About 20 years ago, my 6 year-old daughter Shara brought home a large leaf. The outer skin had worn off revealing an intricate skeletal structure. It looked like a miniature replica of a tree. That image and theme inspired this poem. A few years later I wrote Pine Cone Trees, which brought about a variation on this theme. In both cases the last lines surprised me with their spiritual revelations.
As Above, So Below
Yatha pinde, tatha Brahmande*
As above
so below
allowing Love
to help things grow
Repeating the pattern
to copy each other
in the daughter
is the Mother
In each snowflake
a glistening star
this whole universe
is what we are
In each leaf
we see a tree
for every branch
a capillary
In each tree
not seen are seeds
and in each seed
is found a tree
So are we
found in Thee
as Thou oh Lord
in each of me
© Ken Chawkin
Fall, 1990, Fairfield, Iowa
*As is the atom, so is the universe.
As is the microcosm, so is the macrocosm.
From the Vedas and Upanishads.
*This Vedic expression, Yatha pinde, tatha Brahmande, is explained by Maharishi Mahesh Yogi in this video: “As is the cosmic life, so is the individual life,” and “The individual is cosmic.”
I originally read this poem to conclude the February 26, 2020 broadcast of MIU Radio KHOE’s Let Your Heart Sing, #62, “A New Variety Show.” You can listen to that segment on YouTube starting at 29:29–30:30.
The Uncarved Blog 
June 27, 2014 at 9:10 pm |
[…] An even more cosmic understanding our relationship to the universe comes from the Vedic Literature — “Yatha pinde tatha brahmande, yatha brahmande tatha pinde” — “As is the individual, so is the universe, as is the universe, so is the individual” or “As is the atom, so is the Universe” or “As is the human body, so is the Cosmic Body” or “As is the Microcosm, so is the Macrocosm”, or succinctly as “As Above, So Below.” See my poem As Above So Below. […]
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July 16, 2014 at 1:31 am |
[…] Related: Poems by Rumi and Octavio Paz open our minds to a more cosmic perspective. My poem, As Above, So Below, shares the same cosmic […]
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September 7, 2014 at 11:37 pm |
[…] that earlier era are: Ode To The Artist, and its companion piece Sometimes Poetry Happens. Also see As Above, So Below and a complementary poem, Pine Cone Trees, written several years later. A later nature poem, Being […]
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February 11, 2017 at 9:01 am |
This shloka is magical.. When I was going through meaninglessness from months. And I read this shloka somewhere and seemed as if I’ve realized the meaning , the existence and it’s essence, I can’t describe how this shloka has discovered me . and I read your poem, it’s profound and the last lines are quoted so nicely. I loved this poem
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April 29, 2019 at 1:12 pm |
Thank you so much, Ayushi. I’m glad this poem and its ancient inspiration meant so much to you, that they brought some realization.
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October 26, 2019 at 7:52 pm |
[…] that blog post I conclude with my haiku, Forest Flowers, and mention my poem As Above So Below. Both describe relationships between the individual and the […]
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May 21, 2020 at 9:14 am |
[…] this creative process: Coalescing Poetry: Creating a Uni-verse, and that cosmic relationship: As Above, So Below. This Japanese poem beautifully expresses the idea of the first word: Singing Image of Fire, a poem […]
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