Last Words

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“No one listened to Buddha, that’s why there is Buddhism.” — J. Krishnamurti

There are so many people, particularly from strict monotheistic religions, who struggle to wrap their minds around the fundamentals of Eastern philosophy. That’s because these paths aren’t arguing about who the creator is; they’re asking, “Why do we suffer, and how do we stop?” In that light, Buddhism stands in the same broad stream as the other ancient traditions of India we group under Hinduism. Different currents, same river. It’s a practice and a philosophy aimed at freeing us from suffering and teaching us how to move through daily life in rhythm with the universe. Its goal isn’t to nail down a dogma about a creator. Its goal is to wake us up.

That’s the heartbeat of this piece.

Near the end of his life, when someone pressed the Buddha with the question “Does God exist?”, tradition says he answered with silence and a slight smile. It wasn’t evasion. It was instruction. He was pointing away from speculation and back to the urgent task he spent his life teaching: end suffering, here and now.

Earlier, when a disciple demanded answers to the big metaphysical puzzles—Is the universe eternal? Is the soul the same as the body?—the Buddha replied with the parable of the poisoned arrow. A man is shot. If he refuses treatment until he knows who shot it, what caste the archer was, what wood made the shaft, what feathers guide it—he dies with his questions intact. In the same way, fixation on ultimate origins keeps us from doing the one thing that matters: remove the arrow. In Buddhist terms, see suffering clearly (the Four Noble Truths) and walk the path that frees us (the Noble Eightfold Path).

That’s why the smile matters. It isn’t contempt; it’s triage. Our obsession with metaphysics can keep us from the work right in front of us: seeing clearly, acting compassionately, and training the mind so it doesn’t manufacture more suffering.

The mantra in the background underlines this. Aum Mani Padme Hum isn’t a passcode to a hidden deity; it’s a practice of transformation. Aum points to our impure body, speech, and mind—and the possibility of their purified, awakened form; Mani (“jewel”) stands for method: altruistic intention, compassion, and love; Padme (“lotus”) stands for wisdom, the clear seeing that understands reality, clarity that rises clean even from muddy waters; and Hum signifies the indivisibility of method and wisdom in one path. Recited with this meaning, the six syllables express a commitment to transform what we are into the Buddha’s purified body, speech, and mind. Fostering compassion and insight all in attempt to pull the arrow.

So the “last words” here are deliberately unsaid. The white bar across the mouth is the statement: enough talk, get free. Practice breath by breath. Sit. Notice the sting of craving, aversion, and delusion. Apply the antidotes you’ve been handed—ethics, attention, understanding. Tend your own wound and help others with theirs.

We don’t need a final theory to live well. We need courage to face what is, discipline to train the heart-mind, and kindness that doesn’t blink. Light the lamp. Touch the mantra. Remove the arrow.

And smile.