Chapter Summary Of The Book 'The Tao Of Pooh'

Taoism is an ancient Chinese religion dating back to the sixth century. The basic foundation of Taoism is a life philosophy and method

In order to become a virtuous person an individual must become one with the Tao, an example of a good life is found in Chuang Tzu – Basic writings, “If you do good, stay away from fame. If you do evil, stay away from punishments. Follow the middle; go by what is constant, and you can stay in one piece, keep yourself alive, look after your parents, and live out your years.” (Section three, p46). In order to become one with the Tao and individual must understand the Way and example of the Way “…For this reason, whether you point to a little stalk or a great pillar, a leper or the beautiful Hsi-shih, things ribald and shady or things grotesque and strange, the Way makes them all into one.” (Section two, p. 36) The Way is having the ability to consider all things one. Looking at the creatures of the world without bias and treating everything and everyone as equal. In order to follow the Way one must gain enlightenment, to gain enlightenment one must heavy focus on meditation. Taoists believe that time is cyclical, not linear as many in the West believe, therefore time repeats itself, has no beginning and no end. Tao is considered to be the first cause of the universe, and is the force that

Unlike the Confucians, who actively tried to change the political system, Taoists pursue wuwei (nonaction) in living. According to the Tao Te Ching, by not acting one is not doing any harm which is the result of surrendering to the Tao. By doing such, one no longer has a corrupt nature and is moral and perfect human. If a person is in harmony with the Tao they are also in harmony with all

Taoism has the same worldview as Confucianism or ancient Chinese folk religion. Its philosophy operates within the same paradigms. It celebrates man's association and interdependency with nature. Moving on to a wider plane, the relationship between religion and the universe takes the form of veneration, which lies beyond the confines of time and space, ancestor worship and belief in the sovereign. The principles on which the system thrives even today include Ch'i, Feng Shui, interdependency between life and death, the Eight Immortals and the Ultimate Reality.

Deity, there is thus perhaps no real Deity with the capital letter to be equated with the God of Western religion. We have seen that Heaven eventually becomes the term customarily used for the Supreme Ruler, but we now know that behind or beyond heaven, there are the workings of yang and yin which have their source in tao (Thompson, 6). There is nothing distinctively Chinese in the way whereby the forces of nature were personified or the heavenly bodies were believed to exercise a direct influence in human affairs, or the way in which otherwise inexplicable occurrences of disease and other misfortunes were attributed to malignant spirits. The deification of human beings characteristic of both family and folk religion is somewhat more exceptional, although not unique (Thompson, 7). The founder of Taoism is Lao Zi and Chuan Tze, the school advocates the doctrine that the Dao is the course, the principle, the substance, and the standard of all things, to which all of them must conform. Based on the Dao De Jing, Taoism promotes the belief that a person should live a simple life, not to strive for wealth, fame or power, which will only give one worries and trouble. The school favors the political principle of “achieving good government through

Benjamin Hoff is an American author that was born on January 01, 1946 that wrote The Tao of Pooh and The Te of Piglet. The first Taoist-authored book in history to be on The New York Times’ for fourty-nine weeks was the international bestseller, Tao of Pooh. However ten years later he published The Te of Piglet which was on The New York Times’ for even longer, for a total of fifty-nine weeks. Both of which explain the Chinese philosophy of Taoism through the characters created by A.A. Milne, The author of Winnie-the-Pooh, and The Singing Creek Where the Willows Grow written by Opal Whiteley.

Although I disliked some of the writing aspects that Benjamin Hoff chose to use in The Tao of Pooh, I agreed with certain aspects of the Taoist principles he mentioned, especially the Cottleston Pie Principle. I like the simplicity

Each individual chapter of the book is used to teach a new principle of the Uncarved Block of Taoism. Each chapter begins with Winnie the Pooh being told a story and being given an explanation of how it relates back to Taoism. Hoff used many various Winnie the Pooh stories in his teaching of the ways of the Taoist, using the arguments that cleverness and knowledge are not really important. It is also important to note that in each argument he presented it always ended out working in Pooh's favor in the end. Overall the book is very simple and very easy to understand and again I belief that Hoff successfully accomplished his main purposes for writing such a book, however I feel that this text also has many flaws and because of this it should be taken very lightly.

The Tao Te Ching can be helpful to all, and the reading of it may be enlightening. Reading the Tao can give much insight on the challenges and dangers that humans must face in this world, how a person should live his life, the dangers of a powerful ruler, how the state should rule, how citizens should serve the state, and the messages or forewarnings for us today.

Tao Te Ching of Lao-Tzu is a book with many chapters in it showing the two different sides to basically everything. To break it down, Tao means “path” or “way”, Te means “to get”, and Ching means “great book”. So the Tao was the force that controlled the universe and appreciated the way, to find balance between opposites. The book, Tao Te Ching has been said to been written by a Laozi—an old master—and has been said that the true author (or authors’) name has been lost. In the chapters between the book it tells how to live a life of integrity and of greatness per say. It also has contradictions or paradoxes which allows us to see the both perspectives of each side. It shows us that there are always two sides to everything. Tao Te Ching

Throughout Chinese history there has been three main religions or philosophies that were practiced by all within the empire. These include Taoism, Buddhism and Confucianism. Wu-Ch’Êng-Ên is able to depict all of these religions in his novel which is considered a traditional Chinese folk tale “A journey to the West” or also known as “Monkey.” This folk novel depicts the main character Monkey and his journey through life and then later including that of a Buddhist monk Tripitaka, Pigsy and Sandy. All are considered to be examples of human characteristics and flaws of human character, yet all are on a pilgrimage which will ultimately transform their character. Each journey and section of the novel incorporates different aspects of each of the religions which eventually prove to be intertwined in order to attain success and balance.

Taoism and Confucianism are two primary Chinese ways of thinking. Historically, these two philosophies have been viewed as polar opposites, but upon further research, they have the same mission. The belief system of Taoism viewed in Tao Te Ching, written by Lao Tzu, is the monistic belief that human kind has a connection to the universe, and the “way” controls your life and everything that you do. The “way” has a pre-determined plan for your life, and you must sit back and follow it. On the other hand, Confucianism represented in The Art of War, shows that you have to work and discipline yourself to become complete. The Art of War is essentially a “battle plan”, and “Tao Te Ching “ is a essentially a book of ultimate humility. These two pieces seem quite different with their own different goals. While Confucianism and Taoism have different ways of reaching their respective goals, their goals and their destiny is essentially the same: and that is self-control.

The main focus of Tao Te Ching is non-action. For example, people do not need regulation and laws. According to Taoism, all human beings are naturally good but the laws and regulations have altered people’s belief

These relationships are upheld to create a mutual respect and trust between the people involved. The five Confucian virtues are Ren/Jen (Humanness), Shu (Reciprocity), Li (Propriety), Wen (Culture), and Xiao (Filial Piety). The virtues are used as a way instill social harmony. It is ultimately the goal to create a Junzi/ Chun tzu, or the “ideal personality”, which is referred to as the ideal human being. Taoism has the main teachings of Tao, wu wei (or effortlessness), simplicity, gentleness, and relativity. Tao, which is recognized in Confucianism as well, has many meanings and can be translated as “existence,” “pattern,” and “process.” Wu wei recommends that one must not seek unnecessary actions. Simplicity, as it sounds, urges to eliminate the artificial from our lives and to embrace what nature grants us; because of simplicity, they prefer not to seek out unnecessary higher education unlike Confucianism. Gentleness shows that a wise person does not seek violence. And finally, relativity teaches that one must not use a limited view point based on their own concerns. Thusly, Confucianism preaches the importance of upholding one’s relationships with others; meanwhile, Taoism advocates a harmonious, natural, and peaceful universe.

The religious book, the Toa of Pooh, by Benjamin Hoff takes the characters from Winnie the Pooh to help explain the basics about Toaism. The basics including the Uncarved Block, the Wu Wei, and the basic beliefs of Toaism. The way Benjamin Hoff implemented these fictional characters was by introducing each one as a tunnel into Toaism’s teachings. For example, rabbit is clever-minded, but the reading teaches us, the readers, that being clever-minded makes you focus on the wrong things, therefore you should have an empty mind that allows nature to takes its course. Also, the transitions between each teaching was seemless making the book a short 153 pages, but still taught me what Toaism is and what it believes. The biggest rule of Toaism is to let nature do what it wants to do and accept your place in life. Benjamin Hoff included the story of the stonecutter inside the Toa of Pooh. The story goes a stonecutter would see something with greater power than him, eventually becoming a great stone, only to see the only thing greater than him was a stonecutter, his original form. This story is a great way to show what Toaism wants to teach, don’t change who you are because everyone is who they are for a reason, which also helps students learn to let nature take its course. I found that most words chosen in this book have a great meaning behind it that engages the reader in a way to find themselves reading more and more of the book until they finish each and every page, maybe even