The name that can be named is not the eternal named. The feeling about the apple–or the essence of the apple–is something inside oneself. In a similar way, a simple outline of an apple does not express what one might feel about an apple. It is only when words become skilled writing that words about an apple can begin to capture our feelings about that apple. The nameless is the beginning of heaven and Earth.īy merely spelling the word “apple,” one does not capture what he feels inside himself about apples. They are the outward, more superficial representation of what the letters allude to. The letters “A – P – P – L – E” are the named. The letters “A – P – P – L – E” are not a real apple. In talking about the letter “A”, Pooh is raising thoughts about the Named and the Nameless, as they are expressed in the anciet Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu, as follows: “The Tao that can be told is not the eternal Tao.”
It is only because we have some previous understanding of an apple that, if we can read, those letters might speak to us. Speaking very simplistically, the letter “A” means nothing, and even though the letters “A – P – P – L – E” might conjure thoughts of a fruit that is red, crisp, and juicy, the letters themselves say nothing. It is no secret that the Winnie-the-Pooh books are loaded with allusions to Zen philosophy. “To the uneducated, an A is just three sticks.”
In short, letters, in themselves mean nothing at all. For many years, I have thought about the paradox involved with letters of the alphabet and the words that they create.
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