The Tao of Pooh

One morning, when posed with the question of what is the matter by Pooh, Eeyore responds with the credo: “’Nothing, Pooh Bear, nothing. We can’t all, and some of us don’t. That’s all there is to it’” (Milne 74). Eeyore is known as a very gloomy, sad character, and is often even diagnosed with depression. Almost everything Eeyore says is laced with hints of his negative outlook and attitude on life. The word “nothing” is defined as “not anything; no single thing” and “something of no importance or concern.” By repeating the word, it puts emphasize on the idea that there is a huge amount of bleakness in Eeyore’s life. He is explaining that anything of significance never happens, since, in his mind, real, genuine significance doesn’t exist. There…

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff For my first journal activity, I chose to read The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff. At first, it seemed intimidating to read a book about a religion that was unfamiliar to me. Once I realized it is told using Winnie-the-Pooh, I was less anxious. The Tao of Pooh is a book that was written in the 1980’s, using Winnie-the-Pooh characters to explain the values and beliefs of Chinese Taoism. After reading this book, I can say that I learned a lot about Taoism. In…

“The Tao of Pooh,” yet another pre-reading that can connect to one of the Core Values. Starting out, “The Tao of Pooh” was confusing and seemed like an impossible read, but after sticking it out, it slowly became clear what the purpose of the reading was. The reading was to introduce Taoism, which is a religion similar to Buddhism. Understanding Taoism was significant to understanding the next book we would be reading, which was Siddhartha. Siddhartha has much information relating to Buddhism…

Laozi believed that people could accomplish more in life by following Tao or “The Way”, which is the natural order of things. The guidance of following the path of least resistance to be successful is called Wu Wei or “non-action”. The Doadejing by Loazi and the Zhungzi by Zhungzi are traditional chinese texts that were used for Doaism teachings in the Eastern Zhou. Doaism teachings can also be found through writings by American author Benjamin Hoff who wrote The Tao of Pooh. The book uses…

“When you are content to be simply yourself and don't compare or compete, everyone will respect you.” (Lao Tzu, Tao Te Ching.) This quote about Taoism not only describes how I feel about Taoism but about life in general. The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff has helped me better understand the principles of Taoism. I enjoy reading this book because it helps to further understand why it is important to just be yourself and not try to conform to what society wants or expects you to be. The two topics I…

The movie “Fantastic Mr. Fox” is about a Taoist concept called Inner nature. In the book “The Tao of Pooh,” the author, Benjamin Hoff, states that Inner nature is beyond the power of the intellect to measure or understand (38). Furthermore, Hoff explains that Inner nature is the concept that everything has its own unique function (40). In other words, we cannot scientifically understand Inner nature, but only know that everything in nature has its own unique purpose including individual humans.…

In Benjamin Hoff’s The Tao of Pooh, about 10 major Taoist teachings are covered through stories using the more familiar characters and concepts of Winnie the Pooh. Of these, the lessons on the understanding of inner nature, or cottlestone pie, and the story of the stonecutter, or that sort of bear, were those which I found most similar to my own goals. Both are focused on overcoming some sort of self-imposed obstacle, whether that be social anxiety or low self-esteem. Both of these also had an…

The story of Siddhartha and the Tao of pooh are great examples of how globalization actually works. Siddhartha was a young Brahmin, living in India, he was always expected to live up to everyone’s expectations and to take after his father. He followed his religion closely and did all things that this religion said he must do in order to make himself happy. However, he felt that following this religion would not fulfil his wants and needs, and needed more. Siddhartha realized that other religions…

in every situation. Pooh truly embodies the Uncarved Block, the lessons of Cottleston Pie, and knowing your limitations. The Pooh way of living life simply and going with the flow is proven to be the best way to live compared to the ways of Owl, Eeyore, and Rabbit, as seen in The Tao of Pooh. Pooh’s ways are seen as better than Rabbit’s because while Pooh is the epitome of living life simply, Rabbit is “always on the run.” These are the ways of the Bisy Backson. Bisy Backsons are always bustling…

Darkness, a form of chaos as well as a “creator”, all appear in the Chinese and what is starting to appear to be most mythological creation stories. The Egyptian for of Darkness was “Nun”, the destructive forces of chaos were found in “Apep”. In Vedic/Hindu faith, “a Golden Germ or egg floated on the primeval waters of chaos”(World Mythology, Willis, Rot. Print 1993) In the Chinese origin, The creator, Pan Gu grew in the darkness of an egg that grows for 18,000 years until grew into existence.…