How to Read “No home in the three worlds”
Sangai ni ie nashi
Meaning of “No home in the three worlds”
“No home in the three worlds” means there is no place in this world where we can settle permanently. Life is constantly changing and impermanent.
No matter how stable a life you build, no matter how comfortable your environment becomes, it will not last forever. This proverb expresses a fundamental truth about life.
People use this saying when they experience life’s transience. It applies when a smooth-sailing life suddenly changes, or when you face situations where stability remains out of reach.
These are moments when we recognize life’s uncertainty.
Even today, this phrase captures something essential about life. The collapse of lifetime employment and unpredictable social changes help us feel the weight of these words anew.
Origin and Etymology
The phrase “No home in the three worlds” comes from Buddhist cosmology. The “three worlds” is a Buddhist term referring to three realms: the desire realm, the form realm, and the formless realm.
The desire realm is our world filled with worldly desires. The form realm has physical form but is free from desire. The formless realm is a spiritual world without even physical form.
Buddhism teaches that all three worlds are realms of delusion. None of them offers true peace.
This proverb also exists in the form “women have no home in the three worlds.” This version was used to mean that women have no place of their own throughout life.
As children they obey parents, as wives they obey husbands, and in old age they obey children. However, the original “No home in the three worlds” expresses Buddhist impermanence that applies to all humans, regardless of gender.
Nowhere in this world can we settle permanently. Everything passes away. This proverb expresses this essential truth about life by borrowing from Buddhist cosmology.
Interesting Facts
The Buddhist concept of “three worlds” is not just a spatial division. It represents levels of human consciousness and attachment.
The desire realm is the stage dominated by sensory desires. The form realm is the stage where desire is left behind but attachment to material things remains.
The formless realm is the stage where material attachment is transcended but spiritual attachment remains. In other words, complete freedom exists at no stage. This contains a profound insight.
This proverb appears in Edo period literature. It was widely known even then as an expression of life’s impermanence.
Both samurai and townspeople accepted it as a universal view of life that resonated across social classes.
Usage Examples
- After leaving the company I worked at until retirement, I truly understand the saying “No home in the three worlds”
- Nothing we build lasts forever, so we have no choice but to live with the mindset of “No home in the three worlds”
Universal Wisdom
The proverb “No home in the three worlds” has been passed down for hundreds of years. This is because humans instinctively seek stability and permanence.
Deep down, we all desire unchanging places, unshakable positions, and relationships that last forever. We build homes, establish status, and deepen bonds all to gain the reassurance that “this is where I belong.”
But our ancestors realized something important. Even the most solid-looking castle, the most certain-seeming position, and the deepest bonds are fragile before the flow of time.
Children leave the nest, organizations change, bodies decline, and eventually everything passes away.
This truth may sound cruel. But this proverb does not preach despair. Rather, it teaches the futility of clinging to the pursuit of eternal settlement.
It suggests the importance of flexibility in accepting change.
Because there is no place to settle permanently, we cherish this present moment. Because nothing is eternal, we face the people and things before us sincerely.
This wisdom for living is embedded in these words.
When AI Hears This
The second law of thermodynamics shows that entropy, or disorder, continues to increase everywhere in the universe. For example, ice melts when left alone, buildings weather, and biological bodies decompose after death.
No matter how perfect an order you create, you must continuously inject energy from outside to maintain it.
What is surprising here is that the Buddhist teaching “No home in the three worlds” has exactly the same structure as this physical law.
The word “home” does not mean just a building. It means a stable state or an unchanging place to belong.
But thermodynamics teaches that essentially stable states do not exist in the universe. All structures are merely temporary low-entropy states that inevitably collapse with the flow of time.
Humans instinctively seek permanence. But from the perspective of physical laws, this desire itself contradicts the basic principles of the universe.
The 37 trillion cells that make up our bodies constantly consume energy to maintain order. Yet aging is unavoidable. This is not a matter of individual effort but a fundamental law of the universe.
Ancient religious teachers reached this truth through observation and meditation alone, without experimental equipment or mathematical formulas. Modern science has proven that their intuition was correct.
Lessons for Today
What this proverb teaches us today is the courage to let go of attachment. If you assume your current company, position, or relationships will last forever, you will suffer greatly when change comes.
But if you understand from the start that “everything passes,” you can accept change without fear. You might even see it as a new possibility.
This does not mean you should not cherish anything. Actually, it is the opposite. Because nothing is eternal, we cherish relationships and experiences in this present moment.
Because an end will come someday, we live today to the fullest. This attitude is the most valuable lesson we can learn from this proverb.
Seeking a stable place to belong is a natural human desire. But at the same time, we must accept the reality that no place is an eternal home.
Living flexibly while balancing both of these truths—that is the message this ancient wisdom of “No home in the three worlds” offers to those of us living today.
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