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Introduction: The Paradox of Absence Modern artificial intelligence, particularly large language models (LLMs), performs linguistic operations with astonishing fluency. These systems, however, lack an essential feature traditionally associated with intelligence: enduring memory. Unlike human agents, they do not store autobiographical data or accumulate opinions. They generate responses in isolation, confronting each prompt without personal history. Paradoxically, this absence has philosophical resonance with certain non-Western traditions that emphasize the now over continuity. In Zen Buddhism, for instance, the notion of improvement is decoupled from accumulation. The practice does not seek progress through memory, but through heightened immediacy. The rejection of self-attachment and cognitive sediment finds further articulation in the writings of Jiddu Krishnamurti, who urged individuals to meet each moment without the residue of past conclusions. When asked his view on Gandhi, ...