** For better than impulsive Tigger, or gloomy Eeyore, or intellectual Owl, or even loveable Pooh, Piglet herein demonstrates a very important principle of Taoism: the Te — a Chinese word meaning Virtue — of the Small. (Note: Piglet -> a Very Small Animal)

Notes:

  • What? Another One?
    • Another book needn’t be a “sequel”; it could be a companion book.
  • Interjection
    • Since we are dealing with a more timid animal this time, this book may seem a bit more serious than its predecessor.
  • The — What Was That Again? — of Piglet
    • Taoism is a way of living in harmony with Tao, the Way of the Universe, the character of which is revealed in the workings of the natural world.
    • Confucianism concerns itself mostly with human relations — with social and political rules and hierarchies.
    • Taoism deals primarily with the individual’s relationship to the world.
    • Ever since the Great Separation, Taoists have concerned themselves with attaining the state of Perfect Virtue, through discarding whatever prevents harmony with Tao.
  • Very Small Animal
    • The Very Small Animals of traditional, Confucianist-dominated Chinese society were women, children, and the poor.
    • Utilising the vehicles of literary fact and fiction, they publicised the misdeeds of the powerful and ridiculed the devious, the arrogant, the pompous, and the cruel.
    • In these stories, the courage, affection, faithfulness, and honesty of animals are contrasted with the pretentiousness and hypocrisy of wealthy landholders, merchants, and government officials.
  • The Eeyore Effect
    • There is something in each of us that wants us to be Unhappy.
    • It Won’t Work, So Why Try?
    • Eeyores are afraid — afraid to risk positive emotional expression, positive action, positive involvement in anything beyond Ego.
    • They grudgingly carry their thimbles to the Fountain of Life, then mumble and grumble that they weren’t given enough.
    • Without problems, there can be no personal growth, no group achievement, no progress for humanity. But what matters about problems is what one does with them. Eeyores don’t overcome problems, No, it’s the other way round.
    • Everything in creation, from migrating humingbirds to spinning planets, operates on the belief that “It Can Be Done”.
    • As Lao-tse wrote: When they hear of the Way, The highest minds practice it; The average minds think about it And try it now and then; The lowest minds laugh at it. If they did not laugh at it, It would not be the Way. （上士聞道，勤而行之。中士聞道，若存若亡。下士聞道，大笑之。不笑不足以為道。）
  • The Tigger Tendency
    • Tiggers are first-rate at starting things, but are not very good at completing them.
    • Tigger is an overenthusiast.
    • The West is full of Tiggers – restless seekers of instant gratification, larger-than-life overachievers.
    • It is quite easy to be an impatient, inconsiderate, scatterbrained Tigger in a society that admires, encourages, and rewards impulsive behavior.
    • We are reminded of the old Persian curse: “May your every desire be immediately fulfiled.”
    • The major lesson Tiggers need to learn is that if they don’t control their impulses, their impulses will control them.
    • The worthwhile and important things in life — wisdom and happiness in particular — are simply not the sorts of things one can Chase After and Grab.
  • Things as They Might Be
    • Unhappiness is the result of being guided by illusions — such as the mistaken belief that man is something separate from the natural world.
    • Probably the most destructive of all the Illusions of the West is the superstitious notion that Technology will solve all our difficulties.
    • Eeyore religion says that the earth isn’t worth saving, anyway, and that when it comes to an end, the Faithful will be transported instantly to heaven.
    • Eeyore science, on the other hand, insists that Technology will rescue us from destruction — including the considerable destruction that Technology causes.
    • Chuang-tse said, “When leaders pursue knowledge but do not follow the Way, all who follow them become lost in confusion.” (上誠好知而無道，則天下大亂矣。)
    • Chuang-tse said, “Honesty and simplicity are overlooked, and restlessness is admired. Quiet, effortless action is forgotten, and loud quarrelling is heard. Such is the nature of hunger for knowledge. Its noise throws the world into chaos.” (舍夫種種之民而悅夫役役之佞，釋夫恬淡無為而悅夫啍啍之意，啍啍已亂天下矣。)
    • Chuang-tse said, “Men honor what lies within the sphere of their knowledge, but do not realize how dependent they are on what lies beyond it.”
    • Our body of knowledge and tool development has never given, is not presently giving, and almost surely will never give us either physical security or well-being.
    • Modern man’s difficulties, dangerous beliefs and feeling of loneliness, spiritual emptiness, and personal weakness are caused by his illusions about, and separation from, the natural world.
  • Things as They Are
    • If we were asked to condense Taoist teachings regarding everyday life to their irreducible essentials, we would say: Observe, Deduce, and Apply.
    • Once you make a habit of Observing, Deducing, and Applying, you may sense a pathway opening up ahead of you — or inside of you, or both — leading to a deeper understanding of things.
    • Tao is both “subtlety” and “action.”
    • Carefully observe the natural laws in operation in the world around you, and live by them.
    • When you observe the natural world, you’ll eventually see that everything in it is designed to succeed — including what some might judge to be “bad.”
    • If you want to learn the natural world’s principles of success, you’ll need to see things not as “good” or “bad,” but as they are.
    • Unattractiveness, illness, and weakness have many valuable lessons to teach to those willing to learn from them.
    • As Chuang-tse pointed out, even death itself may not necessarily be bad: How do we know that to cling to life is not a error? Perhaps our fear of its end approaching is like forgetting our way and not knowing how to return home.
    • Maybe the “good” things are tests, possibly rather difficult ones at that, and the “bad” things are gifts to help us grow: problems to solve, situations to learn to avoid, habits to change, conditions to accept, lessons to learn, things to transform — all opportunities to find Wisdom, Happiness, and Truth.
  • The Upright Heart
    • The power of the sensitive, the modest, and the small
    • The word for Taoist sensitivity is Cooperate. As Lao-tse wrote, “The skilled walker leaves no tracks” — he is sensitive to (and therefore respectful toward) his surroundings and works with the natural laws that govern them.
    • “So too the wise may become great, by becoming small.” (以其終不自為大，故能成其大。)
    • Don’t be intimidated. Dont make a big deal of anything — just accept things as they come to you. The universe knows what it’s doing. So don’t develop a big ego, and don’t be afraid.
  • The Day of Piglet
    • A new way of life is coming — one so unlike today’s that it would be difficult, if not impossible, to describe in today’s terms. We might call it The Day of Piglet.
    • Taoism is not an Unbending Path.
    • Taoism is a Way of Transformation — a way through which something is changed into something else.
    • Two principles of Taoist transformation
      • Turn the negative into positive
      • Attract positive with positive
    • As Taoists have long observed and remarked on, something taken to its extreme turns into its opposite. The present age of man — an extreme if there ever was one — might well be called the Age of the Warrior. So, according to the Taoist principle, the coming age will be an Age of the Healer, or something of the sort. But first will come what could be called a Great Purification.
    • When the necessary cleansing is over, we will witness a magical transformation of the world around us by the forces of the earth. And we will see for ourselves what the ancient Taoists meant by the Age of Perfect Virtue.

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