A very rich man once wanted to become happy.

A very rich man once wanted to become happy. He had tried all kinds of ways but everything had failed. He went to many saints; nobody could help him. Then somebody suggested: 'You go to Mulla Nasruddin. He lives in a certain town - he is the only man who can be of some help to you.' 
  The man went with a bag full of diamonds, and he showed the bag to Mulla Nasruddin who was sitting underneath a tree outside the town, resting under the sun. And he said: 'I am a very miserable man - I want happiness. I am ready to give anything for it, but I have not tasted even once what happiness is - and death is coming closer. Can you help me? How can I be happy? I have all kinds of things that the world can give to me, yet I am unhappy. Why?' 
  Mulla looked at the man, and it happened so fast that the rich man could not understand what was happening. He just jumped on the man, took away the bag, and ran. 
  Of course the man followed, crying, shouting: 'I have been cheated, robbed!'
  Mulla knew all the streets of the town, so he was going zigzag, this way and that. And the rich man had never run in his life, and he was crying and tears were flowing down, and he said: 'I have been robbed absolutely - that was my whole life's earnings. Save me, people! Help me!' 
  And a crowd followed. And by the time they reached Mulla, the Mulla had come back to the place where the rich man had found him. The rich man's horse was still standing there, Mulla was sitting under the tree. The rich man was crying, breathing hard. And Mulla gave the bag back to him. 
  The rich man said: 'Thank God!' And such tears of joy, and such peace.
  Mulla said: 'Look, I have made you happy. Now you know what happiness is? This bag has been with you for years and you were unhappy. It had to be taken away from you.'

Happiness is part of unhappiness. That's why happiness should not be the goal of your life, because if you want happiness you will have to remain unhappy. The unhappier you are, then only a few moments, few and far between, will be those of happiness. 
  The goal is not happiness, the goal is bliss. Don't ask me: 'What is happiness?' because that shows you are searching for happiness. If you have come here in search of happiness, you have come to the wrong place. Go to Mulla Nasruddin. 
  My effort here is to create bliss, not happiness. Happiness is worthless: it depends on unhappiness. Bliss is transcendence: one moves beyond the duality of being happy and unhappy. One watches both - happiness comes, one watches and does not become identified with it. One does not say: 'I am happy. Peace - it is wonderful.' One simply watches, one says: 'Yes, a white cloud passing.' 
  And then comes unhappiness, and one does not become unhappy either. One says: 'A black cloud passing - I am the witness, the watcher.'

This is what meditation is all about - just becoming a watcher. Failure comes, success comes, you are praised, you are condemned, you are respected, you are insulted - all kinds of things come, they are all dualities. And you go on watching. Watching the duality, a third force arises in you, a third dimension arises in you. The duality means two dimensions - one dimension is happiness, another is unhappiness. Watching both, a depth arises in you - the third dimension, witnessing, SAKSHI. 
  And that third dimension brings bliss. Bliss is without any opposite to it. It is serene, tranquil, cool. It is ecstasy without any excitement.

India my Love, Chapter 5, The Fragrance of the East
original published in Philosophia Perennis, vol. 1, # 9