What Is the Benefit of Doing Gongyo Every Day?

Ikeda Sensei says that “doing an invigorating gongyo” is the first of his four mottoes for leading a healthy life. Each time we do gongyo, we sit up straight, breathe deeply and use our voice, all of which contribute to improved respiratory and cardiovascular function.^[2]

Yet, the benefits of doing gongyo go far beyond physical health. Striving to do gongyo each day cultivates self-discipline and harmonizes our life with the rhythm of the universe. Sensei says:

Reciting the sutra is a daily activity in which we purify and prime our hearts and minds. In the morning, it is starting the engine for our day, like grooming ourselves before we set out for the day.

Some people have powerful engines, and some have weak engines. The strength of the engine dramatically affects what we accomplish throughout the course of our lives. The difference can be enormous. Diligently applying ourselves in our daily practice of the sutra recitation boosts the power of our engine. …

Reciting the sutra is a ceremony in which our lives commune with the universe. As we recite the sutra and chant Nam-myoho-renge-kyo, through our faith in the Gohonzon, we vigorously infuse the microcosm of our individual existence with the life force of the macrocosm, of the entire universe. If we do this regularly each morning and evening, our life force—or engine—is strengthened.^[3]

What Are We Reciting in Gongyo?

The Lotus Sutra’s second and sixteenth chapters are significant because they address the path to enlightenment for all people. 

“Expedient Means” teaches that all people have the potential for Buddhahood. And in “Life Span,” the Buddha reveals that Buddhahood is not something attained only after lifetimes of austere practices, as was previously thought, but that it exists inherently and eternally within everyone. By chanting Nam-myoho-renge-kyo and reciting the sutra, we affirm and praise the inherent dignity and enlightened potential of ourselves and others. 

At the end of gongyo, we resolve to work for the happiness of oneself and others when we recite the Buddha’s words, “Mai ji sa ze nen. I ga ryo shujo. Toku nyu mu-jo do. Soku joju busshin,” which translates to: “At all times I think to myself: How can I cause living beings to gain entry into the unsurpassed way and quickly acquire the body of a Buddha?”^[4]

Over Time, Daily Efforts Bring Immeasurable Benefits

Doing gongyo consistently each day is an “assiduous practice” that requires effort. Yet, Sensei explains, the benefits are profound:

Just as practitioners of traditional martial arts such as judo and kendo have their basic training, we in the SGI have the practice of gongyo as our basic training in faith so that we can lead happy lives. There may at first be little discernable difference on the surface between those who do gongyo sincerely and consistently each day and those who are lax in their practice of gongyo. But with the passing of time—three, five, seven years and so on—obvious differences will definitely emerge. Gongyo and daimoku are the driving force for everything, including transforming our karma and doing our human revolution.^[5]

Doing gongyo is more than a daily ritual—it is both a discipline and a celebration of life that connects our inner lives with the dynamic rhythm of the universe. By chanting and reciting the Lotus Sutra, like steady training in any field, the benefits may not appear overnight, but accumulated daily efforts create immeasurable, lasting change. 

—Prepared by the SGI-USA Study Department

September 19, 2025 World Tribune, p. 9