The article was written by Mr. Li Hongzhi, the founder of Falun Gong, and published by The Epoch Times on the eve of Chinese New Year. Falun Gong, also called Falun Dafa, is a spiritual practice made public in China in 1992, which teaches the universal principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance.
Cirigliano said she felt a fog lifted after reading the article and had a “renewed sense of compassion,” especially for the many patients she interacted with at her job.
More importantly, the article helped her identify what’s missing in her life: faith. “I really started thinking because I have been feeling like something is missing,” she shared, crediting the article for “making me turn around a little bit and look at things from a different perspective. I’m coming back to the faith.”
She said she had always felt connected to the Creator, whom she found as the “one common denominator” in different books she read. “He created this place, and we come here for a reason,” she added that she views the Earth as a college: “You come here to learn lessons. And if you don’t get it right, you have to come back again.”
She’s content that she is going to church again. “I have to come back to God because I do believe, like [written] in the article, we are approaching the end times,” she told The Epoch Times. “This is coming to an end one way or the other. And I do believe that many people are going to perish, just like he [Mr. Li] says, but I also do believe there’s always time for salvation.”
She said she wants to spend the rest of her life doing good, and the article was a “motivator” and “trigger” for that thought.
Linda Dickerson, a retired commercial lighting designer in her 70s, received similar messages from Mr. Li’s article.
“We are all trying to find our way home,” the Illinois resident told The Epoch Times, adding that people have different names for it, whether it’s called heaven or the celestial realm.
She said it was “fascinating” to think about the three realms Mr. Li described in his article and that “we are all trying to get back to where we began; we’re trying to get back to the Creator.”
Initially, reading about the end times in the article concerned her. However, she eventually realized that “you don’t have to fear the end time because the gates to heaven will be open, and those who are blessed will be welcomed in.”
It took some years for Dickerson to balance priorities in her life.
She said she was taught growing up to chase more significant achievements and never be content. Therefore, at about 40 years old, she wanted to become a national sales manager, a level up from her position as a regional manager. But as she worked hard toward it, she said she realized that always traveling and being away from her family might not be worth it.
She said that even though she doesn’t practice Falun Gong, she’s “very impressed” by it. “It’s a good way to lead your life. It gives you very positive goals to set for yourself and responsibility to yourself.”
