MUJO 無常 – The Impermanence of Everything

Everything changes – nothing stays the same.

In Zen, this truth is called “MUJO 無常 “

From falling cherry blossoms to the shifting seasons, impermanence is not sadness – it’s the beauty of life itself.

In Japanese, MUJŌ (無常) literally means “nothing stays the same.”
It’s one of the central ideas in Buddhism and Zen —
everything in this world is temporary, constantly changing, and never fixed.
But instead of sadness, Zen sees this truth as freedom.
When we accept change, we stop clinging — and begin to live.

You can feel MUJŌ everywhere in Japan:
in the cherry blossoms that bloom and fall within days,
in the shifting seasons that color the landscape anew,
even in the tea ceremony that values each meeting as once in a lifetime (ichigo ichie).
Each moment exists only once — and that’s what makes it precious.

The modern world often seeks stability, but Zen reminds us:
peace is not found in holding on — it’s found in letting go.
When we accept impermanence, every moment becomes alive,
every goodbye turns into gratitude.

MUJŌ is not about loss — it’s about awareness.
To see change is to see life itself.

Just like the cherry blossoms,
beauty exists because it doesn’t last forever.