house They said that everyone is born with this boundless happiness People just have to discover it Happiness is every person’s essence—human beings’ most fundamental true nature While asserting that most people try to ‘attain’ happiness in the outside material world, and enduring happiness lies hidden within every human being, the sadhus said that people ought to ‘discover’ happiness to become free from all suffering An enlightened bard once sang, O you foolish musk deer, you sought for the fragrance everywhere but in your own body That is why you did not find it If you only had touched your nostrils to your own navel, you would have found the cherished musk and would have saved yourself from suicide on the rocks below (Yogananda, 1956, p 50) In his article—Where is Happiness? that appeared in his book, Integral Yoga Today—Swami Jyotirmayananda tried to express, what is it like to ‘discover’ happiness, when he wrote, In science, when Archimedes discovered the law of buoyancy, he got up from his bathtub and shouted, “Eureka, Eureka! I found it! I found it!” Whenever you discover something hidden, it is a thrilling experience When a sage of the Upanishads discovered the bliss of the heart [pure happiness], he uttered in ecstasy, “Haavu, haavu, haavu; ahamannam, ahamannam, ahamannam” — “What a wonder, what a wonder, what a wonder! I am this material world I am the matter, and I am the eater of matter I am the spirit that feeds on the matter My glory lies on the mountaintop, beyond all human imaginations” (Jyotirmayananda, 1983, p 9) Therefore, the sadhus emphasized that immense happiness is available for recognition in everybody’s mind, but people have to discover it within I note here that according to the sadhus, happiness is not a personal quality, property of mind, an individual trait, or an emotional state of mind, or even thoughts However, happiness is available for recognition in everyone’s mind, but happiness is 171