Customer Reviews

The Tao of Pooh

5 star:		(101)
4 star:		(24)
3 star:		(13)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

This book is simply magnificent. I've been reading the Tao for years and never had I made the correlation of Pooh and Taoism. From the start you see how Hoff ties in Pooh to the ancient chinese philosophy, and having Pooh as a living and breathing character in the book helps. Pooh injects his simple nature and gentle humor into everything which is just so.. well, Taoist.

I found myself entralled by how wonderful and charming Hoff made the book. He made it's reading an enjoyable process.

Now for those of you who are new to Taoism or having trouble with its principle nature this will be a helpful book. I read some of the reviews of those who didn't understand the book or perhaps Taoism in general. Western minds often think too hard about everything. If you can relax and simply accept the book and its message as it is presented you should see its beauty.

Taoism is like the sky is blue and the grass is green, it is simple and amazing and Pooh makes a great representative to deliver its teachings.

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.

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.

'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.

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.

I like what I read or I hate it. Simple as that. Well, This book was annoying in several ways, yet my affection for Winnie The Pooh bouyed my rating of the book, and my interest in Eastern philosophy. I was apalled by Hoff's constant bashing at "intellectuals" and veiled ranting. I was also annoyed at Hoff's bashing of other faiths as essentially being "Wrong". A true Taoist wouldn't beat someone over the head about how "wrong" their Way is because it happens to be structured and staid. That may just be the natural-flowing Way for them. It's a so-so introduction to Taoism...I'd recommend "Tao The Watercourse Way" by Alan Watts and a nice translation of the Tao Te Ching. Put the two together and you'll grok it better than Hoff ever will.

Then Again, you can read Hoff's books with an open mind....and as a preacher I once knew said "Eat the meat, and leave the bones".

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'.

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.

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.

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.