PureInsight | November 4, 2002
Preface
Messages about imminent and future natural disasters have been discussed throughout the centuries. Such messages could be interpreted as a warning for future generations, i.e., learning from our mistakes and heeding the message. Publications from Stanford University disclosed that such messages were and still are also used to manipulate information and mold the perception of the reader. The past left us many such works. One of them is the Shang Shu, a classic study of predicted political events in the Yu, Hsia, Shang and Chou dynasties, dating back approximately 5000 years. The Shang Shu is a collection of Chinese history and legend, spanning approximately seventeen hundred years. Shang Shu, also known as Shu Jing, or the Book of History, is one of the six classics that Confucius compiled and commented on.
We found such a message in the Chapter Jin Teng of Zhou Shu in Shang Shu. Shang Shu is one of "The Four Books and The Five Classics." The Shang Shu documented severe storms throughout the Zhou Dynasty (also called the Western Zhou, 1045-77 B.C.). King Wu (1043-40 B.C.) of the Zhou Dynasty, after conquering Emperor Zhou of the Shang Dynasty, became seriously ill. So Duke Zhou built an altar to offer prayers for the return of Emperor Wu's good health. He was ready to sacrifice his life for the Emperor. He prayed that the Emperor would regain his good health in return for his own life. Then he put his prayer scroll into a box that was called "Jinteng." Emperor Wu recovered fully and Duke Zhou did not die. After a few years, King Wu did die. Guan Shu, the brother of Duke Zhou, and others spread rumours and slandered Duke Zhou. Therefore, Duke Zhou fled to the eastern region, where he lived for two years. During the fall of that year a good harvesting season was reported. But all of sudden, the area was hit by a heavy thunderstorm. The crops fell over and gusty winds pulled big trees out by their roots. Everyone was petrified. King Cheng and his ministers, all dressed in their ceremonial gowns, were set for a fortune-telling ritual. As usual, the Jinteng box was opened. What did they find? The prayer scroll written by Duke Zhou, containing the message that he was willing to sacrifice his life for King Wu. King Cheng felt great remorse and thus decided to travel to the eastern region to welcome Duke Zhou back. Suddenly, the weather eased up. By the time Emperor Cheng's imperial carriage drove through the Capital gate, it began to rain and the wind direction reversed. All the crops that had fallen over straightened up. It was still a bumper harvest year. This period of time is considered to be the inception of the "Mandate of Heaven" doctrine. Under that mandate, the easing of inclement weather is seen as blessings from heaven.
According to Han Shu (one of the imperial biographies; the biography of Emperor Wudi, also called Emperor Wu, of the Han Dynasty; 140-87 B.C.), Dong Zhong Shu, a famous Confucianist and philosopher of the Han Dynasty, once said: "I did a careful study of "The Spring and Autumn Annals," and thought deeply about what had occurred (referring to the political intrigue). Dong Zhong Shu (195-115 B.C.) was a religious theorist who was largely responsible for establishing Confucianism as the theoretical foundation of the imperial state during the Han dynasty. It is recorded that, in Dong Zhong Shu's eyes, the realms of Heaven and Man are inseparably connected to each other. Man is only a reflection of Heaven, and Heaven is incorporated and transformed in the human world. In short, Dong Zhong Shu found that remarkable relationships between humans and gods exist. Gods are the ultimate judges of man's conduct. If gods find moral decline in a nation, they will give warnings and judgements through "natural" disasters. If the nation does not heed the warnings, gods will use ever-stronger means to awaken their consciences. If the nation does not awaken from their folly, there would be measures that would lead to the nation's downfall and eventual collapse. This clearly shows that gods are compassionate and want human "kings" to mend their ways. As long as an emperor is not beyond redemption, gods will do all in their power to save the emperor, the government and the nation. Everything will turn to the better if one gives one's best. Increasing his knowledge will broaden the view of the emperor and give him wisdom. Following the gods' principles firmly, i.e., the Tao, morality will be raised and success will be in sight. Such efforts will turn a decaying nation back in the right direction to continue its destiny." In other words, Dong Zhong Shu studied the relationship between humans and gods from past history. He understood that natural disasters were warning signs from heaven that the nation's government had moved away from the Tao. If the government didn't heed the warnings and ignored the gods' rebukes, stronger warnings would be given in hopes of awakening the collective conscience of human society. If the warnings were ignored, calamities would follow. Such patterns are the ways in which gods show their compassion to governments and humans.
In ancient China, natural disasters occurred to awaken human consciences and given the degree of warning from Gods, the message was clearly defined by degrees of severity – first a forewarning, followed by a more serious warning, then mayhem and destruction. When people's moral standards were high and they respected the gods, gods' warnings were heeded. King Cheng understood the god's warning, looked inward and put right the wrongs. He welcomed Duke Zhou back. Thus, a wise emperor governed the nation and the people enjoyed prosperity and stability.
Some people may argue that the gods are supposedly compassionate. But if so, why will the gods use natural disasters to cause human misery? In fact, kindness and cruelty are often distorted by humans' own selfishness. If we view a country or even the human realm as one body, and reflect on the past and future at the same time, we will have new insight with respect to the gods' compassion. An understanding father will compassionately look at the child's mistake, but consider how it would affect the child in the long run instead of indulging the child for the short term. Dong Zhong Shu was concerned about society's morality. He was concerned about everyone, from ordinary people to the Emperor, as well as the entire country's stability and continued development. He saw the compassion of the gods in the great philosopher Confucius' words, "Harmony exists between gods and human beings."
Because of the gods' compassion and mercy, warnings of natural disasters have become a constant in the human world, and have constantly increased since the ancient times. Today's people are losing more and more the ability to recognize the gods' warnings and disapproval given through disasters. Yet, these warnings will continue even though people are unable to understand the message. Given today's tendency to judge everything through the eyes of modern science, atheism is becoming the norm. Particularly in Mainland China, people are constantly exposed to brainwashing, surrounded by atheism and violent communist theory. The Tao and morals have become stepchildren of society, and there are few who still respect the gods. Nobody, then, has the heart to perceive the gods' compassion and mercy.
Warnings of natural disasters have not ceased to exist. It is humans' misfortune that they are unable to recognize the warnings. Yet, if humans can let go of human notions, become calm and patient, they will find it easy to recognize hints from the gods. In particular today, human history is again in the making, with everything reinventing itself. The warnings, made known through natural disasters, have become more frequent and obvious.
In July of 1999, darkness covered China when evil forces in the Chinese government, lead by Jiang Zemin, started the brutal persecution against Falun Dafa and its millions of practitioners who believe in "Truthfulness, Compassion and Forbearance." As of today, at least 505 Falun Gong practitioners who have been killed. The persecution is ongoing throughout China, including more than 30 provinces, self-governed regions and directly controlled cities. Given internal Chinese government statistics, as of October 2001, the number of Falun Gong practitioners who died after being arrested reached 1,600. At least 6,000 Falun Gong practitioners were arrested illegally and more than 100,000 have been sent to labour camps. Several thousand practitioners are confined in psychiatric hospitals and given dreadful medications that cause damage to the central nervous system. Many Falun Gong practitioners are being sent to "brainwashing classes" everywhere, suffering mental abuse. Many practitioners are being beaten, tortured, and fined by so-called "law enforcement" officials. Under China's state sanctioned terrorism perpetrated by Jiang Zemin, hundreds were beaten to death and hundreds of thousands have been seriously injured. Since the persecution started, many families were torn apart and have become destitute. Many husbands and wives were forced to separate and children were left with no one to take care of them. Many people became homeless and forced to be on the move constantly to avoid persecution. Millions of Falun Gong practitioners' family members and relatives and friends were affected and brainwashed. I have kept records in a little book of some of the natural disasters that occurred in China since July of 1999. I also recorded, for comparison's sake, disasters that happened in other countries. I have noticed that natural disasters have become more frequent and severe in China. China has been plagued with many natural or man-made disasters, such as sand storms, rainstorms, arid whether, extremely high or low temperatures and plagues of locusts. These disasters have been quite severe and they have had devastating effects. We should ask ourselves: were or are these tragedies unavoidable? We only can note that these natural disasters are unmistakable warning signals to human beings. These warnings have never been as obvious throughout history. If we become more humble, show greater respect to the gods, live by the universe's principles and heed the gods' merciful warnings, many of these tragedies can be prevented. Persecution of Falun Dafa and its millions of practitioners is immoral and gods will not tolerate it. We sincerely hope that all kinds of people in the world will learn from Emperor Zhou Cheng and recognize the warning from the gods. Please act now and stop the persecution of Falun Dafa, as it is against the universes' principles.
Translated from: http://www.zhengjian.org/zj/articles/2002/9/24/18641.html
