stand the coaches as all they had on their minds was to win...playing for the wrong reasons, IMO.

Real Estate...seemed interesting enough but when it comes down to it I\'m not a salesperson.  Besides that I never realized how fickle people can be, they are totally set on something then they back on last minute, then they are back on, then back out again.  Frustrating to say the least and I was simply not enjoying it.

I thought I would love marketing so I took a few classes in school.  I have the creative side to me but I always got stuck in projects with people trying to force their vision on me.  If that was just a glimpse into the marketing world then I could not do it.

Clubbing...for one I HATE second hand smoke.  The smell is nauseating(sp?), other than that I can\'t say I care for how obnoxious people can be when intoxicated.  

As with alcohol, people can get hugely obnoxious when under the influence of anything.  They just aren\'t themselves and it kinda defeats the purpose of why I became friends with them in the firstplace.  

I just simply won\'t subject myself to any of the above...however I am thankful for the experience.

The things I\'ve come to enjoy are working out, videogames, movies, books, and I would have to say the most satisfying thing I\'ve come to experience is multimedia development.  I\'m currently in school learning 3d modeling and animation among a few other things.  We are learning in 3Ds Max, Flash MX, Director, Adobe After Effects, Illustrator, etc.  I can honestly say I love going to school...in fact I go up there when I have nothing to do just to keep learning.  

^I really think I\'ve found what I want to do.  It doesn\'t even feel like work:D

I think Denis Leary makes a good point:

Happiness comes in small doses, folks. It\'s a cigarette, or a chocolate chip cookie, or a five second orgasm, that\'s it, O.K.!? You cum, you eat the cookie, you smoke the butt, you go to sleep, you get up the next morning and go to f***ing work! O.K.?! That is it! End of f***ing list!"
-Denis Leary

^:laughing:

Basically...just enjoy it.  Although I wouldn\'t put it as f***ing work, I\'d rather enjoy what I\'m doing.

Originally posted by Ginko
^:laughing:

Basically...just enjoy it.  Although I wouldn\'t put it as f***ing work, I\'d rather enjoy what I\'m doing.

Wouldn\'t we all...

What\'s stopping you?