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Summary: Pooh just is.
Review: When we were covering Taoism in my World Religions class, I suddenly recalled the Tao of Pooh book my sister-in-law gave me the year I planned to end it all, back in 1995/96. I read it once, was comforted by it, and forgot it all. Years later, after reading Taoism, I instantly felt a light bulb flash in my head... "Oh, so that's what it's all about!" This cute book combines the Taoist philosophy in conjunction with Pooh's interractions with his friends, with Christopher Robin being the kind but serious teacher who tries to teach Pooh about what he represents--Taoism.In contrasting Confucianism, Buddhism, and Taoism, Confucius is described as a sour-faced man, Buddha as one with a bitter expression, but Lao-Tse being the smiling one. Basically, the laws that govern the heavens are the same one that govern earth and man, and that if we go with the flow, we'll be in harmony. The concepts of wu-wei is also explained. Wu-wei means "not doing" but of doing nothing against the natural flow. Here, it's called the Pooh Way, because Pooh has a "mind that merely sees what's in front of it, and follows the nature of things." In other words, put the round peg in the round hole, the square peg in the square one. The characters who make up Pooh's friends demonstrate the flaw of knowledge and cleverness, and I was fascinated and sobered by this because their personalities reflect me, and I realize the bad side in knowing too much. Dig this: Owl, the modern equivalent of a Confusionist, Dessicated Scholar, is described as someone who gains Knowledge for Knowledge's sake, or for the sake of appearing wise. A bit harsh because that's me to some extent. Rabbit is described as someone who gains Knowledge for the sake of appearing Clever, and I had to wince, because to my shame, I fully admit that's also me to some extent. And Eeyore is someone who gains Knowledge for the sake of Complaining. Given my political stance, yes, me too again. And as Pooh says in response to Owl having a brain, "I suppose that that's why he never understands anything." Maybe that's my problem too. But Pooh, the lucky bear, may not have much of a brain, but he embodies the Simplicity of the Uncarved Block, the Taoist equivalent of John Locke's tabula rasa (blank slate). Basically, Pooh can't describe the Uncarved Block, he just IS it. "That's the nature of the Uncarved Block." And he's got the right idea in not being a Bisy Backson, or (Busy Back Soon), you know, rush-rush-rush. I wonder why we don't have an American equivalent of a French sidewalk cafe or Chinese teahouse. Now that I'm getting on, maybe I value the message of "You're important. Relax and enjoy yourself." A cute book on the explanations of Taoism, and how maybe simplicity, wisdom (as opposed to knowledge) and contentment is the best way to go. But it makes me wish that I was a tabula rasa or an Uncarved Block once again. Oh, just to be, not to know or be clever, but just to be.
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Summary: Beautiful, Entertaining, and Thought-Provoking Masterpiece!
Review: This elegant and well-written volume by Benjamin Hoff, along with its sequel "The Te of Piglet", is perhaps one of the finest pieces of writing about Taoism in the West. Having just read and enjoyed the original Pooh stories by A.A. Milne, I became intrigued by this book and obtained it. As soon as I opened it I could not find a good point to lay it down. I kept reading and reading until I finished it in a single day. The book was so pleasurable, so well-written, and so intriguing. I kept thinking and imagining all the different concepts of Taoism that this book introduces me to. "Wu Wei" or effortless action; living in harmony with nature; Nowhere and Nothing; the importance of the present; the extreme alienation we in the West create for ourselves by being constantly busy. These are all important issues that relate to my life personally, and I feel I have gained something from reading this book, in addition to spending an enjoyable time reading it. Those who didn't like this book for some reason are missing the point. The "Tao of Pooh" was never meant to be the definite treatise on Taoism, or the dispassionate comparison of East and West. As a matter of fact, this book is classified under "Humor". In fact, it is this humor of pooh which lends itself so aptly to introducing Taoism. Since reading this book, I became interested in reading the other book by John Tyerman Williams called "Pooh & the Philosophers". What a disaster that turned out to be! See, the defining character of Pooh is that he never really takes himself seriously, which is perfectly in line with the attitude of major Taoist philosophers. Yet Western philosophy thinks of itself as a serious subject, an attitude that is quite un-Pooh-ish, so I don't know what on earth Williams was thinking in using Pooh to illustrate Western philosophy. Anyways, don't buy William's book, buy this! If you like Pooh and feel intrigued with Eastern Philosophy, you will find a pleasurable reading in this masterpiece that was the first to recognize this beautiful match.
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Summary: Reply for James LeMay
Review: This is just a reply for James LeMay. I have not yet finished the book but what I have read has been very helpful. It wasn't so much the book that caught my eye, it was more Mr. LeMay's review. His review was very well written, I will give him that, but what his apparent bashing of the book seems to be as a result of his offense he has taken to it. I picture Mr. LeMay as one of those up tight, concerned with nothing but logic, takes thing in a way too literal manner kind of of "intellectual" people that is just ticked off because he is being bashed ,and outshined as a decent human with a happy life, but a dumpy, stuffed teddy bear. But then again that's just my opinion and he is entitled to the same right to express his but people shouldn't really take him seriously. This book is wonderful for some one looking for inner peace as opposed to an attempt to liberate and widen the horizons of toddlers.
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Summary: Hatred of Science in a Pooh Mask
Review: The contempt the author repeatedly expressed for both science and education made this book inappropriate for my young boys, ages 4 and 6. The author used the cute characters to mask his contempt for many of the things I value in my life, and you perhaps value in yours. I read this book at night to my 4 and 6 year olds. My four year old had chosen to read The Book of Pooh four times in a row. I had used his interest in Pooh to help him learn other things, like math and drawing. I saw this book as a way to introduce some big philosophical concepts. This may very well be an introduction to Tao, I don't know. If "The Way" means basically "To Criticize" then this is it. The author's point seems to be "Be Like Pooh." The problem is, he cannot do it himself. If the author acted more like Pooh, his book would not be so objectionable to my children. Can you imagine Pooh criticizing at all? When the author started talking about science as pointless and silly, my 6 year old (who was sitting in) asked what was wrong with science? He wants to be a scientist. And when the author went on on a tirade about academics and school and even (ironically) books, I was shocked. My boys are both in classes of some sort, and they don't know what to do with the author's low opinion of school. There were many of these gems of knowledge. One other one I remember is that exercise is worthless. Better he says to just lay on the grass. No kidding. My kids are very active (as is Pooh) and I hope they are active their whole lives. The advice in this book is questionable at best, and totally inappropriate for children. If you are an adult, have failed at school, and sit on a couch all day, then this book will provide you with a justification.
The author is a Talk Radio DJ, in the disguise as a mystic, putting on a puppet show starring Pooh. He hijacks a childhood hero to vent his frustration at a failed college career. Underneath his "be simple, like Pooh" message is a great deal of anger and frustration that bubble to the surface in ill-chosen exaggerations about "narrow minded science" and "irrelevant academia" and joggers. Did he not get tenure at Cal Tech, or something? While he derides science as pointless study, one wonders if he drives a car, takes medicine, prints his books on printing presses, travels by some other means than his feet, in short... does he benefit from science? If so, the word "hypocrite" springs to mind. We never finished the book. My four year old, who is FAR more Pooh-like than the author, simply knew that something wasn't right, and would actually pick another book and read it silently while I read this book aloud. He had never done that before, or since, and it was his Pooh way of telling me that this guy wasn't appropriate. So when my six year old asked, "How can he be against books - when he wrote one?" we stopped. The boy had a point. Any author of a book who derides authors and readers of books for being too academic is clearly a fool. The author does not have the inner peace and sense of fun and play that Pooh possesses. Instead, he parades these cute characters about and (from time to time) sneers hate-filled generalizations about things he chooses not to respect. I hear his second book is the same, but worse. If that is "The Way" then count me out.
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Summary: Pooh just is.
Review: On a day when I was feeling particularly (oh dear, I hate to say this) sullen - I picked up the Tao of Pooh to soothe my spirit. As always, I was charmed by the Pooh stories (they take me back to when it was - or seemed to be, so much simpler to be alive), and soothed by the Taoist principles Hoff explains through the stories. I've had The Tao of Pooh for a few years now, and I always know that solace is to be found in its pages. It never fails to work a wonderfully simple magic.
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Summary: Nothing to do is a good time for the Tao of Pooh.
Review: A warm summer day on vacation, with nothing to do and The Tao of Pooh in hand, is a pefect time for this quick read with an important message. Nothing to do is not what it seems. This quiet, open space is the place to find that bear of small brain but big heart. As the fox says in The Little Prince, "Here is my secret, a very simple secret. It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eyes." Winnie the Pooh, as interpreted by Benjamin Hoff, would agree that the Tao (way) can only be found in what Yeats calls the "deep heart's core." As children we all started with a good heart, but somewhere along the way we became confused with too much to do and too little time. But the heart knows that we have all the time there is in the eternal present. We need to discover, as ee cummings says, how "To be nobody but 'ourself' in a world that is night and day trying to make 'us' just like everybody else." Nothing to do will give us a chance find ourself and to experience with this discovery the "peace which passes all undertanding." Our first tendency will be to begin thinking of the right answer, like owl, or to start immediately doing something, like rabbit. We need to turn off the thinking and doing machine, which is the foundation of our Western Culture, and instead, practice leaving things alone, that is doing nothing, as Lao-tse would recommend in The Tao Te Ching, tne basis for Hoff's The Tao of Pooh. In Hermann Hesse's great little book, Siddhartha, only at the end of his life, sitting by the river, doing nothing but listening quietly to the river flowing by him as he sat on the grass, did Siddharth finally attain enlightenment and an understanding of himself and his place in the world. On our own vacation on a warm summer's day with the Tao of Pooh in hand, perhaps we will begin to listen quietly to "the sound of lake water lapping with low sounds by the shore" as we discover what is in our deep heart's core.
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Summary: Still learning from Pooh
Review: I first read this outstanding little lesson about life in college. I found it difficult to understand and conceptualize at the time, yet was able to directly apply to my life some key principles. 7 years later I found the concepts far easier to digest and continue to use what I've learned. I'll likely read it again in another year or two.
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Summary: Lots of fun for a rainy afternoon
Review: This is a cute book and a quick read for a lazy rainy day.
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Summary: Great Commentary on Modern Society
Review: This book offers great insight into life and modern society. It is true that this book doesn't go too deep into philosophy, and I respect that. Because, it's not a book about philosophy--it's a book about life. The philosophy contained in the Tao of Pooh is directly applicable to everyday life and reflects real life. There are great references and stories in the Tao of Pooh. I was delighted to learn about The Vinegar Tasters, though I still can't find a scroll of it to hang on my wall, and of Master Li who lived an extraordinary number of years.
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Summary: Very funny with lots of insightful thoughts.
Review: I read Winnie the Pooh not long before this book. Then a friend of mine recommended me to read the Tao of Pooh. So I did and am very glad. It's very very funny with a lot of insights and wisdom. It carried on the same sense of humor of the original author of Winnie the Pooh, A. A. Milne. It might be better if you read Winnie the Pooh before starting with this book so that you have an overall idea and get the sense of the style, the unique characters, and the humor in the original story. In that way I think the Tao of Pooh will be even more fun and enjoyable.
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