(Clearwisdom.net) We say that whoever persecutes people with upright beliefs will not have good outcomes. So it will be with those perpetrators who persecute Falun Gong. Some people do not believe it. I have been asked in a letter if the perpetrators who persecute Falun Gong will have bad outcomes and why have some killers not met their retribution yet. Many people have asked me the same question. Many of our fellow practitioners were asked the same question.
This is my understanding of this issue for your reference.
1. Throughout history from ancient times to the present, from China to foreign lands, the evil perpetrators whoever persecute people with upright beliefs never have good outcomes. This is because retribution for sin is a universal law.
In philosophy, there is talk about the law of causality -- there is cause and there is effect. This principle states that nothing can happen without a cause. Retribution for sins committed is the law of causality objectively reflected in human world. Yijing states: "If a family accumulates virtue, it will always have something to celebrate; if a family accumulates karma, it will always have misfortunes." In the Buddha scripture "Niepanjing", it states: "There is justice in this world, it follows you like a shadow; the law of causality will follow with the turns of reincarnations and will never be lost." In the Taoist teaching "Taishangganyingpian", it states: "You cannot find fortune or misfortune on your own, you create them; good will be rewarded with good, and evil with evil, it follows you like a shadow." As you sow, so shall you reap. Whether people believe it or not, the law of causality is an objective fact. It is an absolute outcome that no one can change.
Why is there retribution for sins committed in the human world? Why is good rewarded with good and evil with evil?
This is because human society follows nature and the celestial universe, and it follows certain rules and revolves according to certain rules. To follow the rules is the common precondition for human society, nature, and the celestial universe to exist and last.
For example, in the current society, all sorts of drivers and vehicles form a special world called the "Vehicle Society." It is hard for those who do not drive, but for the drivers to follow traffic regulations is extremely important for the "Vehicle Society". Why is that? Each driver is an individual and has his independent will and thoughts. If no one follows the common rules and regulations while driving a vehicle, law and order in the "Vehicle Society" cannot be maintained and this society cannot exist, function, or last.
This is apparent in the intersection where vehicles from all directions come and go. Each driver wishes to pass through the intersection quickly. If there were no traffic lights or police-- the regulators of the traffic rules--and if each driver were to pass through the intersection at will, what’s going to happen? The order in the intersection will be destroyed, the vehicles will be jammed, and maybe they will collide with each other. There will be no guarantee of safety, people will be killed, and vehicles will be ruined. In a normal situation, there is law and order in the intersection because drivers all consciously obey the traffic lights and orders from the police.
Not only the "Vehicle Society" but the entire human society must obey rules in order to exist, function and last. The law of causality is such a rule. Why is that? If there is an evil element and selfish trends in human nature and if there is no justice in this world, then there will be misfortune for the kind people and evil doers will have no consequences. Then after a while, the evil doers will stop at nothing, unbridled to commit all sorts of crimes. The kind, law-abiding ones will become utterly disheartened, and they no longer will want to be good, but rather will drift with the tide. People will constantly be harming and hurting each other, and there will be no sense of safety. Human society will then collapse because there is nothing to maintain law and order. We all know that currently in Mainland China, public morality is not what it used to be. People pursue only profit, and the moral degeneration of the world is getting worse day by day. Even though on the surface the economy is flourishing, the moral base of the society is ruined, and the environment of the society grows worse by the day so that no one has a sense of safety. This is because more and more people no longer believe in the law of causality and no longer believe there is justice in this world. It does not seem worth it to be good, and there are no consequences to being bad. If that is the case, why should one be a good person? Isn’t it easier to be bad? The law of causality in the human world is needed for human society to exist, function and last -- it is God’s will.
2. From the standpoint of the law of causality, a human being’s behavior, good or bad, will create related consequences. In that case, people's belief in righteousness (teaching people to be kind and helping them to be kind) will have related results. The difference is that those who act kindly will be rewarded with good, and those who persecute others will meet retribution. It is not one’s own wishful thinking; it is objective fact.
Edgar Cayce, 1877-1945, an American, was a famous prophet. He had amazingly accurate clairvoyant perceptions, which were induced entirely in a trance. He did hundreds of thousands of readings for patients and discovered that for many patients, the causes of the illnesses could be traced back to the ancient Roman era when they had directly or indirectly been involved in persecuting Christians.
One forty-five year-old woman was paralyzed from the waist down with poliomyelitis at age thirty-six. She could not walk and was confined to a wheelchair. After she tried numerous therapies, she went to Edgar Cayce for a reading of her previous lives. After the reading, she understood that the cause of her paralysis was the karma from acts she committed in ancient Rome. She had been among the royalty of the time and was closely associated with Nero in his persecution of Christians. She laughed at those who were crippled in the arena, and the consequence of her mockery was the paralysis in her current life.
Another subject was a girl lamed by tuberculosis of the hip joint. The karmic cause, however, arose in Rome. She had been one of the aristocrats in Nero’s court and had found it amusing to watch the persecution of Christians in the arena. She had laughed in particular at the girl whose side was ripped open by the claws of a lion. In her present life, much of her physical plight arose from her scornful laughter back then at the weakness of those who persevered for a cause.
Another subject was a film producer. He contracted polio at the age of 17 and walked with a limp. In a previous life, he was also involved in the persecution of Christians in ancient Roman times. He was a soldier then and was sent to suppress the Christians who did not resist at all. He accrued karma not because he obeyed the military orders but because he laughed at those who held on to their belief. His disability in this lifetime was meant to let his heart awaken to the principle of causal relationship.
The last subject was a boy. At the age of 16, he had a car accident and had his spine injured. He lost his sensing ability from his fifth vertebrae downwards and couldn’t move. He had to rely on a wheelchair. Seven and a half years later, his mother asked Cayce to read his lives. Cayce told them about two previous lives. In one of his lives, he was a Roman soldier when Christianity started to spread. He was very arrogant and took pleasures in Christians’ misfortunes. He participated directly in the persecution of Christians. Therefore in this lifetime he had to suffer and bear hardships and pain.
Through his reading of the lives for the above people, Cayce found the cause of their diseases: the reason they suffered hardships was that they once laughed at and persecuted those who strongly held onto their beliefs. In the first two examples, though they didn’t participate directly in the persecution, they didn’t differentiate the good from the bad. So in this lifetime, they had to bear the painful cost of their ignorance and heartlessness in their previous lifetime. Those who directly participated in the persecution, the main actors, especially in the fourth example, had to bear the bitterness of a painful life even in youth.
In history those who persecuted Christians bore the consequences. Today the evil Chinese Communist Party which persecutes Falun Gong is no exception. Similar reports are published on the Minghui website and other websites almost every day. The following are some of the examples reported on Minghui website on January 21.
Xu Shiwen, an officer from the 610 Office in Zibo City, Shandong Province, persecuted Falun Gong and now he has experienced retribution. He suffers from cancer and awaits his death amidst sufferings. Shi Yingbai, Director of Changlinzi Forced Labor Camp, actively participated in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners and has suffered retribution. He suffers from various diseases and doctors are unable to find the causes. At the moment he has to go to work late and leave the office early. Policeman Zhao Shuang severely beat Dafa practitioners, and he was demoted from the Team Leader position.
Once Wang An, Head of the Administration Department of the Shihezi City Intermediate Court in Xinjiang Province was in charge of a case. Since the defendant was not convicted in the trial, he just gathered a group of youth and severely beat the defendant. He was almost disabled. In November 2006, when the local court illegally put Falun Dafa practitioner Zhao Aijun on trial, relatives of Zhao questioned Wang An as to "why he attributed other incidents taking place outside to Zhao Aijun while he was in the forced labor camp." Wang shamelessly said: "He doesn’t admit anything, whether he did it or not. Who is able to tell?" Since July 20, 1999, Wang An was in charge of the cases of illegal trials of Falun Gong practitioners, and he put heavy sentences on them. He eventually got the retribution he deserved.
Liu Gang, Former Deputy Party Secretary in Beixinbao County actively participated in the persecution of Falun Gong practitioners. Five members of the families of Falun Gong practitioners Yang Guibao and Chen Yunchuan were tortured to death. Many local Falun Gong practitioners were persecuted to a some degree. In 2004, Liu had a car accident and died.
3. Of course from the current situation, not all of the perpetrators who persecute Falun Gong have been punished and quite a few perpetrators seem to live at ease. There are also those who have been promoted because of their effort in "doing a good job". But does this mean that they can really escape retribution? Does it mean that it is only the victim’s wish that perpetrators get punished while it is not the natural result? This is a phenomenon that puzzles everyone. But once you understand the complexity and variety of the causal relationships, you will not be puzzled. Retribution has various forms. This is only a special demonstration of the retribution in a certain period of time. It is not a denial of retribution.
From the philosophical point of view, the causal relationship not only exists but is complex. Its forms of demonstration include the following: (1) one cause vs. multiple results, which manifests as the same cause having different results. Namely, one cause leads to multiple results, or one cause leads to different results under different circumstances; (2) same results vs. different causes, which manifests as one result caused by multiple reasons or the same result caused by different reasons under different conditions; and (3) different causes vs. different results, which manifests as compound causal relationships or different reasons leading to different results.
The causal retribution we are talking about is the manifestation of the causal relationships in this world. It is complicated and has many variations. According to Buddhism, there are three forms of retribution. The first one is immediate retribution, namely what you do, whether it is good or bad, will be rewarded or punished in this lifetime. The second one is lifetime retribution, namely, what you did in your previous lifetime will be rewarded or punished in this lifetime. The third retribution is instant retribution, namely, if you did a bad thing yesterday, you will have retribution today; or if you do a bad thing in the morning, you receive retribution in the afternoon. The same goes for rewards. Of course, this is the understandings of Buddhism. The retributions and rewards in real life are far more complex.
Many people don’t believe or have doubts about the principle of causal relationship because they feel that in real life there are many cases of good people not being rewarded and bad people not being punished. Only when we understand the complexity and variety of the causal relationships can we understand the issue of why sometimes good people are not rewarded and bad people are not punished.
Actually, this is only a superficial phenomenon. Sometimes good people are not rewarded because the time for the good reward has not come yet. On the other hand, though a person does good deeds now, in his previous lives he might have done many bad things and now has retributions, or the retributions are still in operation and haven’t stopped yet. So superficially, this gives the false impression that good people are not rewarded.
Likewise, many bad people have done many bad things, but they live a very good life at the moment and even get promoted or make good money. That is because the time for retribution hasn’t come yet. Though he does bad things now or in this lifetime, he might have done many good things before or in his previous lives and he is reaping rewards now or the rewards are still at work and haven’t finished yet. So this gives the false impression that bad people don’t suffer retribution.
Among the evil party members in China who trample people’s rights of free belief, some of them are still at large and even get promoted and make good money. They belong to this type. That is to say, for some reason, the time for their retribution has not come yet. Once the time comes, retribution will come. There are many examples of this kind. For instance, today he just got promoted, but soon after he was thrown out of the position and got detained, or had illnesses or a car accident….
There are old sayings which tell us: "Heaven has eyes" and "No sin can evade the net of heaven's law". How true it is!
In the Buddhist scriptures it is said "Heaven can’t be cheated. It already knows what you think before you act. Eventually good will be rewarded and bad will be punished. It is only a matter of time." Ordinary people put it in plain language as "The evil will receive retribution, the good deed will be rewarded. It is not that there is no reward or no punishment but that the time is not right yet. When the time is right, rewards and retribution will all come."
All in a word, as long as the crimes of persecuting people with righteous belief and trampling of freedom of belief are committed, retribution will come sooner or later. It is absolutely impossible to escape by chance.