Confucius' Doctrine of the Mean (中庸): What Heaven Confers is Called “Nature.” That is What We ARE

I am impressed with Confucius' Doctrine of the Mean (中庸; translated by A. Charles Muller http://www.acmuller.net/con-dao/docofmean.html, revised 7/6/2013). The short text excerpted below is followed by over twenty pages of commentary there. I have added a few personal notes below.

The Text:

天命之謂性。率性之謂道。修道之謂教。

What Heaven confers is called “nature.” Accordance with this nature is called the Way. Cultivating the Way is called “education.”

道也者、不可須臾離也、可離非道也。是故君子戒愼乎其所不睹、恐懼乎其所不聞。

That which is called Way cannot be separated from for an instant. What can be separated from is not the Way. Therefore the Superior Man is cautious in the place where he is not seen, and apprehensive in the place where he is not heard.

莫見乎隱、莫顯乎微。故君子愼其獨也。

Nothing is more visible than the hidden, and nothing is more apparent than the subtle. Therefore the Superior Man is cautious when he is alone.

喜、怒、哀、樂之未發、謂之中。發而皆中節、謂之和。中也者、天下之大本也。和也者、天下之達道也。致中和、天地位焉、萬物育焉。

When joy, anger, sorrow and pleasure have not yet arisen, it is called the Mean (中 centeredness, equilibrium). When they arise to their appropriate levels, it is called “harmony” 和. The Mean is the great root of all-under-heaven. “Harmony” is the penetration of the Way through all-under-heaven. When the Mean and Harmony are actualized, Heaven and Earth are in their proper positions, and the myriad things are nourished.

Notes:
"What Heaven confers is called 'nature.'" That is what we are, the base of the subtle, "inner man." We are supposed to live in accordance with this nature; accordance is the right Way. When our emotions have not yet risen, it is called the Mean (中 centeredness, equilibrium); when they have risen to their appropriate levels, it is called “harmony.”

Confucius' commentary is full of priceless jewels:
The Superior Man treats people as human beings.
The Superior Man acts accepting his own situation. He does not hope to be somewhere else . . . There is no place where the Superior Man is not completely himself.
The greatly virtuous always receive the Mandate of Heaven.
Sincerity is the Way of Heaven.
How great is the Way of the sage! . . . It waits for the right person and then functions. Hence it is said: "If you do not perfect your virtue, the perfect Way cannot be actualized."

If you read the Doctrine of the Mean's commentaries, you will no doubt be puzzled by the transliterated Chinese word ren. I think that if you are familiar with the Old Testament concept of chesed, or of God's "loving-kindness," forgiveness, mercy and grace as being part and parcel to the nature that we are, you will get the picture. Here is discussion on ren (which is written in Wade-Giles' romanization as jen), from

http://www.webpages.uidaho.edu/jcanders/Ethics/glossary_of_terms_for_confuciani.htm:

jen/ren - humanity, humaneness, benevolence, compassion, love for fellow beings, "co-humanity" (Boodberg in Tu Weiming, "Chinese Philosophy: A Synoptic View" in A Companion to World Philosophies edited by E. Deutsch and R. Bontekoe (Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 1997) , p. 9). This term also can be translated human excellence, humaneness, virtue. It is a characteristic of humanity at its best, a source of moral principles, and the outcome of a moral life. "The Chinese character jen is formed from symbols that mean "two human beings." Thus it represents the ideal relationship among humans." (John Roth, "The Analects of Confucius," in Masterpieces in World Philosophy. ed. F.N. Magill (New York: HarperCollins, 1990), pp. 1-2).  The following comment by Muller is also enlightening:

 [Comment by Muller] The Chinese term jen has been translated into English as "humanity," "benevolence," "goodness," "Perfect Goodness," etc. It is a difficult concept to translate because it doesn't really refer to any specific type of virtue or positive endowment, but refers to an inner capacity possessed by all human beings to do good, as human beings should. This is the reason some have translated it as "humanity." The problem with this translation is that it does not indicate the "goodness" implied by the term jen. In the Chinese "essence-function" perception, jen can be understood as the essence of all kinds of manifestations of virtuosity: wisdom, filial piety, reverence, courtesy, love, sincerity, etc., all of which are aspects, or functions of jen. Through one's efforts at practicing at the function of jen, one may enhance and develop one's jen, until one may be called a Superior Man, or even better, a "Person of jen." In the Analects, "person of jen" is an extremely high state, rarely acknowledged of any human being by Confucius.( http://www.human.toyogakuen-u.ac.jp/~acmuller/contao/analects.htm Most accessed 4/11/02 and 8/18/02).