Tao Of Pooh Analysis

Nicole Pinhiero
11/30/15
Taoism As I sit here trying to find the right words to start this paper I can’t help but think how almost comical it is that Benjamin Huff points out in his book, “The Tao of Pooh,” that a scholar is perplexed by the concept of the Tao because his own knowledge gets in the way of his understanding. Here I sit, an accomplished student, unable to come up with my first sentence to a 5 page paper. Is it because of my knowledge, or my clustered mind of expectation that I draw a blank? I am so focused on how my education has taught me that a paper should start that I am unable to clear my mind for even a second so that a new idea might have the chance to be created. I’m trying to force things. I am failing miserably at practicing perhaps one of the most important teachings of Taoism, wu wei, the natural rhythm of things. After all this thought, it is Benjamin Huff who reminds me of an old Taoist saying that “a thousand-mile journey starts with one step,” so shouldn’t I realize that a 5 page paper starts with just one word (p137)? It was while re-reading the forward to “The Tao of Pooh” that I decided to stop letting my expectations of how a paper should start, or my superiority complex and ego get in the way, and so instead I just started writing. This
The uncarved block (P’u) is representative of things as they are in their natural form, untouched, and unchanged. Pooh is the uncarved block in the story of “The Tao of Pooh.” Piglet explains it perfectly when he says, “Pooh hasn’t much Brain, but he never comes to any harm. He does silly things and they turn out right (Huff, p.21).” Pooh is simple, like a child, and that does not mean in any way that he is stupid, in fact, to the Taoist it means quite the opposite. Pooh has an inner wisdom because he carries no arrogance. Pooh is humble. His mind is empty and he is open to the experience of his current