(Clearwisdom.net) A number of articles posted on the Clearwisdom website lately have addressed the topic of bringing the persecution to an end as soon as possible. I have gained much inspiration from them, especially from the article carried in the 288th edition of "Minghui Weekly" - "My Understandings of 'Immediate Retribution in This Lifetime'." (http://www.clearwisdom.net/emh/articles/2007/8/1/88223.html).
Master told us the Fa-rectification verses as early as 2001, indicating that "immediate retribution in this lifetime" is also a very important part of the process of Fa-rectification. The fellow practitioner who wrote the above-mentioned article stated that the occurrence of large numbers of incidents of karmic retribution can lead more people to accept salvation and would perfect and harmonize what Master wants. I thought more deeply about what would happen in such a scenario and had a sudden realization: Wouldn't large-scale incidents of karmic retribution help bring the evil persecution to an end sooner?
We have been focused on explaining the facts, encouraging people to quit the CCP and its affiliated organizations, and on sending righteous thoughts to eliminate the evil in other dimensions for a long time now. From time to time we hear of retribution coming to those who persecuted Falun Dafa practitioners. We may have thought: "Good, serves him right. He cannot do evil things anymore!" We would report and post the incident on Clearwisdom.net, and then print it out in booklets and distribute them locally. We would feel that we had done what we should and our comprehension of the matter did not go any deeper.
However, not long afterward, someone else would be appointed to take over from the person who had met with retribution, and the persecution continued. Why is it there are still people willing to perpetuate the persecution? These people do not believe in retribution! They think what happened to their predecessor was only an accident, or a natural or man-made disaster. They do not believe it was retribution. They may think: Other people have persecuted Falun Gong and nothing has happened to them. Some have even earned promotions and bonuses. They think retribution does not exist, and this is why people still dare to perpetuate the persecution.
If large numbers of karmic retribution incidents happen, and all people who have participated in the persecution realize they are receiving retribution for persecuting Falun Gong, they would then believe retribution is real. Would they then still dare to do evil things, instigated by the evil specter of the Communist Party? No matter how much money or how many promotions they are offered, they would not dare to do evil. What is the use of money and promotions if they forfeit their lives?
The idea is similar to spirit or animal possession. Before a possessed person sees the danger incurred to his life, he might say that as long as he can get money, he will do anything. His attitude would be completely different if he/she could see the consequences of spirit or animal possession. Many of those possessed by spirits are left bedridden, living a life so miserable they would rather die. If he knew, would he still dare to do evil things? Although there is still evil left that is controlling people, if people are clear in their hearts and minds that they do not wish to do evil things, the evil will be unable to manipulate them. Also, if all the local officials and local people can hear and see that it is true what Dafa practitioners tell them - that good is rewarded with good and evil with evil - then no one would any longer dare to participate in the persecution; instead, they would respect Dafa and Dafa's mighty power. If a great number of karmic retribution incidents occurred nationwide within a short time, the persecution would come to an end.
How can we achieve this? We need to look within ourselves, let go of our unrighteous views and notions, and do away with the gaps created by our human notions. Only then can our righteous thoughts form one body. When our understanding has elevated, Master will help - "Cultivation depends on one's own efforts, while the transformation of gong is done by one's master." (Zhuan Falun) Even the most difficult issues will be easily resolved. Master is doing everything. Master will help us do the right things in proportion to however much we have let go of our human notions.
What are the main human notions that prevent large-scale karmic retribution incidents from happening? I had a discussion with fellow practitioners, and we summarized a few points, as follows:
First, there is the notion of relying on Master. Because Master mentioned many times in His teachings that a large number of karmic retribution incidents will soon occur, many practitioners are simply waiting while speculating when they will happen. But after a while, when nothing significant seemed to have happened, they think they don't know what Master has planned, so they dare not speculate or talk about it any more and put this issue aside.
Of course, Master has the power to let the evil people receive their due retribution. Ending the persecution is only a matter of a twinkling of an eye. However, as I recall, Master has said on many occasions that He would leave the mighty virtue of ending the persecution to Dafa disciples. Yet we are still lagging in our understandings and still have various notions of relying on Master, thus causing the persecution to drag on and on. Fellow practitioners, think about it: if, after you reach consummation in the future, something that damages the Fa occurs, whom would you rely on to put an end to it? How would you be responsible for your sentient beings?
Secondly, there are wrong understandings of the Fa principles Master has taught us.
Master said,
"All the evil people who have sinned against Dafa, specifically those who are no longer useful in the evil so-called 'test' of Dafa disciples, have already begun to meet with retribution for their evil. From now on this will happen on a large scale. Those most evil ones, though, will be used until the very end, because there continue to be Dafa disciples stepping forward, and the evil old forces need to use them to continue to test Dafa disciples. This is why the most wicked evildoers are still rampantly doing evil." ("Dafa is indestructible" in Essentials for Further Advancement II)
Based on this, sometimes we say things casually, "Master has said that the most evil ones will be kept till the end to meet their retribution." But Master also said, "A Dafa disciple completely opposes everything arranged by the evil old forces." ("Dafa is Indestructible") We have however failed to understand this sentence, and therefore unwittingly acknowledged the arrangements of the old forces and allowed the evildoers to rampantly do evil.
I remember a fellow practitioner's sharing article from Clearwisdom. He seemed to say that evildoing police officer Tang Yubao was shouting while beating him, " My name is Tang Yubao. Go and sue me in court. How come I don't meet with any retribution?" That practitioner only looked within himself, thinking he had hatred, was not compassionate enough, and so on. He only looked at the incident from the angle of personal cultivation, and failed to consider the incident from the angle of Fa-rectification and the dignity of Dafa. In my opinion, there is an omission here. (Please forgive me for saying so. I don't mean to criticize.) Why couldn't we make him meet with retribution? We should think about it. Didn't we accept the arrangements of the old forces who wanted to keep the evil actors until the very end.
So from now on we should change this notion. If we come across incidents of persecution of Dafa practitioners, we should send forth righteous thoughts, not only to eliminate the evil behind the perpetrators, but also to make the evildoers who have personally participated in the persecution immediately meet with retribution. We must not let ourselves be confused by any false image on the surface and give up our efforts if we do not see any result after we send forth righteous thoughts for a few days. We should keep up with sending righteous thoughts until all evildoers meet with their karmic retribution. We must firmly keep it up, until the persecution ends nationwide.
The third issue, one that baffles me, is: how large of an area should we target for karmic retribution? My uncertainty is one of the reasons why when I send righteous thoughts sometimes with specific evildoers as the target, my mind is troubled, and as a result my righteous thoughts were not firm and the results are ineffective. I would think, "Should this person meet karmic retribution or not?" HHow can my righteous thoughts be effective when I think things like that?
I exchanged my ideas with fellow practitioners. They think that all those who have participated in the persecution, starting with those who arrested Dafa practitioners, should receive karmic retribution. I said that some police officers politely asked practitioners to go with them and said they were only following orders from above. The fact is that some practitioners went with those police officers and never returned and some managed to walk away with their strong righteous thoughts. Then, how big is the crime those police officers have committed? They did not beat practitioners and were rather polite at the time.
Fellow practitioners believe that we must not be confused by outward appearances or be moved by human sentiments. We need to be rational. Because of what those police officers did, that particular practitioner might be sent to a labor camp, be tortured or even lose his/her life. The practitioner may also be forced to accept "transformation" and go astray along an evil path, causing the elimination of sentient beings in his/her world. Besides, there are also indirect negative implications to others as a result of any arrest: how can the practitioner's family members, relatives, friends and people around them see the dignity and might of Dafa? They can only see that evildoers got off scot-free, and good people suffer. How can they see that good will be rewarded with good and evil with evil? How can they believe what Dafa practitioners tell them?
Even though some practitioners managed to leave the detention centers with the power of righteous thoughts, the evildoers didn't want to release them, and it was not because the police officers have done something good for practitioners. It was Master who helped practitioners to leave the detention center because they acted righteously in accordance with the Fa. The fact that some practitioners got out does not mean that those who put them in detention do not deserve karmic retribution. The evildoers may not have persecuted you, but they have persecuted other practitioners. So we must let go of human sentiments and look at things with rationality.
Master said,
"All the evil people who have sinned against Dafa, specifically those who are no longer useful in the evil so-called 'test' of Dafa disciples, have already begun to meet with retribution for their evil. From now on this will happen on a large scale." ("Dafa is Indestructible")
I feel that Master has already made it clear who will meet with karmic retribution, and there is no controversy. I think that all those who took notes during interrogations, those who monitored practitioners, and those who passed unlawful judgments and sentences and committed other devious acts should receive their due karmic retribution. The majority of them should already know the facts of Falun Gong by now. If there are still some among them who truly do not know the facts, then we should give him/her the chance to learn the truth; otherwise we should send righteous thoughts, letting him/her receive their due retribution immediately.
Having shared so much, my main point is to remind fellow practitioners of the importance of "immediate retribution in this lifetime." Master's Fa-rectification verses are the magic weapons to end the persecution. How can we end the persecution? I think Master has long given us the answer. When karmic retribution incidents happen on a large scale, then the persecution will end. Master said,
"The things you are doing can shock and frighten the evil today, can greatly reduce the evil and restrain it, can terrify the evil and prevent it from having the strength to carry on with the persecution, and can ultimately force this evil persecution to do nothing but end. That's what Dafa disciples are doing in this time before the Fa rectifies the human world, and it is magnificent." ("Teaching the Fa at the 2004 International Fa Conference in New York")
I feel that Master has once again pointed out the way to end the persecution. Often times we tend to think that when the evil in other dimensions is completely cleared out, the persecution will then come to an end. However, even if there is only one evil element left in other dimensions, it is still able to manipulate many police officers to do evil, and that is why in some places the persecution still appears to be rather severe. If we focus on these places and make those who have participated in the persecution meet with karmic retribution on a large scale, then even if there is still evil left, it will not be able to manipulate people to continue the persecution. Once we have cleaned this dimension, the evil will have no way of doing evil.
Fellow practitioners, we have offered salvation to sentient beings for eight years. This is our mighty virtue, and we have harmonized what Master wants. However, we have also allowed those dregs in the human world who should have long been eliminated to exist, to persecute Dafa and Dafa disciples, and to interfere and damage Fa-rectification for eight years. I think this is a disgrace. Therefore, I hope that from now on, we start to pay attention to the importance of "immediate retribution in this lifetime" and bring the persecution to an end as soon as possible! Yes, we need time to offer people salvation; but from another perspective, the longer we drag on, the more people will fall further down in terms of morals, and it will be more difficult to offer them a way out.