Saturday, January 10, 2009

benjamin hoff book pooh and The Te of Piglet

Ten years after his 1982 work The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff was pressed to write a follow up of his Western inquiry into Taoism. He did this by writing The Te of Piglet, published in 1992. It is still in print, with a paperback edition issued by Penguin USA in 1993.
Hoff explicitly states that this second book is not a sequel to his first book, but rather a companion. The book is based around two topics, the concept of Te, the Chinese word meaning 'power' or 'virtue' and Piglet, of the Winnie the Pooh books.
In his first book, he brought out the essential tenets and perspectives of Taoism, in terms accessible to Westerners. In his second book, he elucidates the Taoist concept of 'Virtue — of the small'; though, he also uses it as an opportunity to elaborate on his introduction to Taoism. It is written with many embedded stories from the A. A. Milne Winnie the Pooh books, both for entertainment and because they serve as tools for explaining Taoism.
Winnie the pooh-fandub me as Christopher, Piglet and Pooh

In The Te of Piglet, Piglet is shown to possess great power — a common interpretation of the word Te, which more commonly means Virtue — not only because he is small, but also because he has a great heart or, to use a Taoist term, Tz'u. The book goes through the other characters — Tigger, Owl, Rabbit, Eeyore, and Pooh — to show the various aspects of humanity that Taoism says gets in the way of living in harmony with the Tao. info (c) wikipedia.org
The Te of Piglet

Of all the Winnie the Pooh characters, Piglet is the only one that transforms over the course of the story. He becomes courageous!

Julia Robert the tao of pooh by benjamin hoff summary

The Tao of Pooh is a book written by Benjamin Hoff. The book is an introduction to Taoism, using the fictional character of Winnie the Pooh. Hoff also wrote The Te of Piglet, a companion book.
Hoff uses Winnie the Pooh and the other characters from A. A. Milne's stories to explain the basic principles of philosophical Taoism. Winnie the Pooh, for example, represents the principles of Wu Wei, or Wei Wu Wei. The book also includes translated excerpts from various Taoist texts, from authors such as Lao Zi and Zhuang Zi.
The book was on the New York Times bestseller list for 49 weeks and is used as required reading in some college courses. However, Stephen Mitchell, an author and Taoist scholar, criticizes the book for having little to do with Taoism yet believes it may be of value to "people who aren't ready for Lao-tzu". It has also been criticized for its bias against other religions and thoughts.
Hoff wrote the book at night and on weekends while working as a tree pruner in the Portland Japanese Garden in Washington Park.
info (c) wikipedia.org
Julia Roberts The Arsenio Hall Show August 9 1990

Julia Roberts talks to Arsenio Hall about the movie "Flatliners", the book "The Tao of Pooh", her first date and her first job.