Milne & ‘Ways of Seeing’
[Robert Anton Wilson
& Our Reality Tunnels]
A.A. Milne,
[born January 18, 1882] English humourist, is best known as the originator of the
immensely popular stories about Christopher Robin and his toy bear,
Winnie-the-Pooh!
From a theoretical
standpoint, the books that Milne wrote for his son, underscore the importance
of ‘perspectives’ and ‘ways of seeing!’
Coincidentally,
today also happens to be the birthday of Robert Anton Wilson, American author of
several science fiction novels, and a futurist, whose take on ‘perspectives’
and ‘ways of seeing’ are highly liberative in their appeal!
Your ‘way of
seeing’ is your ‘reality tunnel’ says Robert Anton Wilson.
When someone has
a differing viewpoint that’s contrary to yours, it just means that,
“They just have
a different reality tunnel, and every ‘reality tunnel’ might tell us something
interesting about our world, if we are willing to listen.”
Quoting his favourite
German philosopher Husserl, who says, “All perception is gamble,” Robert Anton
Wilson continues –
“Every type
of bigotry, every type of racism, sexism, prejudice, every dogmatic ideology
that allows people to kill other people with a clear conscience, every stupid
cult, every superstition, written religion, every kind of ignorance in the
world all results from not realizing that our perceptions are gambles”.
“We believe
what we see and then we believe our interpretation of it, we don’t even know we
are making an interpretation most of the time. We think that this is reality.
In philosophy that is called naïve realism”.
“What I
perceive is reality.”
“And philosophers
have refuted naïve realism every century for the last twenty-five hundred years
starting with Buddha & Plato, and yet most people still act on the basis of
naive realism”.
Never believe
fully in anybody else's Belief System, he adds, and says -
I don't care
if it's Roger Neich, the Pope, L. Ron Hubard, Al Gore, George Bush.
I don't care
who it is, don't swallow all their belief system totally, don't accept all of
their BS (belief system).
The second rule
is like unto the first, don't believe totally in your own BS (Belief System as he
says),
which means
any belief system or reality tunnel you have got right now is gonna have to be
revised and updated as you continue to apprehend new events later in time not
simultaneously.
This is the
natural functioning of the human brain, it's the way children brains perform
before they are wrecked by the school system. It's the way the minds of all
great scientists and artists work.
But once you
have a belief system everything that comes in either gets ignored if it doesn't
fit the belief system or get distorted enough so that it can fit into the
belief system. You gotta be continually revising your map of the world.
In like
fashion, coming back to Milne and his world,
What to the
adult is a ‘mere shelf full of stuffed animal toys’, to the little child it becomes a beautiful world by itself – they aren’t toys at all – rather fully developed,
distinct personalities – in flesh and blood in front of his little eyes!
Milne has
been called a connoisseur in the art of observing children’s behaviour, their
mannerisms, their whims and fancies, and catering to their sensibilities with
gusto!
His wit is
amazing! His dialogues so endearing! And his way with words so appealing!
Interestingly,
it was J. M. Barrie, [best known for his children’s book Peter Pan], a good
friend of Milne, who helped in the production of Milne’s first play.
Now here
goes Milne and his world – with a few beautiful excerpts for us – from the
Introduction and Chapter 1 – to appreciate and celebrate the wit and the wonder
of Milne and his world!
INTRODUCTION
If you happen
to have read another book about Christopher Robin, you may remember that he
once had a swan (or the swan had Christopher Robin, I don't know which) and
that he used to call this swan Pooh.
That was a long
time ago, and when we said good-bye, we took the name with us, as we didn't
think the swan would want it any more.
Well, when Edward
Bear said that he would like an exciting name all to himself, Christopher Robin
said at once, without stopping to think, that he was Winnie-the-Pooh. And he
was.
So, as I have
explained the Pooh part, I will now explain the rest of it. You can't be in
London for long without going to the Zoo.
There are some
people who begin the Zoo at the beginning, called WAYIN, and walk as quickly as
they can past every cage until they get to the one called WAYOUT, but the
nicest people go straight to the animal they love the most, and stay there.
So when Christopher
Robin goes to the Zoo, he goes to where the Polar Bears are, and he whispers
something to the third keeper from the left, and doors are unlocked, and we
wander through dark passages and up steep stairs, until at last we come to the
special cage, and the cage is opened, and out trots something brown and furry,
and with a happy cry of “Oh, Bear!”
Christopher
Robin rushes into its arms.
Now this bear's
name is Winnie, which shows what a good name for bears it is, but the funny
thing is that we can't remember whether Winnie is called after Pooh, or Pooh
after Winnie.
We did know
once, but we have forgotten... I had written as far as this when Piglet looked
up and said in his squeaky voice, “What about Me?” “My dear Piglet,” I said,
“the whole book is about you.”
“So it is about
Pooh,” he squeaked. You see what it is. He is jealous because he thinks Pooh is
having a Grand Introduction all to himself.
Pooh is the favourite,
of course, there's no denying it, but Piglet comes in for a good many things
which Pooh misses; because you can't take Pooh to school without everybody
knowing it, but Piglet is so small that he slips into a pocket, where it is
very comforting to feel him when you are not quite sure whether twice seven is
twelve or twenty-two.
Sometimes he
slips out and has a good look in the ink-pot, and in this way he has got more
education than Pooh, but Pooh doesn't mind.
Some have brains,
and some haven't, he says, and there it is.
And now
all the others are saying, “What about Us?”
So perhaps
the best thing to do is to stop writing Introductions and get on with the book.
A. A. M.
Chapter 1
IN WHICH WE ARE
INTRODUCED TO WINNIE-THE-POOH AND SOME BEES, AND THE STORIES BEGIN
HERE is Edward
Bear, coming downstairs now, bump, bump, bump, on the back of his head, behind
Christopher Robin.
It is, as far
as he knows, the only way of coming downstairs, but sometimes he feels that
there really is another way, if only he could stop bumping for a moment and
think of it.
And then
he feels that perhaps there isn't.
Anyhow, here
he is at the bottom, and ready to be introduced to you.
Winnie-the-Pooh.
When I first heard
his name, I said, just as you are going to say, “But I thought he was a boy?”
“So did I,”
said Christopher Robin.
“Then you
can't call him Winnie?”
“I don't.”
“But you
said-”
“He's Winnie-ther-Pooh.
Don't you know what 'ther' means?”
“Ah, yes, now
I do,” I said quickly; and I hope you do too, because it is all the explanation
you are going to get.
Sometimes Winnie-the-Pooh
likes a game of some sort when he comes downstairs, and sometimes he likes to
sit quietly in front of the fire and listen to a story.
This evening
- “What about a story?” said Christopher Robin.
“What about
a story?” I said.
“Could you
very sweetly tell Winnie-the-Pooh one?”
“I suppose
I could,” I said. “What sort of stories does he like?”
“About himself.
Because he’s that sort of Bear”.
“Oh,
I see.”
“So could
you very sweetly?”
“I’ll try,”
I said.
So I
tried.
Once upon a time,
a very long time ago now, about last Friday, Winnie-the-Pooh lived in a forest
all by himself under the name of Sanders.
(“What does
‘under the name’ mean?” asked Christopher Robin. “It means he had the name over
the door in gold letters, and lived under it.”
“Winnie-the-Pooh
wasn't quite sure,” said Christopher Robin.
“Now I
am,” said a growly voice.
“Then I
will go on,” said I.)
One day when
he was out walking, he came to an open place in the middle of the forest, and
in the middle of this place was a large oak-tree, and, from the top of the
tree, there came a loud buzzing-noise.
Winnie-the-Pooh
sat down at the foot of the tree, put his head between his paws and began to
think.
First of all
he said to himself:
“That buzzing-noise
means something. You don't get a buzzing-noise like that, just buzzing and
buzzing, without its meaning something. If there’s a buzzing-noise, somebody’s
making a buzzing-noise, and the only reason for making a buzzing-noise that I
know of is because you're a bee”.
Well, that was
just a foretaste to the world of Winnie-the-Pooh!
Do grab for yourself
a copy rightaway to relish and to enjoy the delightful world of Winnie-the-Pooh!
On an added snippet - Winnie
is on Disney+ Hotstar as well!
image courtesy: disney & recoverynetdotca
