The Taoists believed that healthy human life could exist only in accordance with the Tao, whose interpretations and teachings encourage one to "go with the flow around them and not to struggle against the tide" (Mair 242). Early Taoists conformed their actions in life with the natural way of things, always accepting of the lives that nature provided for them. The philosophy prides itself in the trust and attempt to understand the balance and power of the world and educates that in times of unbalance, all disorder and chaos that proceed to arise can be put to an end following the restoration of balance. If one can tap into this precious and steadfast resource and allow the world to be their guide, all will be at peace. It is believed that the true Taoist will become enlightened when they can listen and recognize this "way" of the world, and can accept and understand the continuous flow of the Tao within the universe.
             Taoism began as a combination of psychology and philosophy, a way of thinking to provide answers in a time of feudal and constant warfare, social disorder and religious skepticism. Lao-Tse, a Chinese contemporary of Confucius in the 5th century B.C., questioned the ways of the world and searched for ideas to explain the destruction and devastation he observed around him. Lao-Tse eventually developed the notion of the Tao as the origin of all creation, and the "force, unknowable in its essence but observable in its manifestations" that lies behind the functionings and changes of the natural world (EN BRIT). As he observed and studied the laws of the universe, Lao-Tse came to believe that the "order and harmony of nature was far more stable and enduring than either the power of the state or any human institution" (Pas 132). It was at this point in time that the Taoist philosophy flourished, offering an antithesis or alternative to Confucian thought. As Lao-Tse continued to!...