There is an ancient saying in China: "Many paths, one mountain." This means that there are multiple ways to achieve a similar goal in each religion. In Buddhism, the Middle Way expresses one's need to stay away from the extremes. Likewise, the yin and yang in Taoism expresses that everything is light or dark. Both of these paths suggest that each person should follow a moderate lifestyle, incorporating both the dark and the light in order to achieve maximum spiritual growth. Through moderation, a person achieves balance. Thus, one way to achieve balance is to avoid the extremes and equivocate the dark and the light.

When Siddhartha Gautama began his path towards enlightenment, he already knew that self-indulgence would not get him there. Instead, he lived in poverty for several years before he realized that self-mortification would not work either. He then realized that he could not follow any of the extremes if he wanted to achieve enlightenment. He developed the idea that the correct life to live would have to follow some path midway between the extremes. Thus, Siddhartha Gautama developed the Middle Way, which means to follow a "middle" path where we all have to detach ourselves from worldly objects and not live in self-denial. In order to live a life of the Middle Way, a person must follow the Noble Eight Fold Path.

The middle way discovered by a Perfect One avoids both these extremes; it gives vision, it gives knowledge, and it leads to peace, to direct acquaintance, to discovery, to nibbana. And what is that middle way? It is simply the noble eightfold path, that is to say, right view, right intention; right speech, right action, right livelihood; right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. That is the middle way discovered by a Perfect One, which gives vision, which gives knowledge, and which leads to peace, to direct acquaintance, to discovery, to nibbana. (Dhammacakkappavattana Sutta 3:1-4)

To follow the Noble Eightfold Path is to end all suffering. If frees a person from delusions and attachments to the physical world, making it prudent in moral and mental evolution. The Noble Eightfold Path is a guideline to understanding truth. Buddhist place great emphasis on its practicality, since practice is the only way a person can achieve nirvana.

The Noble Eightfold Path is divided up into three sections: wisdom (pañña), virtue (sila), and concentration (samadhi). Under the category of pañña, the first two guidelines, right understanding (samma ditthi)" and right thought (samma sankappa), are placed. Samma ditthi means to correctly understand and know what is true. Samma sankappa means to resist desire, anger, and violence. The next category, sila, has three parts: right speech (samma vaca), right action (samma kammanta), and right livelihood (samma ajiva). Samma vaca means do not lie, slander, insult, or gossip. Samma kammanta means do not injure, steal, or rape anyone. Samma ajiva focuses on not having a job that would bring harm to others, such as slaughtering animals, selling weapons, trading slaves, running a brothel, or selling drugs. The last category, samadhi, consist of three parts: right effort (samma vayama), right mindfulness (samma sati), and right concentration (samma samadhi). Samma vayama is a strive to perfection and to maintain order, such as freeing one's self of all evil. Samma sati is about controlling one's thoughts and emotions through contemplation. Samma samadhi means to focus on wholesome thoughts and actions.

Like the Buddhist belief that there are extremes of good and bad, the Taoist also believe the same. Taoist label things as having more yin or more yang. Yin is the darker element, which corresponds to the moon, night, the cool, rest, feminine, the north, the winter, right, introversion, earth, and even numbers. Yang is the exact opposite, as it is the sun, the night, cool, masculine, the south, summertime, left, extroversion, heaven, and odd numbers. The yin and the yang are described as two opposing forces that compliment one another.

First off, yin and yang is dependent upon the person's perspective. Yin and yang are opposites but they are not absolutes. For example, something can not be absolutely good or absolutely evil. There is yin in everything that is labeled yang and there is yang in everything that is labeled yin. Yin and yang are used to compare two opposites which are more dissimilar than they are similar and not to establish them as totally one way or the other. And since everything contains both yin and yang, it is possible for things to be subdivided into yin and yang. For example someone might be rich or poor, but if they are poor, they could be at the poverty level or just living in a small house. Yin and yang are usually in balance with one another, as one increases the other decreases; however, imbalances do occur. There can be excess yin, excess yang, yin deficiency, and yang deficiency.

Yin and yang are also interdependent on one another, meaning that neither can exist without the other. For example, if there is no hot, then how would we know what is cold? To know something is the opposite of something else, we must understand them both and know why they are opposites. Yin and yang can also switch. Chaos could become order and day becomes night. An absolute balance of yin and yang can coexist at the same time. For example, the glass could be half empty or half full or earth is dark on one side and equally illuminated on the other site.

The yin and the yang represent balance, one always being there with the other. Also, depending on your prospective, something can be both yin and yang at the same time. While there are imbalances, most of the time yin and yang are balanced. The ideal life of a Buddhist is to be balanced, to have an equal amount of yin and yang. The Middle Way is a perfect way to achieve this goal. However, while a Taoist might say that you need to have an equal amount of black and white, a Buddhist would try to create gray. Also, while a Buddhist uses the Middle Way to avoid both extremes, a Taoist would balance an extreme with its opposite. The popular diagram of the yin and yang is the Taijitu. The Taijitu balances both opposites with an equal amount of the other. Even though the philosophies are not entirely compatible, they reach a similar goal, balance.

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