2. The Confucian Concept of Heaven

World Scripture

Heaven helps the man who is devoted; men help the man who is true. He who walks in truth and is devoted in his thinking, and furthermore reveres the worthy, is blessed by Heaven.
I Ching, Great Commentary 1.12.1

Yüeh-cheng Tzu saw Mencius. “I mentioned you to the prince,” said he, “and he was to have come to see you. Amongst his favorites is one Tsang who dissuaded him. That is why he failed to come.” “When a man goes forward,” said Mencius, “there is something which urges him on; when he halts, there is something which holds him back. It is not in his power either to go forward or to halt. It is due to Heaven that I failed to meet the Marquis of Lu. How can this fellow Tsang be responsible for my failure?”
Mencius I.B.16

All a gentleman can do in starting an enterprise is to leave behind a tradition which can be carried on. Heaven alone can grant success.
Mencius I.B.14

When under siege in K’uang, Confucius said, “With King Wen dead, is not culture (wen) invested here in me? If Heaven intends culture to be destroyed, those who come after me will not be able to have any part of it. If Heaven does not intend this culture to be destroyed, then what can the men of K’uang do to me?”
Analects 9.5

Revere the anger of Heaven, And presume not to make sport or be idle. Revere the changing moods of Heaven, And presume not to drive about at your pleasure. Great Heaven is intelligent, And is with you in all your goings. Great Heaven is clear-seeing, And is with you in your wanderings and indulgences.²⁵
Book of Songs, Ode 254

Teachings of Sun Myung Moon

Confucius, through his teachings, taught about many aspects of human morals and ethics… Confucius knew about God’s aspect of principled laws, but not about a personal God, a God having intellect, emotion and will. This makes Confucianism an archangel-type religion. It has influenced the world in morals and ethics, especially in East Asia.
(295:174-75, August 28, 1998)

Confucianism’s teaching about God is symbolic. It does not contain any concrete contents about God’s character or attributes. Its teachings are focused on morals and ethics. For example, one of its main teachings is: “If you do good deeds, you will be blessed; if you do not, you will be punished.”
(53:231, February 28, 1972)

Confucius said, “Those who live for the sake of goodness will be blessed by Heaven, but to those who do not live for the sake of goodness, Heaven will bring misfortune.” What does he mean by “Heaven”? It is ambiguous.²⁶ That is why his teaching sometimes appears to be a religion and other times not.
(38:260, January 8, 1971)

In Korean custom, a person receiving a gift from someone his senior must take it with both hands. This symbolizes that a person can only receive when he becomes a ‘level’ base for the older person’s love. He receives by setting himself at a ninety-degree angle to the giver. We have a saying in Korea, “the heart of the people is the heart of Heaven.” Our rules and customs were formed by the logic of the [vertical] conscience, to be employed in fulfillment of the horizontal.
(172:237, January 1, 1988)

This means that there must be a meeting of Heaven and earth. Heaven must connect with the [horizontal virtues of] benevolence, righteousness, propriety and wisdom. Yet, in Confucianism, they were not successfully connected. Hence, its concept of Heaven is vague, the Four Virtues are vague, and people have not known how to link them. Due to this ignorance, the substantial standards of these two forms could not be manifested in history; therefore they were washed away. How, according to the Unification Principle, do we manifest the dual characteristics [vertical and horizontal]? How can we then establish a realm of substance, and what form will it take in society? I am talking about the substantial realm of re-creation. What human beings desire most is not knowledge, not power and not money. We desire accomplishments of love: Love between teacher and disciple, love between parent and child, love between king and subject—does not love enter into all these relationships? By the same token, Heaven also needs loving sons and daughters. Hence the Principle speaks of love between Heaven and the sons and daughters of Heaven.
(185:272, January 17, 1989)