(Clearwisdom.net) Master's Fa-rectification verses not only contain the words "The Fa rectifies the cosmos, the Evil is completely eliminated," but also "The Fa rectifies heaven and Earth, immediate retribution in this lifetime." When sending righteous thoughts in recent years, due to my incomplete understanding of Fa principles, I often only recite the first phrase and not the second one. I thought initially we are cultivating "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and should be kind to people. I was not able to decide correctly when to recite the second phrase.
Not too long ago, my spouse and I were arrested because we practice Falun Gong. My spouse is still detained now. In the meantime, as the Fa-rectification advances rapidly, and after fellow practitioners realized this persecution needs to end immediately, I also came to understand this Fa principle better. I realized that the most important mission at present is to save sentient beings. Any life that persecutes Falun Gong practitioners and prevents sentient beings from being saved should be immediately eliminated. However, I still hesitated with "The Fa rectifies heaven and earth, immediate retribution in this lifetime" toward those people who participated in the persecution. My main worry was that some of these people are still savable, and my thoughts might hurt them. As mentioned above, it was due to my less than perfect understanding of Fa principles.
Recent further Fa study, sharing experiences with fellow practitioners and reading articles on the Minghui/Clearwisdom website made me gain a better level of understanding of the Fa principles.
A fellow practitioner mentioned that several years ago while she was detained in a forced labor camp, she often sent these righteous thoughts, "The Fa rectifies heaven and earth, immediate retribution in this lifetime" toward the people who went astray. She also told those people clearly, "You will get retribution if you keep doing this." As a result, some of them started feeling sick the next day. They then stopped saying bad things about Dafa. It effectively suppressed the evil behind them and stopped them from continuing to do bad things and also made them rethink what they had done. This practitioner discovered after her release from the forced labor camp that her sister had gone astray during the persecution and was not respectful toward Dafa, and sometimes even threatened her. This practitioner again sent the same righteous thoughts, "The Fa rectifies heaven and earth, immediate retribution in this lifetime" toward her sister. Her sister then received retribution and even faced the danger of losing her life. This practitioner the took the opportunity to clarify the truth to her sister and eliminated the evil factors behind her. Her sister became clear-minded and started returning to Dafa.
The practitioner's application of the verse "The Fa rectifies heaven and earth, immediate retribution in this lifetime" has thus helped to save sentient beings.
Master has given us examples in Zhuan Falun of the necessary approaches we can take in dealing with seemingly unredeemable life forms during Fa-rectification, such as the incident during Sakyamuni's time, when he asked his assistant to clean an insect-filled bathtub, and how we should handle flies and mosquitoes, and eliminate spirit possession. Master's Fa-rectification is for saving sentient beings and is benevolent to all sentient beings. Any living entities that are detrimental to Fa-rectification should be eliminated; otherwise, more sentient beings would lose their opportunity for salvation. From this perspective, immediate retribution in this lifetime is not being uncompassionate. It is the compassion of gods and Buddhas.
Master asks us to cultivate "Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance" and apply the principles to everything we do. The verse "The Fa rectifies heaven and earth, immediate retribution in this lifetime" is also a manifestation of compassion. An un-savable life receiving retribution can awaken sentient beings and alert them not to damage Dafa and practitioners so they could eventually be saved. This is the benevolence of gods and Buddhas to sentient beings. The retribution those entities that have damaged Dafa have received can help them eliminate their karma, so they could get another opportunity to make the right choice. This is also a sign of compassion toward sentient beings.
When one is not clear on the Fa principles, the term "Compassion" is in fact a human notion. It is actually appeasement and tacit consent toward the evil. Only after one truly understands the Fa principles will one be able to send strong and compassionate, divinely guided righteous thoughts to save sentient beings.
This is my own understanding. Please point out anything inappropriate.
