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Gautama Buddha (aka Siddhārtha Gautama (or simply “the Buddha”), was an Indian spiritual leader whose ideas form the basis of Buddhism. The exact details of his life are uncertain, but most scholars place the Buddha's death somewhere around 400 BCE. An account of his final days (and supposed last words) is contained in the Mahaparinibbana Sutta (sutra). They were reported to have been “Appamadena sampadetha,” translated variously as “strive diligently toward the goal,” or perhaps, “reach consummation through heedfulness.” This version, possibly apocryphal, was popularized in Mary Oliver’s 1990 poem “The Buddha’s Last Instruction.” As John Steinbeck once asserted, “A thing isn’t necessarily a lie, even if it didn’t necessarily happen.”