Good morning. This is Shima from Oubaitori, with YouTube Live #161, on October 10, 2026.
A Week of Poor Health
For a little over a week, I have not been well. Not too much sake. I think the swings in the weather gave me a cold.
Linear rainbands brought heavy rain, and parts of Koga, where we are, were affected too. It is not someone else’s problem. I phoned customers in Chiba to make sure they were all right. I hope everyone is safe where you live.
Among my grandchildren’s generation, some classes were closed, flu went around, and some people caught COVID. I felt strongly how much we human beings are swayed by the weather and our surroundings.
My Hand Goes Up, but I Go Down
When you can push through on willpower, that’s fine. But sometimes your hand goes up — “Let’s do our best!” — while you yourself are sinking. Your heart can’t keep up. Your body can’t keep up.
Am I getting old? Am I just tired? Nothing good is happening. Those are honest feelings, and there is no need to deny them. But I don’t think we should simply swallow them whole, either.
From the Power of Youth to Silver Power
In the past, even with a sneeze and a chill, I would say, “I don’t catch colds!” — and many times, I didn’t. These days, that kind of willpower doesn’t kick in so easily. I think I’ve moved past that stage.
The power of youth is amazing. It is the best thing there is. But I don’t think the same power will come out of me now. What will come out is today’s silver power. I can still become a super-grandpa. I don’t want to be just an old man. I want to be a super-grandpa. For that, I need resolve. Something extra. Every day, I am fighting with those feelings.
Standing Up on My Own — Decide, Pray, Act
I lost my voice, and before that my head stopped working. Overwork, I think. Trying to turn a head that won’t turn creates friction. And the ordinary person in me says, I don’t want to move.
Still, I want to change my present reality. I have dreams and hopes I am determined to achieve. To be honest, almost no one cheers you on in that. And leaning on others for it is not right either. I am the one who will do it. I will stand up on my own.
When you take it on seriously, never give up, and keep going until you achieve it, the people around you see that and think, If he’s working that hard, maybe I’ll lend a hand. I believe that is how the protective forces of the universe work. Above all: Decide – Pray – Act!
October — From Here
September was hard. After getting through the 15th and the 30th, I reached October, and I think I was simply exhausted.
But now it’s October. This is where it begins. October, November, December — three months to finish the year. Holding on to the goals we set at New Year, all the way to the very end, is what matters.
A Teak Kokū Zushi and a Visit to a Veneer Maker
Today I’m speaking from our Kokū Zushi corner. This one is teak, and next to it is walnut. The teak one has already been sold. When I sent photos and video, the customer was overjoyed and is looking forward to its arrival.
On September 15, Kimura, our workshop craftsman, and I visited Hokusan, a world-class veneer company in Tokyo. From a single great log, they slice about 800 sheets, each just 0.2 mm thick. It was astonishing.
Most furniture and altars today use veneer bonded to MDF, or a printed wood-grain sheet. A single board of solid wood cracks if it is thick and warps if it is thin. Laminating prevents that, and there are many techniques behind it.
How Little We Know of Other Worlds
The world is truly vast, and full of things I don’t know. I may understand the world I have lived in. But Buddhism speaks of the major world system — countless worlds. Of other worlds, we know almost nothing. We may think we know, but it is never more or less than “thinking we know.”
I have lived my own life. Even if I forget things, my life has been built up, fact by fact, into who I am now. And I still have so much I want to do, so I will keep taking on challenges.
A Customer from Eight Years Ago — A New Home and a New Altar
The customer who ordered this Kokū Zushi bought an altar for her mother from me about eight years ago. We live far apart and have never met, but we kept in touch over LINE.
Early this year, she told me: “Since buying the altar from you, I’ve been so happy. I chant much more daimoku, and my Soka Gakkai activities have become a joy.” Around then, her husband changed jobs — more than once — and each time his salary improved. As a result, they were able to build a new home.
Then she said, “Since it’s a new home, I’d like a new altar from you. The altar you designed is wonderful.” The conversation began around April, and work started around June.
Choosing from 800 Sheets — The Craftsman’s Skill
Carrots and burdock: peel them, slice them, and you can use almost all of it. Wood is different. You can’t know what’s inside until you cut it. The growth rings appear in the grain, and the grain changes with each year’s weather. Wood is alive.
Among the 800 sheets, the grain shifts little by little, like a flip book. Which part goes on which door is all decided by the craftsman. That is his skill.
A printed wood-grain sheet looks the same every time, and most altars today are made that way. It isn’t about good or bad. It’s simply different, and I hope you’ll understand that.
Actual Proof of Faith — Outside and Inside
This altar ships next week and should arrive the week after.
When I let her know it was ready, she told me that since April, and again since June, she has been chanting even more daimoku. She keeps growing. She must be faith itself. Her family’s destiny has been transformed step by step.
How much experience in faith we can build up after joining the Soka Gakkai — that, I believe, is the actual proof of faith. Some proof is visible on the outside. There is also proof on the inside. You can’t see the inner life directly, but you can tell whether someone is happy or struggling. Even in each written character, each sentence, joy and life force come through.
What matters most is the state of our own life. Stability at a low level won’t do. I want to aim for stability at a high level. It’s about balance. If you push on blindly without that awareness and lose your balance, your health suffers. Life is delicate, and life is tough. It holds both. I think this is what is called the mutual possession of the Ten Worlds.
Inside the Kokū Zushi
Inside, there is an acrylic panel to protect the Gohonzon. It also keeps dust off. It isn’t fully sealed, but close to it. Personally, I remove the panel and face the Gohonzon directly.
The lighting changes with a remote — warm or white, and in brightness. Everyone has a preference; even my wife and I like different colors. Your eyes differ morning and night, so choose the light that suits you, picture the Gohonzon as the Ceremony in the Air, and chant daimoku every morning and evening.
Above all, if we keep chanting daimoku, everything will be transformed, and everything will move in a good direction. And without a doubt, a Soka Gakkai altar exists for chanting daimoku. I want to contribute to this customer’s life of creating ever greater value.
Closing
Tomorrow I’m going to the Soka University Festival with my family. If you’re going too and we meet there — Let’s Daimoku!
Bloom your own way, at your very best.
Oubaitori.com — Japan’s specialist in Soka Gakkai Buddhist altars
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