Where is Happiness?

On a dark evening, an old woman was searching for something
in the front yard of her house. Her grandson asked her:
“Grandma, what are you searching for?”

The old woman replied, “I have lost a needle. I am searching
for it.” “Where did you lose it grandma?”, asked the child.
“In the kitchen”, answered the old woman. The puzzled
grandson continued, “Why do you search for it here when
you have lost it in the kitchen ?”
The grandma scolded the little boy, “You are an idiot. There
is no light in the kitchen. It is easy to search outside the house,
as it is bright here.”
Like the old woman, we too search for lost happiness in the
outer world of glitter.

If you ask a child, “Where do you experience happiness?”, it
will touch its heart and say “here.” But we, grown ups, fail to
recognize the happiness within us.

The old woman did not search for the needle inside the
kitchen, because there was no light there. Similarly, those who
do not have the light of jnâna, search for lost happiness in
the outer world of home, wife, children, money, power and
fame.

A father had hidden a treasure in the garden. Even though
the son walked across the garden every day, he did not know
about the buried treasure. When a friend of his father showed
him the treasure, the son took it and led a happy life.

God, the compassionate father has hidden the treasure of
happiness in the garden of our hearts. Yet we lead a life of
misery. When a Guru reveals to us the happiness within us,
all our conflicts end and we attain peace.