Siddhartha Gautama
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If one day you suddenly understand the words #Shakyamuni (Siddhartha Gautama) Buddha left before his passing,
you might remain silent for a long time.
Because when he left, he didn't talk about supernatural powers,
he didn't talk about the afterlife,
he didn't incite people to worship him.
He simply calmly told the world:
"Everything in this world will vanish."
—These words, like a knife,
later pierced the later lives of countless people.
The people you desperately try to hold onto will leave.
The money you desperately try to grasp will slip away.
The feelings you thought would never change will change.
The body you thought would stay forever will age.
Even your pain today will fade tomorrow.
It turns out that the greatest pain in life is
never being lost,
but always thinking we won't lose.
Before Shakyamuni Buddha's passing, all his disciples wept.
Some collapsed to their knees,
some couldn't accept the Buddha's departure,
some even felt the sky had fallen.
But Shakyamuni Buddha didn't comfort them.
He simply said slowly:
"Don't rely on anyone; be your own light."
Many people don't understand this when they're young.
They always feel that
life only has meaning if someone loves them;
the nights won't be lonely if someone is with them;
they dare to face the world only if someone supports them.
But later you'll find:
Parents will grow old.
Lovers will change.
Friends will drift apart.
Children will grow up and leave.
In this world, no one can accompany you for the entire journey.
In the end, the only one who can truly save you is
your own clear-headed heart.
Buddha also said:
"The lazy person is like a dead person."
This statement is particularly harsh.
Because the most terrifying thing for a person is
not poverty,
not failure,
but living a life devoid of soul.
Repeating a numb existence every day,
complaining,
anxious inside,
yet unwilling to change.
Many people don't lose to fate,
but to "waiting for later."
Waiting to be happy when they have money.
Waiting to spend time with family when they're less busy. Wait until things are stable before dreaming.
Wait until your emotions are better before living life seriously.
But the Buddha already told all beings:
Life is impermanent.
No one knows whether tomorrow or an accident will come first.
Therefore, truly capable people are not those who possess a lot,
but those who live consciously.
The Buddha's last words before his passing were actually very simple:
Don't be attached.
Don't be greedy.
Don't be immersed in illusions.
Learn to see through things, learn to let go, learn to cherish the present.
Because one day you will understand:
No matter how big the house, you can only sleep in three feet.
No matter how expensive the car, it's just a means of transportation.
No matter how high your fame, it can't escape birth, old age, sickness, and death.
In this life, what is truly important is:
Having a healthy body;
Having a peaceful heart;
The ability to love others;
And the ability to be alone.
When the Buddha left this world,
there was no earth-shattering event.
He simply lay quietly between two Sal trees.
More than two thousand years later, after countless people have lived half their lives, endured hardship, suffered wounds, and witnessed the coldness and warmth of human relationships, they finally understand:
What Buddha taught was never a religion,
but life itself.
In the end, what matters is not wealth,
not winning or losing,
but whether one has inner peace.
When you no longer cling to whether others love you,
no longer fear loss,
no longer overdraw your spirit for vanity,
no longer lose sleep over small gains or losses,
you begin to approach true freedom.
Perhaps the most profound words Shakyamuni left to the world are:
"All things in the world are in flux; only the awakened can awaken from suffering."
May you, in the future,
take gains and losses lightly,
let go of grudges,
allow regrets,
accept separation.
Then eat earnestly, sleep earnestly, live earnestly.
Because this life,
is, in truth, not a future.
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