Mencius in 30 Pages
Know Your Heart, Know Heaven
Last page, biggest question: what is a life for?
Original
孟子曰：「盡其心者，知其性也。知其性，則知天矣。存其心，養其性，所以事天也。殀壽不貳，修身以俟之，所以立命也。」In plain words
Mencius said, “Those who use their hearts to the full know their own nature. Knowing your nature, you know Heaven. Keeping your heart and nourishing your nature is how you serve Heaven. Whether life is short or long, not wavering, but cultivating yourself and waiting for what comes: that is how you make your destiny stand.”
Key words
- 盡心jìn xīnSincerely using the heart's pull toward good to the full.
- 事天shì tiānServing Heaven: living up to what Heaven asks of a person.
- 立命lì mìngNot being pushed by fate, but setting your own life upright.
Reading it step by step
Page thirty. We set out from “Do I love to argue?”, and on this last page Mencius leaves us his deepest line.
First: use your heart to the full, and you know your nature. What is the heart? On Day 11 we met the four sprouts: compassion, shame, deference, a sense of right and wrong. They are the heart's pull toward good. To “use your heart to the full” is to put that pull to work, sincerely and all the way. Only then do you recognise that your nature leans toward good, the way water runs downhill. Not by theory, but act by sincere act.
Second: know your nature, and you know Heaven. Our nature comes from Heaven. Once you see that you lean toward good, you understand what Heaven asks of a person. Everyone has a calling: to do well what their own situation asks of them. The teacher teaches well, parents raise their children well, the bus driver stops gently at every stop. The aim is not for a person to become Heaven, but for a person's virtue to match what Heaven hopes for. Then there is nothing to regret or be ashamed of.
Third: keep the heart, nourish the nature, cultivate yourself and wait. The first half is about knowing; this half is about doing. Keeping the heart means not letting it be stripped like Ox Mountain, and fetching it back when it wanders. Nourishing your nature means what we learned with the flood-like spirit: don't forget it, and don't pull the sprouts. Then: “whether life is short or long, not wavering.”
You don't change your heart over it; you cultivate yourself day by day and wait for what Heaven sends. The word for destiny, 命, has two faces. One is fortune: lifespan, wealth, what befalls you. That isn't up to you. The other is mission: Heaven gave you a heart that leans toward good, and whether you follow it is entirely up to you. That is “making your destiny stand”: not being pushed along by fortune, but putting your weight on the mission and setting your own life upright.
knowing
doing
destiny
Look back over thirty pages. Every two or three chapters Mencius reached for a picture: climbing a tree to catch fish, the ox and not the sheep, one day of sun and ten of cold, water flowing down. He was pointing at the part of us no one can see. He argued in order to defend the human heart. The road ran from the four sprouts and the flood-like spirit to good and true, beautiful and great, sage and divine. In short: human nature leans toward good, so choose the good; once you've chosen, hold on; and holding on has no finish line. Anyone can become a Yao or a Shun: not only can, but should, because there is no second road for a human being. And as you walk it, the people around you shift a little toward the good too.
Thank you for reading these thirty pages with me. From now on you don't need this site to tell you what to read. Each time you meet a person or a task with sincerity, you are using your heart to the full.
Use your whole heart, and you will know Heaven.
Human nature leans toward good: choose it, hold on, and keep going. There is no finish line.
Use your whole heart, and you will know Heaven.
Today's question
Look back over thirty days of notes. Which page changed you most? Then write one sentence: where you stand right now, what is your calling?
Quick check
“Use your heart to the full and you know your nature.” How do we come to know our nature?
Use the heart, know your nature, know Heaven; then keep and nourish them in practice.
IV · Six Stages of Character — Good, true, beautiful, great, sage, divine
Notes from the Margin
Twice a month: a story from history and a question the pages don’t ask. Free.
Printable journal pages · Mencius · About
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