“Hello there! Aren’t you Winnie the Pooh? I’m a big fan.”

“Yes I am. How do you know me?” Asked Pooh.

“There have been many books written about you and your friends. The most recent one is about how you are a western Taoist.”

“Oh.”

“A western what?”

“Taoist” I said, “it’s very hard to explain, I’m no expert. In fact the whole book was about the author trying to explain it to you, and you would say “oh.”

“Oh.” Said Pooh.

“From what I understand you are an un-carved block.”

“Oh” said Pooh.

“An un-carved wh More...

I was sitting in a coffee shop recently with a young woman who described herself as a Taoist Pagan Pantheist. My first thought was, "what the heck is that?" Luckily what came out of my mouth was slightly more tactful, "describe that for me, I've never met someone who described herself that way" (Translation: what the heck is that!).

After we talked for a while, she recommended I read this book. So here's my synopsis - pretty fascinating book, actually. I'm looking forward to getting together with More...

Rewriting.

Find this review at Scott Reads It

Recipe for Tao of Pooh
1. 1 cup of Eastern Chinese philosophy
2. 2 cups of Winnie the Pooh
3. 3/4 quart of wisdom
4. 3 Handfuls of fabulous drawings by Ernest Shepard
5. The key to Happiness
Mix them all together and you have the Tao of Pooh.

The Tao of Pooh is a book that I loved whole heartily. Basically as the title suggest it's a allegorical interpetation of A.A. Milne's characters in the world of Daoism or Taoism. Inside this slender novel you will find some o More...

Some how when it comes from the guileless mouth of a tender hearted bear happiness and contentment in life seems so simple. Hoff does an amazing job of bringing his readers Eastern philosophy from the point of view of endearing characters that we've all grown up with. Its message of simplicity and peace was like a vacation for the soul. I recommend this one to anyone who needs a break from the every day grime we all have to deal with.

My only grief was the watered down version of the Eastern Rel More...

I really enjoyed this book. It was a quick read, kept me entertained, and I feel like I actually grasped the general concepts of Taoism. That was accomplishing a lot because sometimes my borderline ADD brain can't focus on religion and philosophy books. It's not like I don't want to know. I do want to know. But it can't be helped what my brain does and does not respond to. Winnie the Pooh and funniness are two things my brain inevitably responds to. So intertwining those things with philosophy i More...

I don't know what to say about this book that won't offend someone. It's like those Simpsons philosphy books, of something some modern professor tries to write to appear both profound and eccentric, living up to that professor image. Oh god books like this make me want to kill myself out of the shame I feel at being from the same planet as these people.

I picked up this book because it seemed so charming. The author took the stories and characters of A.A. Milne and juxtaposed them with the Taoist teachings of people such as Lao Tzu.

Pooh as western Taoist starts off interestingly enough but halfway through it I came to the realization that it was making me want to just read the actual Milne, who was frankly probably a genius writer. Those were great books with great characters, each with their own type of intelligence.

Then about two thirds thr More...

The Way that can be spoken of is not the one we tread.

These are Lao-Tse's opening words. The great mistake of course is that we do speak of it, and write of it, and attempt to pontificate upon the nature of all things as though an understanding of the Way entailed an understanding of all things. It is rather that an understanding of the Way encompasses all things. To understand, to judge, to see the faults in one and not the other is a common mistake in the interpretation of various Buddhist an More...

A friend of mine suggested I read this book, and I have to say I'm glad I took her advice. That said, its tough to explain this book aside from saying, it just is.

The novel gently exposes the reader to the truths of Taoism by refrencing the unique and profound qualities of A.A. Miline's character Winnie the Pooh. As I read, I was thrilled to realize just how much the characters truly reflect the principles of Taoism. The novel is a quick and easy read, in which you are jetted back to your childh More...

Nice. Short. Accessible.

p20. Uncarved Block = simplicity and naturalness
"When you discard arrogance, complexity, and a few other things that get in the way, sooner or later you discover that simple, childlike, and mysterious secret known to those of the Uncarved Block: Life is Fun."

p24. The Learned
"The wise are not learned; the learned are not wise." - Lao Tse

"A well-frog cannot imagine the ocean; nor can a summer insect conceive of ice. How then can a scholar understand the Tao? He is restrict More...

With as much love as I have for the translation of the Tao Te Ching I stick by, there are concepts which lack definition that can leave you wondering about certain aspects of the Tao. Some could just use a little nudge, a push to help one on the way to understanding.

One whould not expect A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh to come in and herald the solutions to the Tao's mysteries, but then again, you'd be surprised.

The Bear of Little Brain is used as an example of the simple life - how much more basic More...

Many people think of Pooh bear as a silly old fellow and view his adventures as whimsical and meaningless, but there is so much more to his story than that! While Pooh may not seem to be the smartist character there ever was, this book explains how many aspects of Winnie the Pooh relate to Taoism, an ancient Chinese way of life, or philosophy. It all revolves around happiness. I especially love the Cottleston Pie riddle and how it means people should just appreciate who they are and not try to b More...

I loved this. I smiled all the way through it. Explaining Taoism in ways that I could grasp, Benjamin Hoff's book made me understand how to apply Taoist principles to my Lutheran faith and strengthen my connection to life as it is. Many of the Pooh crew make their way into this charming introduction for Westerners into Taoist beliefs. Eeyore, for instance, exemplifies those of us who cannot enjoy life as it is because we are too often worrying and complaining about the past and future. Pooh hims More...

I love this book. Taoism is a diffacult concept to wrap your mind around and it couldn't have been made any simpler than it has been in this book. It's got some great stories in it by itself and all of the characters make great examples of the classic personality types you bump in to in everday life. I can't count how many times i've bumped in to an Eore driving home from work or walking down the street. A must read for anyone struggling with the concept of toaism. I'd also recommend The Te Of P More...

a friend at work loaned this to me some time ago, and when i finally got around to reading it i wish i'd done sooner. it's very cute, very charming, and a very accessible look at what's being called western taoism, as it were. i'm in that navel-gazing self-searching phase of my 20's wherein i try to figure out just what ism i subscribe to, if any, and this book was a cute and functional way to further my studies. the creatures 100 acre wood are by their very nature archetypal, but seeing them la More...

OK for all of you lover's of Classic Winnie the Pooh... Oh my gosh!!! This book is charming, charming and more charming! In a way only Pooh can do! Here is a tidbit. I just must.
"Let's go see everybody," said Pooh. "Because when you've been walking in the wind for miles , and you suddenly go into somebody's house, and he says, 'Hallo, Pooh, you're just in time for al ittle smackerel of something,' and you are, then it's what I call a Friendly Day."
Here is too Friendly Days and Goodreads!

More...

p25: It seems rather odd, somehow, that Taoism, the way of the Whole Man, the True Man, the Spirit Man (to use a few Taoist terms), is for the most part interpreted here in the West by the Scholarly Owl - by the Brain, the Academician, the dry-as-dust Absentminded Professor. Far from reflecting the Taoist ideal of wholeness and independence, this incomplete and unbalanced creature divides all kinds of abstract things into little categories and compartments, while remaining rather helpless and di More...

I received this book as a gift - I probably would never have bought it because I'm not a philosophical person. I also didn't read much Winnie the Pooh as a kid, or if I did I don't remember it and had formed no attachment. So this book isn't really my thing.

It was an easy fast read though and I liked the excerpts from Winnie the Pooh and the idea of using a child's story to illustrate a philosophical concept. If the book was accurate in it's descriptions of Taoism then I learned things.

I felt More...

This was required reading for a World Religions class I took in College. It was by far the shortest, simplest of the books, but it became one of my favorites, and is one of the few I've allowed a permanent spot on my shelf. I've read many books on Taoism, Lao Tzu, and different versions of the Tao Te Ching, but this gave me the best practical understanding of Taoism as it relates to my every day life.

Hoff's literary style is amazing and clever, and his words flow very well. He manages to teach t More...

I have mixed feelings about this one. On the positive side, the book emphasizes the need for simplicity and peace in a fast-paced modern world, for accepting things as they are rather than frantically pursuing things that are not.

However, the author's positive message is undermined by his negative attacks on things of which the author disapproves. He condescendingly dismisses other philosophies and religions (e.g., Buddhism, Confucianism), using unfair straw-man characterizations of their teachi More...

Despite being an interesting read, informative on many levels about the nature of Taoism, there are three things that bothered me about this short little experimental book.

The first is the format in which it is written. The author writes as if he is interacting with the characters of Pooh fame as he is telling the story itself. I think I understand that this is both in keeping with the way the Pooh stories are told as well as the way Eastern philosophical allegories are told. So, good job by the More...

Using the characters of Winnie the Pooh to exemplify various aspects of Taoist philosophy, Hoff attempts to describe in layman's terms Taoism, and apply its various themes and ideals to common Western lifestyles and society.

While the various Chinese proverbs scattered throughout the book were interesting and insightful, Hoff's overall commentary came off as wholly arrogant and narrow-minded. His suggestions that learning with purpose and working towards goals are both useless and indeed destruc More...

Leave it to a Westerner to dumb-down Daoism. It can happen in the East without our help.
This is a cute book and could have been a fun read if I didn't understand philosophical Daoism.
Let me say that I'm glad that folks love Winnie and company. I do too. I think the characters are great (unlike the author, it seems . . . he only likes Winnie) but Daoism doesn't describe their lot or enlighten the reader.
The problem with oversimplification is that it ignores and perhaps disparages, deeper values t More...

Where are we going?” said Pooh. . .”Nowhere,” said Christopher Robin. So they began going there.

Multi-tasking society. Fast food culture. Instant information world. Goals. Objectives. Productive achievements.

Have we completely bought into this frenetic pace of life? Is it possible any more to go back to the simple and quiet, the natural and the plain? What if, instead of buying into the philosophy of, say, Ayn Rand, we started reading , say, A. A. Milne?

Ben Hoff is an Oregon writer, photographe More...

I liked the fact that this book presents the basic principles of Taoism in a simple fashion, however they aren't that difficult to understand if you read the tao de jing itself.

I found the author to be a rather biased viewpoint, who even contradicts the very principles he's professing to espouse, in an example he gives of one of those principles! That alone made me question how this book has remained in print for more than 20 years.

For those of you wondering what I meant, on page 150 of this edi More...

The Defilement of Pooh

The Tao of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff is undoubtedly an interesting and alluring book with its method of introducing an Eastern sect of philosophy in a way that even children could understand the authors supposed ingenious way of incorporating the lovable childhood characters of A.A. Milne: Pooh, Piglet, Eeyore, and the others. Yet within the first few minutes of reading, I quickly realized that this is absolutely not the jovial bedtime reading to entertain the kids and enlighte More...

Author: Benjamin Hoff
Title: The Tao of Pooh
Description: The book uses characters from Winnie the Pooh to explain principles of Taoism.
Writing style: The real enchantment of the book is that it borrows from Milne’s originals. If it has been awhile since you read Pooh, you’ll no doubt be delighted and surprised at Milne’s wit. When Hoff tries to write in the same style, it falls a little flat for me.
Audience: People interested in Taoism. I read it because I received the book for free and it was a More...

The Tao of Pooh.

So after much procrastination and a wicked sore throat which has left me a homebody for most of this fine labor day weekend, I've finally finished reading this. I am very glad that I did though.

To be honest, I was quite skeptical of this book which makes an attempt to show a parallel between the adventures of Winnie the Pooh with Taoist philosophy. I at first thought that this would be a gimmicky sorta book, meant to sell to people captivated by Pooh bear at an early age (myself More...

It almost goes against the spirit of the book to analyze it, but there are two points I want to make.

First, what a joy to be reminded of the understated wisdom in A.A. Milne's Winnie the Pooh stories. I need to read those again.

Second, how unfortunate that for all his attempts to educate readers about Taoist principals, Hoff couldn't resist falling back on the that classic 20th century debate tactic, the "Doomsday gambit." If you were born after 1960, you've probably been hearing it as long as y More...