As the Buddha explained these things, physical and emotional feelings (vedana) correspond or attach to an object. For example, the sensation of hearing is created when a sense organ (ear) comes in contact with a sense object (sound). Similarly, ordinary happiness is a feeling that has an object -- for example, a happy event, winning a prize, or wearing pretty new shoes.
The problem with ordinary happiness is that it never lasts, because the objects of happiness don't last. A happy event is soon followed by a sad one, and shoes wear out. Unfortunately, most of us go through life looking for things to "make us happy." But our happy "fix" is never permanent, so we keep looking.
The happiness that is a factor of enlightenment is not dependent on objects, but is a state of mind cultivated through mental discipline. Because it is not dependent on an impermanent object, it does not come and go. A person who has cultivated piti still feels the effects of transitory emotions -- happiness or sadness -- but appreciates their impermanence and essential unreality. He or she is not perpetually grasping for wanted things while avoiding unwanted things
Source from http://buddhism.about.com
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