He was passive in his willingness to wait and simply preserve the ritual until tian nature did so. Mozi opposed the passivity. He relied on tian nature mainly for the natural urge that justified using the utility standard in evaluating forms of public discourse. Mencius then argues that traditions evolved not because sage appreciated that they were right or even beneficial, but because they were the crystallization of our natural reactions to situations. We have a burial ritual because the awareness that our parents are exposed to animals and the elements is naturally emotionally disturbing.
Ethics is a matter of instinctive, naturally human reactions.