Cottleston Pie! (The Tao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff)

Member Name: strange_child

Product:	The Tao of Pooh - Benjamin Hoff
Date:	14/04/02 (1953 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: makes you percieve in different ways, writing style is cute!, I have decided I now like Winnie the Pooh!

Disadvantages: i don't know....

Pooh is wise? Who would have thought it? Simple old Pooh, the most unassuming of the animals of the Pooh Bear tales shows characteristics of P'u - the most enlightened of all in the Taoist way of thinking. How could that be so when Rabbit and Owl are so wise, and Tigger is so happy and optimistic. Confused by this, I read on and realised why he was the most philosophical of them all.

This isn't a story as such, more of an explanation of P'u, or the uncarved block, and why it is the most enlightened of all, supported with stories form the Pooh Bear series and extracts from the Tao, which was written 4500 years ago. I find that absolutely incredible, forty-five centuries ago this way of thinking was started, and unlike the Bible or other things, it actually has relevance to how we live our life today. Psychiatrists have recommended this book (The Tao of Pooh) to their patients as a way of relieving stress, and copies of the book are to be found in hotel rooms all around the room.

The Tao way of thinking is a Chinese Principle, as old as Confucianism, but with less status. I always thought that Confucianism sounded mystical and interesting, not that I know anything about it, but this book has put me off any ideas! The Confucians sound like a pessimistic bunch of moaners, whereas the Taoists, whilst not exactly optimistic (like me!) seem simpler and less angry.

So why is Pooh so high above the rest according to the Tao Principle? Well, the answer lies in the reason why everyone thinks he's 'a bear of very little brain'. Pooh is the type of creature who goes through life not assuming things, and noticing things because his mind is not focussed on one thing imparticular. Academics like Rabbit and Owl (basically all us who go to or will go to university!) don't 'see the forest for the trees.' They are too busy thinking about facts and figures, but in reality, they don't know much about life and everyda
y normal things like the Poohs of this world do.

I thought that this book did seem to give a bit of an incentive for just sitting around doing nothing! It barely puts any importance on education, after all, why would we need to know the square root of 567 in real life?! Our answer that we are given as to why things are the way they are - why the sky is blue and why birds can fly is 'Cottleston Pie', apparently a euphemism for 'Inner Nature.'

I love the way this book is written! From the extracts from the original Pooh books, I gather that Hoff is writing in A A Milne's original style - words that are wanting to be emphasised have a capital letter at the start, and he seems to use what a childlike way of speaking. Because some of the characters are supposed to be childlike and innocent, especially Pooh, Piglet and Roo, this way of writing seems to suit the characters. I particularly love the description of Piglet squeezing and squozing through the letterbox!

The book is littered with examples from famous Taoists, particularly Chuang-tse, and extracts from Pooh Bear books written by A A Milne. This just breaks up the 'story', and makes it more interesting to read. When Hoff is explaining the principles, he writes as though he is talking to Pooh and the others and they are his friends, and invents little anecdotes of them, such as Pooh getting tempted by a shoe shop advert and buying hundreds of pairs of shoes, none of them in his size! It's so convincing that I can't imagine he was really writing it without them around him!

I don't think that this book is going to change my life, or dramatically change my way of thinking. However, I do realise that there are lots of intelligent people in the world who aren't recognised as being bright because they are not academic - I only have to look at half my friends! It also reminds me of the importance of keeping an uncluttered and free mind - don&#
39;t concentrate on little details too much or you'll miss the whole picture!

Summary: