The Principle of Heaven天理篇

Mencius said, "He who follows heaven remains; he who goes against heaven perishes."

The Jinsi lu says, "Follow the principle of heaven, and without seeking gain there is nothing that is not to your gain. Follow human desire, and before the gain you seek is won the harm has already come after you."

Zhuge Wuhou said, "The planning of a matter lies with man; the accomplishing of it lies with heaven."

Man wishes it to be thus and thus, but the principle of heaven is not yet so, not yet so.

Master Shao of Kangjie said, "The hearing of heaven is still and without sound. In what place among the blue and the blue shall you look for it? It is neither high nor far. It is all only in the human mind."

When the human mind raises a single thought, heaven and earth know it all. If good and evil went unrepaid, then heaven and earth would surely have their partiality.

The Dark Emperor handed down this instruction: "A whisper between people is like thunder to the ear of heaven, and turning against your own mind in a dark room is like lightning to the eye of the spirits."

The Zhongxiao lüe says, "To deceive another is surely to deceive one's own mind, and to deceive one's own mind is surely to deceive heaven. How could the mind be deceived?"

A person can be deceived; heaven cannot be deceived. A person can be put off with a trick; heaven cannot be put off.

When a person of the world means to deceive another, he plainly deceives his own mind first. To deceive the mind is to deceive heaven, so do not say heaven does not know. Heaven is right at the edge of the eaves, and there is surely a time when it hears. You say it does not hear — but from ancient days until now, whom has it ever let go?

The clear blue sky cannot be deceived. Before the thought is even raised, heaven says, I know it first. I urge you, do not do what turns against your own mind. From of old until now, whom has it ever let go?

When a person is good, people may make light of him, but heaven does not make light of him. When a person is evil, people may fear him, but heaven does not fear him.

Though the human mind be evil, heaven does not err.

August heaven does not fail the mind that holds to the Way; august heaven does not fail the mind that is filial; august heaven does not fail the mind that is kind; august heaven does not fail the mind that is good.

The Yizhi shu says, "When the vessel of evil is full, heaven is sure to cut him down."

Zhuangzi said, "If a man does what is not good and yet gains a name that stands out, though people do not harm him, heaven is sure to cut him down."

Plant melons and you get melons; plant beans and you get beans. The net of heaven is vast and wide; its mesh is coarse, yet nothing slips through.

Plow deep and plant shallow, and there is still calamity from heaven. Then how could there be no recompense for harming others to profit yourself?

Confucius said, "When you incur guilt before heaven, there is nowhere left to pray."

An earlier scholar said, "Unlooked-for disasters and sudden misfortunes — people of the world always sigh that they have no cause. But in the apportioning and the ordering of things, august heaven surely has its own word to say."

If there were no recompense in the days to come, with what would the maker of things repay Yan Hui? Had calamity through endless kalpas not been set aside, how could the Lord on High be partial to Cao Cao alone?