Power doesn't make you happy. Actually, power without knowledge and balance is problematic. Power is something that will automatically follow when you have knowledge. The two are really the same, in a certain sense.

Be mindful, which is more of a passive meditation practice. It is passive when you are active. Then there is active meditation, when you are passive, sitting still.

Learn to overcome the imprinting that you now have and gain a new and higher imprinting that will lead you into the luminous spheres of awareness.

There is always going to be pain. There is always going to be pleasure. But what is not always going to be there is balance, happiness. That is a personal decision.

When your mind is flooded with the pure light of nirvana, which is happiness itself, you will be delighted with whatever occurs to you.

Nature is our friend - trees, squirrels, grass, fields, meadows, oceans - without people. Hike. Walk. Stroll. Bike. Swim. Be in a still place and feel eternity. Have a great time. Just feel it.

My feeling is that drugs and alcohol take away from the pure experience of meditation. That does not mean that occasionally, a person couldn't have a glass of wine or a drink.