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SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA, March 8, 2005: Sondra Barrett, a self-described “hardcore scientist” had no interest in spirituality but became convinced of a higher power while examining human blood cells as a UCSF cancer researcher in the 1970’s. Since then Barrett, 64, has used her microscope to photograph everything from caffeine molecules to chicken soup to pinot noir. As a scientist and an artist, she sees these images as evidence of the sacred, revealing the invisible forms and forces at work in everyday life, says this article by Bay Area writer David Ian Miller on a recent interview with Barrett. The article is part of a series called, “Finding My Religion” and includes one about a devotee of Mata Amritananda (Ammachi), which HPI will include shortly. When Barrett was asked how she eventually became a spiritual person after completing her Ph.D. in biochemistry and beginning her work as a cancer researcher, she replied: “Two things altered my deeper view of the world. One was the microscope. I always find it surprising that a tool of science would lead to my ever growing spirituality, but that’s what happened. Seeing living cells up close, I was captivated by their intelligence, energy and order. It opened a window for me to the sacred world. The other factor in my spiritual development at this point was working with children whose disease, leukemia, I studied as a research scientist. Through this work, I was forced to see human beings as more than just physical, and spending time with one of those children when he died made me look at life and death in much larger terms. I began asking myself about why disease happens. What purpose did it serve in these children? This pushed me to investigating alternative ways of looking at life, including Buddhism, shamanism, Taoism and other mystical traditions.” For the full interview, click on “source” above. To view Sondra Barrett’s art, visit here, which has some amazing photos. Caffeine up close, you’ll see, looks just like it feels, very jagged.

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