Taoism revolves around an observation that the Universe is based on opposites. These opposites fall into two categories; Yin and Yang, and the unity of opposites is Tao. Taoists believe in something similar to Newton's third law of motion (for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction). Unity with the Tao involves minimising action (thus minimising reaction), leading to inner unity between Yin and Yang. Taoists are passive, and they allow events to happen according to the will of the Tao without trying to direct their own lives. Like Buddhist monks, Taoists are not major consumers and their impact on other people is minimal.

Translating the Tao Te Ching has been difficult, and has resulted in a variety of interpretations of the original Chinese. Like Confucianism, Taoism promotes governmental control. The text promotes passivity, helping to create a mindset in which people are easier to rule over. Like the filial submission in Confucianism, this may be one reason why the Chinese dictatorship has been able to remain in power. The text is poetic and pleasant to read, and is considered to be 'deep', meaning that it contains randomly linked concepts and paradoxes such as, "There are times....when a square seems to have corners." (chapter 41, Rosenthal's Translation). The brain has a need to make sense of its environment, so religious texts that contain statements that make no sense cause the brain major problems. One reason why religious texts like these are claimed to be enlightened is because no one fully understands them; the text includes random linking of concepts, statements that have no real meaning, and a central concept (Tao) that is poorly defined.