Nowhere+and+Nothing+-+Summary

Summary In the beginning of the chapter Pooh and Robin talks about nothing (going with the flow) and nowhere (a place where their instincts told them to go). The character Consciousness in Chuang-tse's story travels in search for three questions. And he arrives to an answer that nothing is the key to obtain wisdom, happiness, and truth, one must do absolutely nothing. To Taoists Nothing is something and something that is considered important is really nothing at all. This is called the “Great Nothing” or referred to it as T’ai Hs by the Taoists. Having a empty mind and no thought is the way to understand Tao. Doing nothing and going nowhere is the way to find peace in Tao and starting from nowhere and following no road is the way to reach Tao. Empty mind is very valuable, because it is a fresh mind and it can develop new ideas. Moreover, empty mind can recognize important things that are near by that knowledge, distant vision and eloquence could not. This example was shown through Pooh finding Eeyore's lost tail. The owl couldn't find the tail and he was symbolized as knowledge. Everyone starts with an empty mind as a child until, they gain knowledge through adolescence and they fail to appreciate the things in front of us. Lao-tse wrote in //Tao Te Ching//, "To attain knowledge, add things everyday. To attain wisdom, remove things every day." Taoists believe that, it is the best if you forget everything so the empty minds are filled with wisdom of the Great Nothing, the way of the universe. This shows the emptiness is better than being overstuffed of knowledge and cleverness. Many people are afraid of emptiness because it makes one think about loneliness. However, one feels more lonely when it is not empty. This shows Chuang-tse wrote that when one reaches nothing they have found the Way. Children have the highest stage of development because they are simple-minded. Moreover, children are aware of enjoying what it around them and therefore they have empty minds. They are more wise than adults because their minds have been emptied, cleared and they can see everything. <span style="font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; font-size: 120%;">By doing nothing, people are able to enjoy their life and eventually reach Tao.