with a few meditation tools under your belt you could save a whole bunch of money because you wouldn't need your beer anymore. However, I would at this point have to complete the story, because this is only a part of it. Without the use of drugs, the meditation experience is by far much deeper. To reach a deep state of meditation requires going through the channels of the self. It requires passing through the sensations of pain, anguish and desperation. To ignore these sensations would not take you to the vital interior of your being. To have successfully passed through them, in a conscious meditative practice between you and God, is the sweetest victory and sensation I have ever known. But it's not just the pain that one has to pass through. It is also that we must be in a state of complete perception. To feel
the air, to hear the sounds around us, to know and sense what is about to unfold, is all a part of meditation. Drugs of any form not only alter but also dampen our senses. It's like walking around with a pillowcase over your head—sleepy to the reality of life. Sure, who needs reality anyway, right? That is certainly an approach that is quite tempting to take. However, I am with the Buddha on this one. Take me in, let me go through the pain, in my own real self way, so that I can be the kind and beautiful person that I am, and live a life not only of no regrets, but one of service, love and joy. Yes, joy! Because that is by far my favourite sensation of a drug-free meditation.