Ok, I see where you are coming from.
But where do those inherent traits come from?
And why would you try to remould them with environment?
A
The difference of the east and west is.
The east are nerds, and weaklings, but have great faith, and are hardworking, and clever.
The west are barbarians, and uses scientific doubt and debate, they are like gangsters.
While the east steals what is benefical from the west and discard the rest.
The west and the east , there is no differences.
What do you call an eastern man who was raise in the west?
Who studies the western ideas, and listens to the east? He becomes whole. Or he becomes a teacher with no life.
end of discussion
Hum, just perused a bit regarding Tao. It does have many gods, polytheism and stresses balance and that inaction is the best course of action, which, to me is a doctrine of sorts.
This doctrine appears to be in line with many Western thinkers and much of those living on the California beach fronts. There are still several communes there who stress the “Go With the Flow” idea, accepts what life brings and simply attempts to be the best person they can be.
Albeit, many in the West are power hungry, controlling jerks. Generally, much of Tao appears correct in that we cannot control others and we cannot take power and wealth with us.
Globalization may probably end the confusion and possibly bring about understanding and tolerance. The West and East may learn what is acceptable to certain groups, and what is not, laughingly this will probably occur in the pursuit of wealth and trade.
Just my two cents. Please do not become ticked off and remember I am reading The World is Flat which details the economics of globalization.
I understand what you are saying aspacia, I think you are referring to Taoism. A wholly different matter. And fair enough. Carry on.
A
Oops. I will keep researching. 
Aspacia,
I’ve been thinking about it and I’ve come up with this:
Tao is the universal principal that initiates the creation and governs the workings of everything in the universe. Tao is life and life is Tao.
A
Hi liquid,
Thanks, I am really just attempting to understand, and incorporate what you are saying within my knowledge base, and generally linear Western thinking. Basically no god or gods, just a life force from which all life stems, right? In contrast, pantheism argues for a balance in nature, similar to Taoism, but without the many gods. Just the idea that God is in everything, animate and inanimate forms.
Am I on track?? 
Again, thanks for your time and effort.
Well yes. Strictly speaking of course. But understanding what Tao truly is is not really an intellectual exercise. Hence it is very difficult to describe. But also there is God. Tao as the Source of creation and God as the Creator, the mother of our soul. Tao itself is not a religion although Taoism is the religion of Tao if that makes sense. Also it can be argued that Christanity is also a religion of Tao, it is simply described from a different perspective. Remember that Tao is just a word. It means Truth. It also means Way. In the Holy Bible Tao is called the Word. Jesus said; “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life”.
If we truly understood what Tao was, I believe we would find that we are gods and goddesses.
A
mm…
I hope the pic thread didn’t scare off Mas… 