THE TAO OF ME:
Eastern Religion
in the
Western World
Western Taoism:
the Philosophical approach
Western Taoism views Taoism less as a religion, and more of a way of living. However, throughout the entire Dao de Jing we see talk of ancestral sages, spirits, and heaven.
“From ancient times these have attained oneness with the Dao: Heaven attained oneness and became clear. Earth attained oneness and became peaceful. Spirits attained oneness and became strong, Valleys attained oneness and became full, beings attained oneness and became fertile, Sages attained oneness and became whole. All are what they are by virtue of oneness.” Through this quote, we can see that the Dao spoke of in the Dao de Jing is an enigmatic force, the closest we have to compare it to in the Western world is god, but it is not a god. It is described as being hidden, without a name. Daoism is all the contradictions in the world, living together, so to give each other meaning and power.
Western Taoism uses some characteristics of Eastern Daoism. Two key concepts were taken from Eastern Daoism and incorporated to form the basis of Taoism. The Western Taoist's approach to "self" is derived from the Daoist doctrine of naturalness, or as we know it, Pu. The key concept of effortless doing, also known as wu wei wu, was taken to show that the best path to take is the one that is most natural to yourself; creating without regard to result. Both of these concepts were exemplified in the Tao of Pooh as the perfect state of being, Winnie isn’t the smartest, wisest, fastest, or even most skilled of his friends, but he’s the most content with both himself and surroundings.
Pooh is the ebodiment of the Daoist doctrine Pu, effortless doing, the uncarved block, etc. Pooh's name is derived from Pu.
While the Tao of Pooh does a good job of simplifying Daoism for the Western world it still remains an oversimplification. The Tao of Pooh disregards the entire history that crafted those beliefs for thousands of years. In China, Eastern Daoism places tradition above the self. Does that mean that Taoism is inferior to Daoism? No, both have helped people achieve contentment, but it is key to understand that they share doctrines, they are practiced very diffrently.