The Tao of Pooh

"THE TAO OF POOH"

Philosophy is a complicated subject. Since the beginning of human existence,

many tried to come up with theories about life, happiness, reality and knowledge. In

today's modern society aside from major religions, there are thousands of others that

suggest that their explanations to universal questions are the only accurate ones, and

all of these religions seek to gain more followers to join their "way". One of these

religions is the religion of Taoism. Taoism has it roots in China, where the founder of

Taoism, Lao-Tzu, was searching for a way that would avoid the conflicts that disrupted

his society during his lifetime. The result was his book: Tao-te-Ching. Lao-Tzu

described Taoism as a path or a way which one must follow in order to reach inner

peace. In order to reach these inner goals one must live in harmony with nature and

natural process that creates the balance in the universe.

The novel, written by Benjamin Hoff embodies the spiritual beliefs of Taoism,

through the famous cartoon character of Winnie-the-Pooh. In this novel, Hoff shows

that the character of Pooh is amazingly consistent with the principles of Taoism. He

explains Taoism through Pooh and explains Pooh's behavior through Taoism, which

eventually shows that Taoism is not simply an old religion or ancient philosophy, but a

practice that can be used by every individual here and now in their every day lives.

The first main principle of Taoism that is presented in this novel is the idea that

things in their original simplicity contain their own natural power, power that is easily

lost when that simplicity is changed. This principle is also known as the Uncarved

Block. Winnie-the-Pooh is very significant in this principle of the Uncarved Block,

because he illustrates the perfect example of an individual that follows this principle.

Pooh always exists in his "natural