This article wants to be a hermeneutical reading of R. Panikkar's book, Gottesschweigen. Die Antwort des Buddha für unsere Zeit (München 1992). According to R. Panikkar, the characterization of theism as a formula based on the Christian assimilation of the concept of being, is the starting point which allows us to understand one of the phenomena most peculiar to contemporary times: atheism. One of the most significant aspects of the book is the capacity with which R. Panikkar relates the importance of apophatic and Buddhist silence to the necessity for Western nihilistic attitude. R. Panikkar's alternative to both Western theism and atheism takes into consideration not only the silence of the Buddhist tradition, but also a re-reading of the trinitarian character of the Christian God.