(Minghui.org) There is a Chinese saying that goes, “A good word gives warmth in the cold of winter, while a sinister word chills even in the summer.” This highlights the profound effect words can have on us.
Although this may seem to be a simple idea, some people find it all too easy to dismiss. Below are some examples—from both the past and present—on the consequences of failing to consider the effects of our words.
According to Ming Bao Ji (A Record of Underworld Retribution), a woman surnamed Liang, who lived in Xianyang City during the Tang Dynasty, died. Seven days later, she came back to life and recounted what she’d experienced.
Liang was taken to an officer in a large hall in the underworld. The officer sat behind a table with many assistants. “Is this woman supposed to die?” the officer asked.
“It was a mistake,” one assistant replied. “She has the same name as someone who should be here.” The officer thus gave an order to send Liang back.
Since she was already there, Liang asked the officer to check and see if she was guilty of any major crimes. If so, she would rather be punished now—before returning the human world—rather than later.
The officer and his assistant discovered that Liang was guilty of cursing others and provoking them into conflicts. As her punishment, one assistant pulled her tongue out while another struck it with an axe. This was done four times a day for seven days. She was then told she could return to the human world.
Liang felt as if she was falling off of a cliff and then fell asleep. She regained consciousness with her family around her. They saw that her tongue was swollen and had an ulcer on it. After that, Liang no longer cursed or gossiped. She also stopped drinking alcohol and eating meat.
People today are still learning this lesson.
Falun Gong, a meditation system based on the principles of Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance, has been suppressed by the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) since 1999. Similar to previous political campaigns, the CCP persecutes its adherents and attacks them and their faith with slanderous propaganda. Tens of thousands of practitioners have been detained, imprisoned, and tortured. Some of them become victims of psychiatric abuse, sexual abuse, and forced organ harvesting. According to the Minghui website, over 4,000 practitioners have lost their lives due to the persecution, though because of the difficulty of getting information out of China, the number is likely to be much higher.
Minghui has received many reports of people suffering consequences after slandering Falun Gong. Although we wish everyone happiness and safety, we hope the examples below help remind everyone of the importance of standing up for what is right and not doing wrong and that going along with the CCP is never a good idea.
Guo Conggui was a street administration officer from Wu’an City in Hebei Province. After the persecution of Falun Gong started in July 1999, many practitioners were arrested and some were detained in the Beiguang Street Administration Office where Guo worked. Guo intentionally cursed Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, and ridiculed the detained practitioners.
That same month, Guo suffered a cerebral hemorrhage and had to be taken to Beijing. People told him it could be related to his mistreatment of innocent practitioners, but he refused to listen. About 6 years later, Guo was returning a farming implement to a neighbor when a Tibetan Mastiff attacked him. The dog knocked him down and tore his mouth open. He lost a lot of blood. In 2011, Guo died of cancer. He was 63.
Wang Zhixin was the chief of the Cuizhenbao Police Station in Tieling City, Liaoning Province. On October 15, 1999, he called for all the practitioners in Xiaotun Village to gather at the village office. Because some of them arrived a little late, Wang could be heard cursing Falun Gong through all the loudspeakers in the village. His words were so vile that one practitioner, Cui Yuxia, passed out.
A villager told Wang that what he’d said could have consequences. Several days later Wang was returning home in a taxi when it ran into a big truck. A steel rod on the truck flew off and went right through Wang’s head, pushing his mouth and ear aside.
A similar thing happened to Lu Hongru, former philosophy professor at Zhengzhou University in Henan Province. Using his influence, Lu defamed Falun Gong on many occasions including at the Henan Television Station. In early August 2003, Lu and his family of five went back to his hometown for the one-year anniversary of his father’s death. On the highway from Beijing to Hong Kong, their vehicle hit a truck. Lu and his wife and their daughter and son-in-law all died. Only his 10-year-old granddaughter survived. Not only that, when Lu was pulled from the wreck, his mouth was missing. When his employer held a funeral for him, they had to cover the lower part of his face with a piece of white cloth.
Ma Libo was a professor at Xinxiang Medical University and a computer expert. After the CCP began to suppress Falun Gong, Ma actively participated and created a website to slander the practice. Because Ma was also deputy director of the university library, many students and teachers were misled, making them hostile to innocent Falun Gong practitioners.
During a party with friends in late 2006, Ma got a fishbone stuck in his throat. This led to chronic asthma and later respiratory failure. He died at 44.
Li Junying lived in a village in Chifeng City, Inner Mongolia. She and her husband often reported local Falun Gong practitioners to the police for a small reward. Practitioners explained to them that Falun Gong teaches one to be a better person and that persecuting the innocent would not do anyone any good. But the couple continued, and over 10 practitioners were arrested and some were sent to forced labor camps.
Li later had a strange illness in 2002 and she could not speak for months. When she died, she bit off her own tongue and her mouth was full of blood.
In Zhuangtong Village, Laishui County, Hebei Province, Party secretary Zhang Derong was known to take advantage of the villagers and was involved in prostitution and gambling. After the persecution started, he was very active, instructing others to confiscate Falun Gong materials. He also went around on his bike to destroy Dafa materials that practitioners had put up or distributed. Zhang collected baskets and baskets of materials and destroyed them.
In May 2014, Zhang had a cerebral hemorrhage and was taken to Zhuozhou Hospital. Three days later he returned home but still had a fever. After Zhang cooled himself with ice, he sneezed and bit off his own tongue. He died on May 20.
Across cultures, people used to believe that what goes around comes around. Blindly following the CCP to mistreat Falun Gong practitioners for believing in Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance may lead to serious consequences.