Taoism, Nature, and Happiness
In The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff explains the basic principles of Taoism through a source that most readers wouldn’t ordinarily associate with high-minded Chinese philosophy: A.A. Milne’s Winnie-the-Pooh books. According to Hoff, Pooh embodies Taoism’s fundamental message—that people are happier, healthier, and wiser when they live in harmony with nature than when they struggle against it. In the modern world, most people focus on chasing after their goals and overpowering the obstacles that…
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Knowledge vs. Wisdom
In The Tao of Pooh, Benjamin Hoff argues that Taoism requires understanding the world in an entirely new way—one that many of his readers probably haven’t tried before. It’s not enough to simply learn lots of information or know about the truth in the abstract, he argues. Instead, to truly live well, people must feel the truth and embody it through their actions. Hoff thinks that too many people pursue knowledge instead of wisdom—they…
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Self-Acceptance and Personal Growth
Taoists like Benjamin Hoff believe that living well depends on understanding the nature of the universe and living in harmony with it. Therefore, it’s no surprise that Taoist sages first have to understand their own inner nature. As Pooh puts it, “How can you get very far, / If you don’t know Who You Are?” In The Tao of Pooh, Hoff argues that people have the same inner nature whether they like it or…
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Western Culture and Eastern Wisdom
Benjamin Hoff wasn’t the first writer to try to popularize Taoism in the U.S., but he was one of the most popular. When he started writing in the early 1980s, consumerism had reached unprecedented levels, new technologies had started transforming the economy, and a political consensus had long since formed to protect American capitalism. But Hoff rejected these trends, which he viewed as evidence of Western culture’s moral corruption. In The Tao of Pooh…
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