Joodi

1.	 “My words are very easy to understand and very easty to put into practice,” but “Straightfoward words seem paradoxical…” What does this mean? How does it come into play in The Tao of Pooh with regard to scholars? I think this quote means that although words may be very easy and simple making it easy to understand, but to some people these simple words are so different than they are used to that they can’t seem to get a grasp of it. This ties into The Tao of Pooh because for example when Pooh said “the same thing” we didn’t get it because to us the things seemed so different. The scholars didn’t know what Pooh meant because they try to pry into it too deeply.

2.	Read the poem on Pg. 30. What does Pooh seem to think about scholars? How does that relate to the Taoist view of knowledge? I think what Pooh is trying to say is that because the scholars give names to everything, and try to figure every little detail out; they are missing out on life. For Pooh had said or rather the author had said, “They provide a lot of information. It’s just that there is something more, and that something more is what life is really all about.” I think Pooh doesn’t understand why the scholars do what they do because all the scholars do for Pooh is just making one confused. The Taoists are very enjoying a simple life knowing how to enjoy it knowing how to see the beauties around them.

3.	What are the messages behind Cottlestone Pie 38-40 and 56. Think about inner nature. This poem is actually a very simple poem such as the line “a fly can’t bird, but a bird can fly.” It’s very obvious that although a fly can’t bird, a bird can fly. Yet, people try to…make a fly bird. Humans make the mistake of looking over things, to ignore things as they really are. We try to make everything fit it and work when they just aren’t meant to be. In The Tao of Pooh, it describes Cottleson Pie as ones’ inner nature. By substituting the words, Cottleson Pie with the words Inner Nature, you are saying that you know all this, and you know that things are just meant to be without forcing things because it is just natural. It is our inner nature.