Don't be led by the nose by it -- Lingju (Zhenlin Disciple)

Snow walked to me looking upset. She’s a good friend of mine.
“Snow, let me hug you.” I said to her, “what made you upset? Would you like to share it with me?”
She was having her apartment decorated and that made her relations with her husband intense and herself tired. She was feeling bad.
I comforted her, “It is normal, Snow.”
Her husband was in poor health. She had to handle it all, the design, power, water, wood, paint, bricks, and don’t forget just how poorly regulated the decoration market is nowadays. Snow was so small and frail that she was hardly up to it.
I thought of the mom of a classmate’s. She was a retired teacher, and had gone through much of her life in the campus and the aged faculty apartment. She was finally able to have a new home, having spent most of her savings on it. She had little money left and therefore had to plan the decoration on a strict budget.
Nevertheless, she could never beat the decoration people on being strict in budget. The project was put on hold less than halfway finished. She was having a tougher time than Snow—could not sleep well, nor control her temper. She was fidgeted and would cry for no reason.
I had quite some experience in housing decoration. My husband was so soft that he could never deal with the tough decoration team while I was never used to haggling over price. As a result, I always spent thousands of yuan more, if not bigger, than others in housing decoration.
I get the life I want though at a greater cost. This is how I comfort myself. Isn’t it worthwhile to spend more money than to have more wrinkles? Such self-comforting does make it easier for me.
Sure, not everyone can act as I do to have less mental stress at the expense of greater financial output. Some cannot afford it financially, others mentally.
Master always tells us not to have our mind turned by the external state, but should stay in accord with conditions, and take the rough with the smooth.

Honest, we can hardly make it now as our skills of cultivation are not up to it.
There are many things that we cannot put down. We are still being controlled and influenced by the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, and the three poisons of greed, hatred, and ignorance.
As Master often reminds, mistake the “guests” as the host, and we shall feel mentally tired, as our mind is turned by the external state.
Again, Master also reminds us that the solution is that we cultivate with a singular focus, and take the Buddha nature as the host. How can the guest get the upper hand if the host remains firm and strong?
Master tells us the Buddha nature is an energy body that is neither produced nor destroyed, nor defiled or pure. It never increases or decreases. The human body is an energy body, too. As long as we keep cultivating, the Buddha nature will manifest and we will be able to put down all the secular emotions and desires, free ourselves from greed, hatred, and ignorance, and gain release from the Three Realms and five elements. We shall attain the Buddha’s state by then.
Master went into details on “contemplating at ease” and the esoteric Buddha principles it contains, with altogether 4,099 Chinese words in his commentaries on the Heart Sutra. In the final analysis, it boils down to “not to be turned by the state, and stay in accord with conditions.”
While our skills of cultivation now are such that we cannot make it not to be turned by the state, we should try out best not to be led by the nose by it.
I suggested to Snow, “Simplify the design and the decoration process, and make up for it with better-quality furniture such as curtains and sofa. Finish the project as soon as possible. Get time to cultivate the Buddha Dharma, and set your mind at peace.”
I also tipped her what I had learnt from Master: Recite the Buddha Speaks the Eight-Yang Dharani Sutra of Heaven and Earth, as it helps to improve Fengshui and can solve the challenges that people face in anything related to the house, but at the same time, cultivate with a singular focus and continue to uphold the Sutra of Longevity. Say with utmost sincerity “Master, please bestow power onto me” when in difficulties.
The second day when we met online at the Sina UC Chatroom, she asked me, “Can I just recite the mantra contained in the Sutra instead of the whole sutra text?”
She must be feeling tired. “No. You are not supposed to cut corners. You have to recite the full sutra text.” I answered, firmly.
Snow, though reluctantly, went offline away from the warm chatroom, to recite the sutra.