All Things Are Complete in Me

Reading it step by step

The last few pages were about courage, nourishing qi and hardship. It all sounds like hard work. Is the Confucian road nothing but strain? Here Mencius says one of his brightest sentences: “To turn back to myself and find I am sincere: there is no greater joy.”

First: “all things are complete in me” doesn't mean I know everything. One reading says the principles of all things are stored in my mind. But there is always more to learn, so how could anything be “complete”? It reads better as an image: a human life, at root, lacks nothing. You wake up rested, you've had breakfast, your body works and your head is clear. This moment is already whole. Being rich is not about how much you hold; it's about no longer reaching outward. There's a Western saying that the surest way to get rich is to want less; with endless wants, even a wealthy person stays poor. A person doesn't need outside things to prop them up.

Second: “turn back to yourself and find you are sincere: no joy is greater.” Elsewhere Mencius says sincerity is the way of Heaven, and choosing sincerity is the way of human beings. Only we can decide whether to be sincere. There are many joys: a good meal, a reunion, recognition. All of them depend on things outside us. The joy of a clear conscience depends on nothing but you, and no one can take it away. If you need a crowd's praise to be happy, what happens on the days it doesn't come? So when praised, say thank you; when criticised, fix what's true and take the rest as a warning. Joy that wells up from inside is joy you can count on.

We usually feel we lack a lot: money, time, a better job. The shops and the ads agree with us. Try one evening. Before sleep, ask: what did I do sincerely today? If you find one thing, that's enough. Notice how little you were missing in that moment.

You lack nothing, not because you have much, but because your heart is full.