Going On reduces existence to process: “time moves / as it does,” “lights change / sounds pass,” then the chorus removes the supposed center—“going on / no center / going on / no holder.” This is close to dependent arising, paṭicca-samuppāda. Buddhism does not need a permanent entity to explain continuity. Events condition later events: contact conditions feeling, craving can condition clinging, clinging can condition further becoming. A process can continue precisely because conditions continue, not because a hidden owner is being carried through it.
That is also why “nothing starts” should not be read as saying that nothing arises. The more precise reading is that no independent first mover can be found inside the flow. Day follows conditions, night follows conditions, breath comes and leaves. The song makes the point almost mechanically: “breath comes / breath leaves / no command / no need.”
For an arahant, dependent arising is no longer converted into a personal autobiography. The body and mind still display continuity; memory still connects moments; consequences still matter. But “going on” no longer proves that there is a permanent someone going on. When craving and clinging cease, the chain is no longer fed in the same way. The result is not frozen stillness. It is conditioned life continuing without a center that says, “This process is me, this motion belongs to me, this must become something for me.”