Sometimes the most direct route to happiness

is simply not to care.

It is not possible to live a carefree existence

and care at the same time.

If you are concerned about something

the first question to ask is *Why should I care?*

Then if you still care at least you will know why.

"Nothings good or bad but thinking makes it so."

Nothings cared for if not thought of.

Whether I am or Am not I thought so.

Thats all I've been thinking of.

Quote: "Not caring is cause of all pain. "
.........

Im not saying we shoudnt care about anything,

certainly there are things that register on our scale,

whatever our individual scale may be,

but we dont have to care about everything.

The other night a deer crossed the road in front of me, a ways ahead so I didnt slow down.  Then as I got up to where she was her little fawn ran right out in front of me.

Of course I cared about that and hit the brakes hard and fast.  It would have bothered me considerably to have hurt the little fawn.

This is also my favorite quote by Descarte:

*Nothing is either good or bad except that thinking makes it so.*

"
.........

Descartes was only about 4 years old when Hamlet was written, so it's doubtful that Shakespeare heard it from him. ;-)

Ohhhhh !!  So, twas the Bard what said it, eh.

I stand corrected, thank you.

I don't think it is a case of 'not caring' as such.  A part of Realisation is seeing everything has the same root/source and therefore appearances begin to drop away.  Subsequently, you are naturally less bothered by things.  You are less affected by appearances and less bothered by what happens around you.

Your state of happiness and peace is something not external to you yet is often shaken by other people, attachments, desires, repulsion and so on.  This is because the roots of your practice (not yours specifically) are not deep.

This doesn't mean that you have no interest at all in a world events.  As Shayne elluded to, if a person was beating your kids would you not care?  This is an extreme example though.  Maybe if your kids didn't do as well at school as you'd hoped you wouldn't be on their backs quite as much and so on...

If a Buddha is unaffected by all appearances and not bothered by 'things' how is this reconciled with compassion?

I was at a friends house and watched as his cat brought in a mouse, played with it, and then ate it.  I did nothing to interfere.  I just watched. 

Of course I wanted to help the mouse.  But I chose instead simply to be a witness.

Quote: "dust balls are in the halls of caring less than "clean to be", to what has been, to have become, one light is all, as now is then. "
.........

Yes I know that light, inside out, within and without.

It is quite marvelous, to say the least, since no superlatives will suffice.

That was the first time I experienced the love of the Spirit.  But in later visions I have found myself immersed in that same love in total darkness, and other forms.  So that Light that you speak of is to me like remembering her in her wedding dress. 

Dont take that as having any impact on your own relationship with the Spirit.  It is like the Sun and we its rays.  We all have our own unique relationship with It, just as there is nothing in between the Sun and its billions upon billions of rays.

What a great site this is!  Some wonderful wisdom in this e-sangha!

Cheers Brothers lol!