The Tao of Pooh

Rating:
Summary: I wholeheartedly recommend this wonderful book
Review: Let's face it - Taoism is difficult for Western minds to understand. For me, it exemplifies the difference between simple and easy. Taoism is so basic and simple in its concepts, that it can be nearly impossible for a busy Western brain to accept. Well, whether you are looking for an introduction to Taoism or well along your own path, this book is an indispensable addition to your library.

The idea here is simple - Benjamin Hoff uses these perfect Pooh stories to explain the fundamental concepts of Taoist belief. Whether he is pointing out our contradictory beliefs or educating us on finding our paths, he does so with humor and compassion, always smart and simple. One of my favorite examples of our silly Western contradictions is where he talks about time-saving devices. In Western culture, we are constantly surrounded with time-saving devices, from alarm clocks to microwaves to computers to cell phones... yet we rarely have enough time. Then what happens when you go to a place where there are no time-saving devices? All of a sudden you have all the time in the world!

Have you read from the Tao Te Ching? I have spent hours contemplating one tiny passage before it even started to sink into my thick skull. What a difference it is to have Pooh and his crew as your guides! Hoff brings new meaning and understanding to these texts, creating a strong foundation for you to continue along your way. I have recommended this book to friends in all walks of life and with varying degrees of education and I always have received a more than enthusiastic reaction.

For me, the Toa of Pooh is as much a place as it is a book. I can read a chapter and suddenly find myself in a more relaxed space, maybe a little higher up where I can get a little more of the big picture. I hope it can do the same for you.

Rating:
Summary: A lovely and peaceful book for adults
Review: I was recently introduced to taoism through the music of John Cage. The book is written as if for a child, but the terminology and philosophy put forth is far to introspective and mature for young children to handle. It is a gentle lesson on life and priority management. The author explains taoist beliefs though a conversation with Pooh and Piglet and the rest of them, as well as through short stories about their adventures. The book comes across astonishingly light for such seemingly serious subject matter. Large text and simple illustrations only add to the book's levity, but at the end, you're left feeling peaceful and refreshed. "The Tao of Pooh" is ripe for repeat readings, whenever you feel like you need to relax. While Eeeore frets...and Piglet hesitates...and Rabbit calculates...and owl pontificates...

Pooh just is.

Rating:
Summary: One of my favorite taoist books
Review: This book is a little gem, especially when you are feeling lost spiritually. It teaches one a lot about Eastern Philosophy, meditation and just (like a brook) taking things smoothily and easily. I loved and so have all the friends to whom I have gifted this little volume of wisdom.

Rating:
Summary: What We Are Looking For Is Right In Front Of Us
Review: This is a well written, easily read book that provides an introduction and explanation of the general tenets of Tao through 5 main characters and the circumstances they are confronted with. Metaphor and real-life analysis and observation of how we live and think, and how Taoism can be applied to our perspectives and daily lives, if we want it to. Selection from the writings of Tao Te Ching, and other Taoist thinkers to the books characters and stituations help explain the meanings for the neophyte.
The significant influence of Puritanism on our past and present U.S. history is also delved into. The Puritan influence has always been with us and I am convinced it always will be.
The American work week gets longer every year, according to studies, and we have less and less time for the good things in life: family, friends, introspection, personal growth, and even pursuing hobbies. We are constantly running from one place to another, both literally and figuratively, in search of--something. Fulfillment, happiness, or what have you. We try to buy it, acquire it, reach out to it. But it's right in front of our faces--we just have to allow ourselves to see it.

Rating:
Summary: No poo-poohing...
Review: 'The Tao of Pooh', a fascinating synthesis of Eastern philosophy and Western children's literature, is done largely in conversational style between Benjamin Hoff, erstwhile writer, photographer and musician with a penchant for forests and bears. Thus, Pooh makes a natural philosophical companion. But, more than a companion, Pooh is, for Hoff, the very embodiment of the Tao.

'It's about how to stay happy and calm under all circumstances!' I yelled.
'Have you read it?' asked Pooh.

This is two-way book: to explain Taoism through Winnie-the-Pooh, and to explain Winnie-the-Pooh (not always an easy task itself) through Taoism. Taoism, more academically, is a religion indigenous to China, built upon teachings primarily of Lao-tzu, with significant influence from Buddha and K'ung Fu-tse. It is in the teachings of harmony and emptiness and being of Lao-tzu, however, that Taoism draws its meaning, believing that earth is a reflection of heaven, and that the world 'is not a setter of traps but a teacher of valuable lessons.'

As with many religions, this one took various guises: philosophic, monastic, structural, folk. But through them all, the imperceptible Tao, the essence of being, essentially undescribable, shapes the universe continually out of chaos, with a yin and yang alteration of perpetual transformation, in which nothing remains eternal save the Tao.

This makes Pooh a perfect example and exemplar. 'For the written character P'u, the typical Chinese dictionary will give a definition of 'natural, simple, plain, honest.' P'u is composed of two separate characters combined: the first, the 'radical' or root-meaning one, is that for tree or wood; the second, the 'phonetic' or sound-giving one, is the character for dense growth or thicket.'

Through semantic changes, perfectly in keeping with the Tao, we find that Pooh, or P'u, is actually a tree in the thicket, or a wood not cut, or finally, an Uncarved Block. And this, of course, is what pure being is.

Pooh, in his journey through the Tao, with the Tao, of the Tao (it is a hard one to nail down, isn't it?) encounters many. This includes Eeyore, the terminally morose, who represents Knowledge for the sake of Complaining about Something. It also includes Owl, the Western successor of the 'Confucianist Dedicated Scholar', who believes he has all truth as his possession, and studies Knowledge for the Sake of Knowledge (even if it isn't always the best knowledge). 'You can't help respecting anybody who can spell TUESDAY, even if he doesn't spell it right; but spelling isn't everything. There are days when spelling Tuesday simply doesn't count.'

Of course, all of the knowledge of the Owl, accompanied by the variable helpfulness of Rabbit who cannot stop activity in favour of just being something, couldn't figure out what had become of Christopher Robin, who left the Very Clear Note on his door:

GON OUT
BACKSON
BISY
BACKSON

Who or what is a Backson? Backsons are those people trying to outrun their shadows and their footprints, not realising that to stand still and rest in the shade defeats the power of both. And of course, the Bisy Backson is never at a standstill. And of course, one cannot experience the Tao, be the Tao, know the Tao (well, you get the Tao) if one is perpetually on the run.

The Bisy Backson is always

GONE OUT
BACK SOON
BUSY
BACK SOON

or, maybe GONE SOON. Anywhere. Anywhere he hasn't been. Anywhere but where he is. Of course, the idea of not going anywhere is abhorrent to him, and there is no concept of being able to do nothing.

Nothingness frees the mind. Nothing works like nothing. For there is nothing to distract you. Nothing to get in the way. Nothing to hinder you. Nothing means anything.

Now, read that last sentence again, carefully.

Nothing means anything.

Any thing is by definition itself, but when it is no thing, it can become potentially any thing.

'Oh, I see,' said Pooh.

Wisdom lies in the way of Pooh, who shirks the busy-ness of Rabbit, the intellectual hubris of Owl, and the doom-saying of Eeyore. Pooh simply is, and enjoys being who he is. Pooh is a Master, who knows the Way. Learn from him. Learn to be with him.

Rating:
Summary: Of Vinegar and Honey
Review: This is a wonderful book with a few minor flaws. Even if you have no wish to follow Tao, it can be taken as a fresh and light-hearted look at many of the timeless truisms we may already know but choose to ignore. It's also a jolly read.

So it's a shame to quibble, but quibble I will. The first tale we are given is that of the vinegar tasters. Unfortunately Benjamin Hoff fails to heed the lesson as he repeatedly grimaces at the bitter taste left by western civilisation. Some sections are even likely to irritate (see other reviewers).

p.s. some of my favourite ways of doing nothing include running, swimming and the gym; so I don't know what Hoff would make of me.

Rating:
Summary: Do as I say, not as I do
Review: Hoff's general premise is that Winnie-the-Pooh is a wonderful embodiment of some of the fundamental principles of taoism. If he limited himself to that discussion, the book would have been a much better read - he really does do a nice job of developing that theme.
Unfortunately, Mr. Hoff's un-tsaoist ego attempts to get in the way, especially, when he attempts to give direct "life lessons" to his readers (as opposed to allowing his readers to draw them from the anecdotes he desribes). Mr. Hoff at that point begins to evince a "more buddhist, and thus cooler, than thou" attitude in these portions of the book, and in the process reveals a lot of judgmentalism and close-mindedness. A minor example that I happen to recall: at some length, he belittles people who are devoted to exercise as being driven by some sort of vanity-driven compulsion. That may be true in some cases, but Hoff illustrates no ability to comprehend that some people may enjoy the act of running, or walking, or biking, or whatever, simply for itself (something the tao favors). If we all were truly at peace with ourselves, I guess we'd be attempting to package our personal spirituality for material gain like Hoff.

Rating:
Summary: Call me an Eeyore if you want but...
Review: Hurrah for Western Civilization, the predominant culture-set on the planet!

Benjamin Hoff allows his Neo-Luddite hate speech to infiltrate his otherwise half-witted diatribe against academia, work, and progress. (How is it that most "progressives" I've met feel a need to romanticize about a *past* that never existed?) While saying that conservatives, scholars, and people who *do* rather than pontificate, are WRONG, this joker talks about the gentle Chinese and all their contributions to society.

How can one, logically, bemoan the fate of Tibet while praising the Chinese for their cultural sensitivity? How can one, logically, complain about the ecology in the US in contrast to China (Maybe Chinese industrial waste is just culturally superior to ours?). We have protesters here in the US. We just don't run them over with military hardware. Those culturally sensitive Chinese are just GREAT!

This is not to say that the Chinese are bad. How can a civilization that brought us Kung Pao Chicken be all *that* bad? Let us, however, be fair. Eastern Civilizations have been every bit as cruel as Western ones. Hoff would do well to learn that, worldwide, people have been miserable t@rds to each other for ages. He complains about a culture that allows dissent; I suspect that this disdain stays with him all the way to the bank. If he were to be critical *of* China *in* China, he may well find that his royalty checks would be found under "Contraband Property" and that *he* would be found under a tank.

If you want to find out about Taoism read a book on Taoism. If you want to read frantic rants about Western culture, Hoff's books may be for you.

Rating:
Summary: Half and Half
Review: One could really take this book as a mixed bag of lessons. In a way, Hoff completely accidentally sets himself up as the ideal example of the opposite of a Taoist viewpoint. His portrayals of Winnie the Pooh as a simple, loving, accepting and calm creature are fairly on the mark. Though a tad simplistic, Pooh is accurately depicted as following several key Taoist virtues that are quite fundemental to such philosophy. At the same time, however, Hoff seems to scream for attention to his "higher learning" and aesceticism. Seeming to view himself a some type of guru on the subject, he makes a few jabs at Western learning in a painfully typical knee-jerk counterculturism manner. Many authors and artists in the past have attempted to seem profound simply by lashing out at anything conventional. After all, counterintuitive means profound, right? Unfortunately, no. In his rather selfrighteous, condemning, and finger-pointing manner, Hoff inadvertently deepens the lessons of the book. In his pretension, he deepens the contrast of the tranquil and nonjudgemental Pooh, setting him up as all the more admirable and showing just what sort of "more enlightened and at peace than thou" thinking this peaceful way of life stands against.

Rating:
Summary: To even hint that this is about Taoism is insulting
Review: This must be the first time I've given a book a rating of one star, but this one REALLY deserves it. I am sickened by the thought that people might read it and think this actually has anything to do with Taoism.

After reading this book, one concludes that Taoism means being intolerant, looking down on other people and other ways of living, and judging people. Which, of course, is about as far from Taoism as one can get. Benjamin Hoff writes about what happens when you try to fit round pegs in square holes, yet this is exactly what HE does. He doesn't accept Eeyore, Piglet, Rabbit, Tigger and Owl as they are, instead he describes Owl as 'the dried-up Western descendant of the Confucianist Dedicated Scholar' (not the only place in the book where he bashes Confucius and his followers) and 'one who studies Knowledge for the sake of Knowledge, and who keeps what he learns to himself or to his own small group, writing pompous and pretentious papers that no one else can understand, rather than working for the Enlightenment of others'. Sounds like accepting everyone as they are, doesn't it?

I wanted to give this book two stars - for being another reason to re-read 'Winnie-the-Pooh' and for the few popular quotations of Eastern thinkers. However, the author's attempts to write in the simple, yet brilliant style of Milne and failing miserably really is the last straw.

Therefore, instead of reading about 'Nearsighted Science' etc., just go and re-read 'Winnie-the-Pooh'. You'll understand Taoism a hundred times better by doing that (or doing nothing special at all) than by reading 'The Tao Of Pooh'.