Taoism philosophy has begun to weave its way into the Western way of life, be it in medicine, business, homes and our spiritual selfs. From Taoist teachings comes the idea of Tao and the Yin and Yang. Both of the principles are applied to Chinese medicine, and business practices, physical and mental well-being, like through Tai-chi as well as brought into many western homes through the art of Feng Shui.
The Tao (pronounced "Dao") means the "path" or "way." It is the way of the universe, the way of human life and the way of ultimate reality. "All meditation and spiritual exercise leads to the Way. The Way does not refer to peace only during meditational practices; it applies to peace in your general outlook when dealing with daily life. When you have found the Way you can find peace in all things. Violence and hostility shall disappear from your being to be replaced by love for all things." (Kei, 1973). The key to the Way is to find peace and meditation in everything you do, from cleaning the house, paying bills, putting in a day at the job, playing an instrument or spending time with your family. The thought here is that no matter what you do you might as well enjoy it.
From the way comes The Yin and Yang, it is a philosophy that describes all phenomena and processes in the universe. The well-known Chinese symbol that you see in print material, for example Tai Chi is used to illustrate this philosophy. The outside circle represents everything and the black and white shapes inside of the circle represent an interaction of two energies, known as yin and yang which causes everything to happen. "Yin is the dark, receptive "female" aspect and yang is the bright ...