"The Weeping Demon"

I decided to watch “The Weeping Demon,” and I thought that is was very interested. It started out with a man that was walking in a wasteland, he ran into a creepy man that claimed to be a demon. The land had been destroyed by nuclear attacks and has killed everything, now the only thing growing are huge dandelions. The demon showed the man all of the other demons that are suffering and wanting to die because they are immortals and have to live with what they have done.

            I relate this to Shinto in the act of sin, because humans have destroyed all sacred objects when they decided to drop bombs and kill everything. Also with the demons being cannibals, and committing murder is also against Shinto ethics. The large dandelions were also against nature’s true way, and Shinto says that everything is spiritual and therefore there is continuity between humanity, nature, and the spirits/gods, But in this clip by Kurosawa, there is obviously no continuity.

The Tao of Pooh!!

          I think that The Tao of Pooh was an amazing book, and how it incorporated all of the characters of Winnie the Pooh. Benjamin Hoff made some good points on the western thinking. Hoff said, “Its seems rather odd, that Taoism, the way of the Whole Man, the True Man, the Spirit Man (to use a few Taoist terms), is for the most part interpreted here in the west by the Scholarly Owl, by the Brain, the Academician, the dry-as-dust absentminded professor.” (Hoff 25) I liked this because it basically talks about how the west has a one-minded track and we put things in categories and compartments, and were always trying to solve things. Hoff also talked about how Westerners try too hard and how animals in the forest don’t try, they just do, and we have declared ourselves The Superior Animal. Pooh said “If people are superior animals, then why don’t they take better care of the world.” (Hoff 77) Although Hoff for the most part is right about Western society, I feel like he is a little hard on Westerners. Hoff talked about how Westerners have a hamburger stand, China has a tea stand and France has a café. Those places are places of peace, respect, family, and you are important and the hamburger stand is all about you are not important “eat and get out.” He’s kind of pulling all the bad stuff about westerners and comparing it to eastern culture. He also compared Taoism to the “Confusionist scholar who studies knowledge for the sake of knowledge, and who keeps what he learns to himself or to his own small group, and does not work for the enlightenment of other.” (Hoff 26) I think that Hoff was right on with the thought of America as a culture of Busy Backsons. He talks about how we are constantly doing things, never stopping and destroying nature. “When he talks about how we work to work, work when we exercise, and work when we play.” (Hoff 95) We never have anytime for ourselves, and we have all of these devices to save us time but we end up losing more time then saving. I can agree on how Taoism is a solution to the American problem and its people. Taoism is one with nature, and reverting to a child like mind set, erasing all of the little things that have been drilled into our head through our life time.