We have a small alter in the living room with photos of the closest group of our beloved dead, parents, my older brother. I put flowers there daily, and think of them, sometimes talk to them. But this is different than what goes on in the movie, The Sixth Sense, in which a young boy saw dead people, that is physically saw them and spoke with them. Or the TV series, Medium, that was based on the real-life Allison DuBois, in Phoenix, who helps police solve crimes because she sees and speaks to the dead, mostly in dreams, but sometimes just sitting in her kitchen.
Friends and I were talking about this phenomenon and what it could mean. Is it possible for someone to actually see and talk to the dead? We talked about physicists’ current theory that there is no matter–that everything is just energy bumping around and jostling and causing random events–a belief that is also posited in the Secret Oral Teachings of Tibetan Buddhist Sects, by Alexandra David-Neel. If this is true, then pretty much anything is possible–someone could have an unusual sensitivity to that energy stream. In fact, death and life and time and matter are all pretty much up for grabs. The amazing thing is that in this astounding chaos, we are able to build bridges that hold weight, catch planes on an agreed upon schedule, and recognize and cherish our loved ones.
In any case, we had an interesting evening talking about it. And this morning, I found these animated MRI scans of vegetables (via the Bennington Garden blog) that seem appropriate to this discussion. You might call them, the inner life of vegetables. I especially like the garlic.