I was just looking at an image of the famous symbol of Taoism - the Yin Yang circle. I haven't read enough to expound a detailed explanation of the symbol BUT I only want to share what the symbol means to me.

What always confused me was the opposite colored small circles that sit in the middle of the part of the opposite color. There's a black circle in the middle of the white part of the symbol and a white circle in the black part of the symbol.

The two main opposite colored parts of the symbol are comprehensible as a balance between extremes - resonating with the Buddha's middle path philosophy. It also represents a dualistic understanding of life and nature - a play of opposing forces and the equilibrium such an interaction represents.

I take it that, in a very basic sense, the white represents the good and the black represents evil. However, what of the ''errant'' smaller black and white circles? Does it mean that extreme goodness is bad and vice versa?

I think it does. The following quote suggests somethig along this line: Rhiannon Pursall said ''A lot of children do not recognise insects as animals. They stamp on ants and torture spiders''. Children are the epitome of innocence, having only a rudimentary understanding of good and evil. Their ''cruelty'' to insects is born out of innocence. Does this mean that evil people like Hitler, Stalin, etc. were actually ''innocent''? They lacked a moral compass just as children lack it and therefore, they're ''innocent'' (read: good) in some sense of the word.

Let's look at the other side of the coin. ''Good'' people, as generally understood, are considered selfless. However, when analyzed, their goodness arises from an expectation of a ''reward'' either in this life or in the afterlife. So, it is ''true'' that extreme goodness is actually bad because, at the end, the ''good'' have selfish reasons.

Am I understanding this correctly?