We may look for happiness in wealth, power, love or success or in friendship. But finding happiness may mean going no further than our own self. Yes, happiness is within us.Here is a story which can further elicit us not to look for happiness elsewhere. A story that reinforces happiness is always with us and that our interaction with others play a large role. From www.indiatimes.com

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Look within for more happiness

Martin Buber, the great Austrian-Jewish philosopher, used to tell the story of Rabbi Eizik, son of Rabbi Yekel of Cracow. The Rabbi, who never lost his faith in God despite suffering many years of grinding penury, once had a dream about a treasure concealed beneath a bridge in Prague near the royal palace.

When the dream repeated itself three times, the Rabbi set out for Prague. There he found the bridge being guarded day and night. Not daring to start digging, he nevertheless went to the bridge every morning and walked around it till evening. Finally, the captain of the guard, who had been watching the saintly visitor, asked in a kindly way whether he was missing something or looking for someone.

The guileless Rabbi told the captain of the dream that had brought him to the capital from a far-off city. At this, the captain had a hearty laugh: “So you wore out your shoes for that dream? I too had one which told me to go to Cracow and dig for treasure under the stove in the room of a Jew - Eizik, son of Yekel,” he said merrily. “Can you imagine what a task it would be like? I would have to try every house in the city where one half of the Jews are named Eizik and the other Yekel!” And he chuckled again. Rabbi Eizik bowed, and went home to dig up the treasure from right under his own stove. Then he built a house of prayer which was called “Reb Eizik Reb Yekel’s Shul”.

The moral of the story, also found in other cultures and versions, is that there’s something precious that one may not find anywhere in the world, not even in the richest bazaar. There is, however, one place where one may find it - that is in the core of one’s being. That’s where the greatest of jewels, you may call it fulfilment of existence, hides. The great axioms (Maha-Vakya) of the Indian tradition echo a similar sentiment: Bliss (satchitananda) is wherever you are. For you are truly that (Tat tvam asi).

In recent years positive psychologists have veered around to a similar insight - a lot of people who want happiness simply look in the wrong places. Some psychotherapists refer to the syndrome as the ‘tyranny of when’ because many believe that they’ll be happy when they have more money, have more things, when they are more successful and so on. Of course, there’s nothing wrong in pursuing material success. But don’t stake your happiness on it. The things that lead to more happiness are within yourself and in your interactions with others.