Get your emotions under control and your life under control. Work really hard and don't make a big deal out of yourself. Have humility. Believe in yourself. Don't get a fanatical fixation on a teacher.

I entered a spiritual community when I was 20, which I was in for 11 year, with very strict meditative practices, with an Eastern teacher. It was very much like a religious order.

Of course, there are the old hardcore teacher types like me who sit around and tell jokes, realizing, what's the difference anyway - it's all timeless.

OK, you're alive. How aware are you, of anything? Can you see eternity? Do you live in the land of the perpetually happy?

Some people get tired of continual perception of the finite universe. They feel the perception of the universe over and over in variant forms is kind of an unhappy condition, because it doesn't last.

Happiness does not mean that everything works out. Usually nothing works out, but you get a kick out of it anyway.

Spend time all day and all night monitoring your thoughts, constantly keeping them in a high plateau. Avoid places and people that pull your energy down.