Tao Of Pooh And Application Life And Therapy Philosophy Essay

Tao Of Pooh And Application Life And Therapy Philosophy EssayThis referenceship discusses how the book the Tao Of Pooh by Benjamin Hoff relates the concept of Taoism to the characters from the Winnie The Pooh by A A Milne and their application to carriage sentence and therapy.In The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff utilizes characters from Winnie the Pooh to attempt to explain the fundamentals of Taoism. By observing Eeyore, piglet, run, motor horn, Tigger, and Pooh, it is easy to see that the actions of the character Pooh better(p) report Taoism. One of the most important rationales of Taoism used in the book is the uncarved block. Hoff uses the characters from A A Milnes Winnie the Pooh books to illustrate and explain the basics of Taoist philosophy, demo how Pooh himself is the epitome of the Taoist thinker, enjoying life with simplicity but not stupidity. The author explains that Taoists try to appreciate, learn from, and hit with whatever happens in life, whereas, in con trast, Confucianism attempts to shoot the breeze order, and Buddhists see lifes tribulations as obstacles to be overcome before achieving Nirvana. He describes how Tao is the Way, which apprize be understood but not defined, and illustrates key elements of Tao such as Pu, the uncarved block, and Wu wei, going with the flow. In case you should think that this book is in whole too simplistic, I should add that Hoff touches on the writings of Lao-Tzu (author of the Tao Te Ching), Chuang-tse, the poet Li Po, and other Taoist philosophers, giving his own interpretations of the passages. Hoff shows how Pooh best explains the Uncarved Block. The principle of the Uncarved Block is that things that argon simple contain their own raw(a) power, power that after part be spoiled and lost when overcomplicated. Using the characters he shows how our lives roll in the hay be sabotaged by errors in opinion and how it can be prevented. Hoff uses Rabbit to show when you argon racing through li fe you can miss taboo on the valuable things that make up life itself. We seem to jeopardize ourselves by thinking too much of the self. Owl is used to show that when trying to find underlying meaning for everything you overcomplicate it. Hoff uses Piglet in the sense that Piglet is al representations scared and as a result scared to try things, if Piglet wouldnt dwell in worry, he would accomplish much(prenominal), and find happiness .Sometimes cleaveing less(prenominal) in your head is an advantage. Hoff goes on to show that the character of Eeyore is perpetually depressed and dwells in negativity. If he abstained from this life would be completely different. Now finally we come to Pooh. The author exemplifies how Pooh doesnt stay in worry, nor is he over-analytical, he stays in the spontaneous. As a result of staying in the way he finds everything goes its own course and counterfeiting out as a result of his non-action. Pooh goes with the flow of constitution and doesnt in terfere. He leads a life of simplicity and one bare of worry. This is a undefiled reflection of someone who follows the Tao. I think this is more or less a basic explanation of Tao and how to apply it to our lives by modeling out behavior in a likewise manner. There arent any concealed references here only face value application. The use of the cartoon characters that we all are familiar with is a very useful strategy. It is a way of explanation that transcends all racial, sexual, gender barriers. For example, we wont try too overweight or explain too much, because that would only Confuse things, and because it would leave the pictorial matter that it was all only an intellectual idea that could be left on the intellectual level and ignored. (p. 10) He uses each chapter of the book to teach a new principle of the Uncarved Block of Taoism. In each chapter he tells a Winnie the Pooh story and then explains how it relates to Taoism. Hoff writes a chapter teaching how cunningness does not always help, but it sometimes destroys things and is the reason that things do not work out. Hoff teaches that the Taoist believe that if you understand Inner Nature it is far more effective than k like a shotledge or cleverness. He uses a verse form called Cottleston Pie. The poem explains how things just are as they are and how people try to burst these principles with their everyday lives. There is as well as the story of Tigger and Roo. Tigger tries to be what he is not and as a result everything goes wrong and he always ends up departting stuck in a tree. Hoff also explains that working with Nature is best in the sense that you do not screw things up with a story about Eeyore getting stuck in the river. Everybody had been trying to think of clever ways to get Eeyore out of the river when Pooh said that if they just dropped a sizeable stone into it, then it would just wash Eeyore ashore. He did it without even thinking, because thinking would complicate things, an d of course it worked. Pooh worked with Nature and things worked out for him. As you can see, Hoff uses many an(prenominal) a(prenominal) different Winnie the Pooh stories to teach the uncomplicated ways of the Taoist. The only argument that Hoff actually presents is whether or not the Taoist way is the best way and whether or not it really works. When you look at it from the point of Pooh and the stories he is a part of, you are able to see how easily the Taoist political orientation fits snuggly into Pooh and his world. Obviously if you do not believe that cleverness and knowledge are not important, then you will not agree with anything Hoff is saying, but he makes you believe in showing you how it always works out with Pooh. He argues whether or not cleverness and knowledge really are important. For example, it can be explained in the story when Eeyore gets stuck in the river. Clever ways do not work, but Poohs simple way always seem to work surprisingly well. Hoff also argue s how the Taoist believes that over exhausting ourselves needlessly only works against us. He uses Rabbit to explain this. Quite simply, Rabbit is always in a hurry, he is the very face of stress itself. Hoff explains these so called creatures like a shadow. Shadows are always rushing along. They are also always trying to lose their shadows. They try to run from them not realizing that they cannot, that they are one and the same.Hoff argues that by just sitting down and enjoying a comely sunny day, like Pooh would do, you can complicate things. You do not get the full fulfillment of your life. There is the argument that this is just using examples to come to the conclusions that we have already come to. I believe however, that one cannot free himself of the weight of our foolish ways until we have exposed that fallacy and this is a vehicle to do that without feeling condescended by an authority figure that many associate with other comparative theories. Case and point Hoffs adapti on of Winnie the Pooh to Taoist philosophy is brilliant and yet never strays from its humility. Through this I can now see how the field of psychology, is a chaotic discipline much more suited to the Taoist approach of going with the flow-the Wu wei, then against it. In Hoffs definition of A A Milnes characters I was able to see myself trying to be like the Owl, while actually being a combination of the Rabbit and the pessimistic Eeyore. Hoff has shown me how the ideal is to be a simple character such as Pooh himself, accepting life, work, and other people as they are preferably than trying to impose order on them. I now seek to accept and move with events as they occur, preferring not to try to impose spay nor viewing changes it as an obstacle to be overcome. It all comes down to espousal and will. When you yield to the flow you find that it goes along with the grain of your life rather of against it. This approach spills over into every aspect of life, keeping them simple, l etting nature direct the flow as it were.