Live #165: Who Decided the Height of Your Gohonzon? Finding Your Best Position, Sitting and Standing

Today I want to start from a new position.

This Tuesday, our shop welcomed what I can only call a host of Bodhisattvas of the Earth — four dear friends from New Zealand. That same morning, two people came all the way from Tokyo, acting for us like the protective forces of the universe. Their visit taught me something big.

Who decided where your Gohonzon sits?

Behind me stand four Kokū Zushi, the altar I designed. The table under them used to be my computer desk. It moves up and down.

When the table moves, the Kokū Zushi moves with it. That means the height of the Gohonzon can be matched to each person’s own eye line. I also bought a new chair, and it goes up and down too. Table and chair together — and you can find the exact height that is right for you.

When you sit face to face with the Gohonzon and chant daimoku, are you in your best position? Have you ever asked yourself that?

Once an altar is set up, we tend to fit ourselves to it. But is that really how it should be? Ask who decided the position, and in the end the answer is: you did. So have you ever asked whether it is truly your best?

That one point. I believe it matters a great deal.

Because we want to chant for a long time

My altar at home is now set up Kokū Zushi style. Sitting in the traditional kneeling position, I have one best position. But after about 5,000 repetitions, my legs would start to ache or go numb.

Sitting perfectly still, calm and unshaken, may look impressive. In truth, the body is stiffening. Sometimes we need to loosen up. Three, five, ten minutes — fine. But the longer we go, the harder the posture itself becomes. What was fine years ago may be hard now.

When my legs ache, I rise onto one knee. That changes my eye level by 20 to 30 centimeters. Back before I reached 10,000 repetitions, I was not good at sitting still, and sometimes I simply stood up and kept chanting.

So this rising-and-lowering table is good news.

A live demonstration

The table is electric. The chair adjusts with a lever. If your feet are dangling, you cannot chant properly — so first I lower the chair until my feet are on the floor.

Then I set the table: 80 cm. On top, a Kokū Zushi of about 70 cm. For the mounting of the scroll, I like a warm tone.

This is my best position. From here, 10,000 repetitions come easily. I can take a break, drink some water, come back, and carry right on.

Morning, noon and night, your best position changes

Have you heard the advice about buying shoes? In the morning, after lying down all night, blood is spread through the whole body, so shoes bought in the morning tend to be a little small. By evening, blood settles in the feet and they swell. So it is better to buy shoes later in the day.

Our bodies work the same way in front of the altar. As we sit — kneeling or in a chair — blood slowly settles downward. A straight back begins to lean forward and round. Our eye line drops. A moment ago my best was 86 cm. Now it is about 82 cm.

What matters is your own best position, and it changes from moment to moment. Your eyes change too. If it is too dark to see, add light.

When I straighten up, something clicks — All right! — and my spirit lifts. In the middle of all this change, I create the best of myself. The heart of it is this: with the Gohonzon as the trigger, to picture my own life rising from the world of Hell, to the Bodhisattvas of the Earth, and on to Buddhahood.

Daily life brings all sorts of things. With every experience, past and present, I keep saying: Let’s improve. In other words, let’s grow. And if I see a dead end, I decide I will break through it, no matter what. To chant with that strong determination, and to raise that resolve to its peak — that is what this position, and the Kokū Zushi I designed, are for.

It is like standing at the starting line for creating your own value. You can experience that best position — the one you launch from — right here in our showroom. That is what I wanted to share today.

Standing to chant? 110 cm

If I chant standing, my best is 111 cm. Sitting, it was 86 cm. When I tire a little, I lower it to about 81 cm.

And if you feel your legs will not hold out — just stand up and keep going. Standing, mine was 110 cm.

If we truly put daimoku first, no matter what, then it is worth creating an environment like this to bring out our full potential. That is my message today.

Every day is a personal best

For exercise, even a short walk, we might change our sneakers. For a light run, we choose shoes that are easy to run in. This is the same.

We chant daimoku to bring out our potential — the power lying hidden inside us. We chant it as the great spark that turns our dreams and hopes into reality.

That is why every single day is a personal best. Better today than yesterday. An hour from now, I will think again, take on a new challenge, and act. This change was exactly that.

Preparing for earthquakes

Right now the altar is simply placed on the table. In the Great East Japan Earthquake, there was damage where altar roofs flew off and things on top fell over. What held up best then were the one-piece altars.

If this setup is properly secured, I believe that risk can be prevented as well. There are also earthquake-safety products on the market, and those are worth using too.

For families too — and I want your ideas

Your best position is not the same as anyone else’s. Some families do gongyo together; others practice at different times of day.

It may look unfamiliar. But of everything I have thought of so far, I am convinced that placing the Kokū Zushi on a rising table, with a rising chair, is the best. If you have a constructive idea — wouldn’t this be better? — please tell me.

When those Bodhisattvas of the Earth and those protective forces gathered here, something clicked. I looked back at myself. Then I brought over the desk I had loved using in the showroom — the one I used to stand at to work on my computer.

Create a new environment. Take on every challenge. Put it into practice. Try, fail, try again, search out the way forward in life, and build your own best position. I believe that is what counts, so I did it.

This was my 165th YouTube Live. I wanted you to see that I am not just shut away in the shop tapping at a computer — this is the kind of practice I am living.

Let’s Daimoku!