The Inter-connection of All Things: The Confucian Doctrine of the Mean

​The Inter-Connection of All Things:
The Confucian Doctrine of the Mean
 
The cosmic morality of the Neo-Confucian tradition (see previous post from 6/2/24), while explicitly found in Neo-Confucian figures such as Wang Yang-ming and Zhang Zai, is rooted in a much earlier Chinese text, the Doctrine of the Mean (sometimes attributed to the grandson of Confucius, but probably written in the 5th century BCE.). Through the Doctrine of the Mean, ancient Chinese thought provides an anticipation of 21st century spirituality in both a metaphysics of cosmic inter-connection or relationship and a universal morality which extends the human moral sentiment and consequent sense of ethical responsibility beyond the human and into the natural and spiritual realms.
 
The Doctrine of the Mean 22 (translation by Wing-tsit Chan)
Only those who are absolutely sincere can develop their nature. 

If they can fully develop their nature, they can then fully develop the nature of others.  

If they can fully develop the nature of others, they can then fully develop the nature of things. 

If they can fully develop the nature of things, they can then assist in the transforming and nourishing process of Heaven and Earth. 
 
 If they can assist in the transforming and nourishing process of Heaven and Earth, they can thus form a Trinity with Heaven and Earth.