Has anyone Read The Tao of Pooh?

[AsahinaKimi]

I am thinking of adding this to my reading. It was recommended by a friend, but I would love to know if anyone here read it, and gained a lot from it? Lately I have been wanting to read more about the Tao Te Ching, by Lao Tzu. I would also like some suggestions on any materials you have read about this, as well.


Tao of Pooh:
http://www.just-pooh.com/tao.html


Thanks, may we all walk the quiet path of peace.

[Merlot]

1. Many years ago

It's a very charming book, and you won't be investing a lot of time in it - it's short with lots of pictures.

I don't remember what I gained from it other than the enjoyment of reading it. Maybe I should re-read it, now from a different perspective.

[Schema Thing]

2. I have not; but in that vein, I'd recommend Oh The Places You'll Go

by Dr. Seuss

[Amerigo Vespucci]

3. I haven't read that, but...

...I have read several translations of the Tao, and also "The Tao of Elvis"...

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/413TB6QTADL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

...it's not what you'd expect, not a "funny" book at all, because the author sincerely draws parallels between the Tao and various aspects of Elvis' life. There are some extremely inexpensive used copies of this available on Amazon.

http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Elvis-David-Rosen/dp/0156007371/

The version of the Tao that I own is the Stephen Mitchell translation, held in high regard among many critics (and 4 stars on Amazon).

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/118YYJSNB7L._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

http://www.amazon.com/Tao-Te-Ching-Perennial-Classics/dp/0061142662/

[zazen]

4. Love it. Pooh is translation of p'u, for "uncarved block"

and the other characters are various manifestations of ego--fear, depression, pedantic knowledge, anxiety/control, and chasing desires so much that you end up in trees.

[glinda]

5. Yes. Thumbs up.

[gateley]

6. An aside -- have you read Stephen Mitchell's translation of the Tao Te Ching?

For some reason that one seems to really move me.

Haven't read the Tao of Pooh, but now you've got me interested. :7

Excerpts here from Mitchell's translation: http://www.stephenmitchellbooks.com/transAdapt/taoTeChing.html

And now I see he's done a follow up book!

[toddaa]

7. New age Daoism lite for lazy Americans

Benjamin Hoff reduces Daoism to a tedious intolerant joke (he bashes Confucious and Buddhism frequently throughout the book). No offense to you or your friend, who recommended the book, but charlatans like Hoff and Stephen Mitchell simply lighten your wallet, rather than enlighten your mind.

Read a decent translation of the Daodejing and Zhuangzi. I love Victor Mair's translations. A.C. Graham and Gia Fu Feng are also good. Stick with academics, who know the history, language, and culture of ancient China. If it's not published by university press, be very wary.

http://www.hku.hk/philodep/ch/">Chad Hansen's page has a very good selection of his philosophical writings on Daoism, especially Zhuangzi. That will give you a much better understanding of Daoism than anything with picture of Winnie the Pooh on the cover.

Happy wandering.

[earthside]

8. Disagree.

It's a fun introduction to Daoism.

Read it for what it is and it can be the beginning of a wonderful revelation.

[toddaa]

17. A misguided introduction

But if it increases interest in digging deeper, perhaps it has some value. I think it's best to read Analects of Confucius, so that you can understand how distorted Hoff's understanding of Confucianism is.

[AsahinaKimi]

9. wow, thanks..

No, I don't want anything that bashes Confucious or Buddhism. I will look for these, thanks!

[ZombieHorde]

11. I would not say The Tao of Pooh bashes Buddhism, I would say The Tao of Pooh critiques Buddhism. nt

[toddaa]

18. Check out Tao of Zen by Ray Grigg

I know you'll like it.

[westerebus]

21. You are the only other person I've come across

to even reference this book. Obscurity has it rewards.

[toddaa]

12. I seem to be a minority opinion on Hoff

But I think it's important to understand that Daoism has a two thousand year history in China and the Westernization of its teachings have distorted its meaning.

[AsahinaKimi]

14. Believe me

I can understand that..

[ZombieHorde]

10. I read it and I liked it. You may also like Tao: The Watercourse Way by Alan Watts.

The Book of Chuang Tsu is more traditional. Wen-Tsu may be of interest.

If you like the Tao of Pooh, you may be interested in its sequel, the Te of Piglet.

[struggle4progress]

13. I read it decades ago. It seemed a fun concept, but I thought it fell completely flat

as a introduction to Taoist ideas.

If you're interested in Taoism, the first comment is: lots of very different things are called Taoism -- and some of that stuff is very weird, such as the "spiritual alchemy" in search of immortality and the "sexual yoga" (which seems to be largely about how to sexually exploit a large number of wives)

If you're interested in stuff you can actually read as useful wisdom texts, here are some suggestions:

Michael Lafarge has a translation and commentary on Tao Te Ching (SUNY 1992), which is very readable, although he has rearranged the order of the verses. Thomas Cleary has translated a supposed sequel "Further Teachings of Lao-Tzu" (Shambala 1991): I expect it's actually rather later, since it lacks the short cryptic punches of Tao Te Ching. Cleary's translation of Liu I-ming "Awakening to the Tao" (Shambala 1988) exhibits some peculiar ideas (the author, for example, thinks some mirrors draw fire from the sun and others draw water from the moon) but it seems to me an authentic 18th Century extension of the old tradition. For a long time, I was fond of Thomas Merton's old book on Chuang-Tzu (originally published by New Directions and I think republished by Shambala). Kuang-Ming Wu has a partial translation of Chuang-Tzu "Butterfly as Companion" (SUNY 1990), which has the advantage that he has tried to indicate the literal translation in bold with other fill-ins in plain text, so one can get something of the feel of the original, by simply reading the words in bold; Wu's text also includes extensive commentary

[toddaa]

15. Big thumbs up on Merton

Anything written by Merton is good. Wu's book sounds very interesting. Thanks for the rec.

[toddaa]

16. Try reading Zhuangzi and Nietzsche's Zarathustra in parallel

It's amazing how many parallel's there are between the two great thinkers. And great contrasts, but that's Daoism for you. Once again, I shamelessly plug Victor Mair's translation.


http://www.amazon.com/Wandering-Way-Taoist-Parables-Chuang/dp/082482038X/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1295960972&sr=8-5

[westerebus]

20. Victor Mair. Very recommended.

[toddaa]

22. Stop stealing my books

;)

[struggle4progress]

19. Another text I much like: Huanchu Daoren's 16th century "Vegetable Root Talk"

Cleary has a translation "Back to Beginnings" (Shambala 1990)

A bit is also translated here, which may give you something of a feel:

If treacherous talk constantly assails your ears and hostility constantly troubles your heart, use this power as whetstones of moral cultivation. If every word fell pleasantly on your ears and every event gladdened your heart, then your entire life would be mired in venomous poison ... Rich wine, fatty meats, spicy and sweet foods don’t have true flavour. True flavour is actually quite bland. The sage is not an exotic super person. The true sage is actually ordinary. http://vegetablerootdiscourse.blogspot.com/

The text is very short, consisting of various brief meditations; it sometimes exhibits (unsurprisingly) an explicit Buddhist influence but seems to me still essentially Taoist

[toddaa]

23. You pretty much own everything printed by Shambala, don't you?

It's a good little publisher. Not the most academic, but they do provide translations of some more obscure works in that would otherwise not be available to laymen English readers.

Unfortunately, I'm not much of a fan of Thomas Cleary's translations and they tend to publish too much in the self help dreck category, but they've got some very good titles as well.

[struggle4progress]

24. Hardly. I went through a period of Taoist enthusiasm about fifteen or twenty years ago

and gradually collected a little stack of their publications

I'll agree with you: I wouldn't recommend the entire Shambala catalogue

I'm not competent to judge Cleary's translations. He has translated quite a lot; some of it (like the "spiritual alchemy" stuff) seems very strange to me and not very informative; he also seems to have produced a certain number of bizarre mishmash compilation texts, with pretentious titles, several of which I will confess to owning. I merely pointed to a few I still find interesting