White Lotus Season 3, Episode 6- “Death is a happy return, like coming home”

Are you watching White Lotus? One moment really stood out to us in episode 6, and it got us thinking…

Timothy asks Luang, the chief monk of a Buddhist monastery, what he thinks happens when we die.

Luang doesn’t hesitate, he shares a simple, striking metaphor: human life is like a droplet of water that rises from the waves, only to return to the ocean at its end. “Death is a happy return, like coming home,” he says.

There’s something thought-provoking about this perspective. It frames death not as a hard stop, but as part of a natural cycle. Something inevitable, but not necessarily something to fear. While we all have our own beliefs and ways of understanding death, this exchange is a good reminder that conversations about dying don’t have to be avoided or surrounded in dread.

At the Anne Robson Trust, we often reflect on how to approach the topics of death and dying with honesty, compassion, and even a sense of peace. Through our Simple Wisdom Workshops we help people explore these conversations in a way that feels natural and open.

Is this always easy? No. But it is important. Conversations like these can make a real difference. And perhaps, in talking more openly about death, we might find a little more peace with it?

What did you think of Laung’s metaphor?