In plain words
That is not what we should be wishing for. We must experience Ānanda inwardly. Age has nothing to do with it. You see many little children. A little child’s heart is very pure. He has no worries of any kind. If the person in front of him laughs, he laughs too. That is, the Ānanda in everyone is his own! If the person before him is happy, he is happy too. That Ānanda is something that comes from his heart. If you keep your heart pure, you too will be full of Ānanda. Everything in this world is bound to change! We must not make such changing things our support. We must make the changeless God our support. If you think there is no Ānanda even in God, that is your own delusion! God is the very form of Ānanda. With God within you, there is no room for sorrow to come and settle in you. If you grieve, it is something you have brought on yourselves! For example, here is a white cloth. Whatever colour you dip it in, it takes that colour. In the same way, Ānanda is your true nature. If you are experiencing sorrow, it means you are dipping yourselves in sorrow.
It is your desires that keep you far from Ānanda
Some people: ‘Swami! Happy birthday!’ they say. Is there some special happiness in a birthday? This ‘happiness’ is only a borrowed word; it is not the real thing. I am always full of Ānanda. Ānanda is our true nature. But you do not look at your own true nature, and you are deluded into taking a physical joy you have artificially made up for real Ānanda. Think of God; then you can be full of Ānanda in every way, in body, in mind and in your worldly life. It is your crazy desires that keep you far from Ānanda. Put these crazy desires away from you. (Showing a handkerchief…) Whiteness is its nature. But with use it turns a little dark. In the same way, your heart is pure by nature. But you are soiling it with desires.