Bee and God

As is the case with the self, a being is bounded by an infinite number of other beings in both time and space, and is not independent of itself without others. Nothing can exist independently. In the infinite, dynamic chain of connections, the self becomes infinitesimally small and disappears. This may sound discouraging, but as I have said many times before, opposites become “one,” and this means that the self spreads out into the entire universe. In this sense, the true self is the universe. (“New Essays on Buddhism,” Masahiro Mori)

Speaking of space, we immediately imagine a space where stars float outside the atmosphere, but this is not the case. Each of our actions affects various things, while we are affected by various things. It may take a long time for my current actions to influence the ends of the earth, but it is like falling dominoes, and as long as they are connected, they have to influence each other.

Therefore, this self is only temporarily established in the infinite relationship of Engi, nothing more, nothing less. And since this world, this universe, is also made up of infinite relationships, it is possible to say that I am the universe, or the universe is me. I believe that Misuzu Kaneko’s “Hachi(Bee) to Kami-sama(God)” is a poem that expresses this.

I think the poet Misuzu Kaneko was a very sensitive person to the structure of the world.

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The bee is in the flower
The flower is in the garden

The garden is within the wall
The wall is in the town

Towns are to Japan
Japan is in the world
The world is in God

And so, and so, 
The God is in the small bee.