(Clearwisdom.net) Master told us in Teaching the Fa in San Francisco, 2005: "It is Dafa disciples, not ordinary people, that Master is protecting amidst the persecution", and "it is Dafa disciples that I am bringing salvation to today, and I can't go and groundlessly protect an ordinary person."
Some particular suffering that fellow practitioners have encountered may be caused by their notions that they are not consciously aware of. Thus, it is important to elevate ourselves from the boundaries that are set by such notions to reach the state that Dafa disciples should be at. This is a key to denying the persecution and doing the three things well.
In my opinion, some disciples appear to be cultivating and doing the three things, but their hearts are full of secular thoughts. That is to say, some disciples have not eliminated their attachments rooted deeply in their hearts and have not changed their human mindsets that have existed for thousands of years. For example, some practitioners only focused on improving their health and then became disappointed and doubtful about Dafa when they could not have it. Some turned to Dafa cultivation because they had been defeated in the secular world, thus they may leave Dafa once they become successful. Some have gained fame and good reputation due to the high moral levels that they have obtained through cultivating Dafa, and they are proud of themselves and want to stay in ordinary society to enjoy their fame. Others wanted to escape from life of hardships to the joy of cultivation, and they may stop cultivating once they start to have a happy life. All these attachments may not be obvious or may be hidden deeply. Although practitioners with these kind of attachments have been given time again and again to improve, they have not realized the problems yet. However, gods can see practitioners' hearts clearly: these people are among Dafa disciples, yet their hearts are not in Dafa, and they are still ordinary people.
In order to get rid of these deeply rooted attachments, I think that we need to rectify our purpose of cultivating Dafa. We should be assimilating to Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance and achieving selflessness at the highest level. There should not be other purposes.
Some practitioners may be also carrying other attachments and mired in human thinking. Thus, evil forces may use that as an excuse to persecute them.
Practitioners, especially those whose celestial eyes are not open and can't see other dimensions, could easily treat themselves as ordinary people without any divine powers or forget to ask Master for protection if they do not understand that they are cultivating the universe's law and do not understand the true meaning of being a Dafa disciple. They can thus become vulnerable in the face of persecution.
Another significant attachment that practitioners have not gotten rid of over a long time include lust, seeking personal gain, competition, and emotion. These attachments are usually reflected in behaviors that are not worthy of Dafa disciples, and even lead to bad deeds.
Thus, we must study the Fa more to locate the attachments that cause our behaviors that are not in line with the Fa. We must eliminate them and elevate ourselves, and return to cultivation from the bottom of our hearts so that we do not disappoint Master and righteous gods. We should use our divine power to stop the persecution and do the three things well.
The above is my personal understanding, please point out anything not in line with the Fa.
