The Pooh Wisdom

Years and years ago, I was going through the period of intense search for “the depth of my faith”. I just started a new relationship, I was in love, I was motivated, I was eager to “do stuff”.

At that time I was close with the local order of Dominicans; very spiritual fellows; scholars, with down-to-earth approach to life. This resonated strongly with my scientific mind. In my search I wanted to immerse myself in spiritual texts. With the eagerness of a young heart I entered the monastery in search for a monk, a friend of mine, to ask him which scripture would best suit my pursuit! Thomas, a friendly fellow with quite a bit of experience with eager youngsters like myself, was happy to help. Clearly, it wasn’t his first encounter with such eager, yet naive spirit. He sat quietly and led me explain all the grandiose ideas of mine. I did so at length. In return for my story I was expecting a long list of scholarly texts to help me achieve enlightenment, union with God, nirvana, possibly within short period of time. To my complete surprise Thomas did not offer anything of that sort. In his wisdom, without trying to kill my spirit, he simply said: “You don’t need to read scripture to find God. He is looking for you even when you read a newspaper”. You cannot imagine my disappointment — I was not reading newspapers at that time! After almost 20 years, this is still one of the greatest lessons I have ever received.

The modern society is defined by quantifying “doing”; how many books you’ve read, how many diplomas you have, how many times you went to the gym this week, how many followers you’ve got on Facebook etc. Measuring our success through those numbers it is easy to forget that: we are NOT human “doings”, but human beings. We have already arrived, we already possess everything to be happy, right here, right now. Sit, close your eyes, relax, and wait. If you have enough patience and allow the active mind to settle (easier said than done!) soon enough you experience happiness, enlightenment, union, oneness — everything you are looking for. It is not through doing but through stillness that all gifts come to you. Yes, they will come to you! Perhaps this is a secret that is so difficult to understand in times when instant gratification is the god. Doing does not necessarily bring you closer to the things that matter. Doing may bring you closer to the things that you want but is your happiness dependant on those things? “Want” and “Need” are different in the same way as doing and being. Most of us have to do many things before we realise that only in being we are truly ourselves.

Read more: In another article, meditation teacher Fleur Chambers explores how ordinary everyday moments of mindfulness for moms allow them to shift from the zone of doing to being.

This whole reflection, was inspired by a recent movie “Christopher Robin”, based on a famous book by A. A. Milne — and hence the title! In this story the adult Christopher Robin, like most of us, is immersed in doing, chasing his own tail in a big London corporation. As in every Pooh story, the bear is the real hero. In his brilliantly juvenile, matter-of-factly words, the Pooh delivers most important spiritual truths that were clearly forgotten by the modern society:

“Doing nothing often leads to the very best kind of something”

and

“People say nothing is impossible, but I do nothing every day”

I want to leave you with the Pooh Wisdom, wishing you much joyful being and less doing.

Practice calming your busy mind with these guided meditations led by Tomek Wyczesany: