Description

An exploration into consciousness, the universe, and the nature of reality

• Draws on transdimensional physics and biology, reincarnation and past-life memories, animal consciousness, multiple identities, thoughtforms, soul pictures, and paranormal phenomena like crop circles and poltergeists

• Explores the riddle of personal identity and how it differs from consciousness

• Reveals that consciousness is more than encompassing all that exists--it also speaks to what has yet to manifest

Scientific orthodoxy views the universe as conceived of matter--protons, neutrons, electrons, down to the smallest particle, quarks. But, when you keep digging, what is “beneath” quarks? The scientific worldview does not take into account consciousness or life itself. How did consciousness become part of the material universe? Is it a by-product of brain chemistry or a constituent of reality? Or, to dig deeper, which is more fundamental: the existence of an objective physical universe or our subjective experience of it?

In this investigation into consciousness, the universe, and the nature of reality, Richard Grossinger offers a wide-ranging foundation for reimagining the universe as based in consciousness rather than matter. He presents in-depth analysis of the standard scientific description of the universe, revealing the holes in its theories. Exploring the interpenetration of matter and all reality by consciousness, the author looks at reincarnation and past-life memories, examining famous and lesser-known but verifiable accounts. He then explores the nature and origin of consciousness, with accompanying explorations of animal consciousness, the brain as a computer, multiple identities, thoughtforms, soul pictures, and paranormal phenomena like UFOs, faeries, and poltergeists. He also examines concepts from physics that combine elements of both consciousness and matter, such as collapsing waveforms and the uncertainty principle of quantum mechanics.

Examining nonlocal and transpersonal modes of consciousness, Grossinger looks at the difference between consciousness and personal identity. He expands this discussion with reflections on Sethian cosmology, using Seth’s own words and Jane Roberts’s and John Friedlander’s interpretations. He reveals that consciousness also encompasses what has yet to manifest and explains why the universe exists at all: why there is “something” rather than “nothing.” Skewering the materialist paradigm and placing consciousness alongside mass, gravity, and heat as an essential component of the universe, Grossinger proposes that reality is a thoughtform where sentient beings collaborate to bring about a concrete realm vibrating at their own frequency.

About the author(s)

Richard Grossinger is the curator of Sacred Planet Books, a member of the Inner Traditions editorial board, the founder and former publisher of North Atlantic Books, and a founding copublisher of Io, a seminal interdisciplinary literary journal that ran from 1964–1993. He attended Amherst College and completed a PhD in ecological anthropology at the University of Michigan. He has written more than 30 widely acclaimed books on alternative medicine, cosmology, embryology, and consciousness, including Dark Pool of Light: Reality and Consciousness, The Night Sky: Soul and Cosmos, and Bottoming Out the Universe.

Through the Sacred Planet collection, published under the umbrella of the Inner Traditions family of imprints, Grossinger continues his long-standing publishing talent for developing deep co-creative relationships with authors. His main psychospiritual practices have been dreams and symbols, t’ai chi ch’uan, craniosacral therapy, and the Sethian system of psychic energy taught by John Friedlander and Gloria Hemsher. Sacred Planet continues these themes while emphasizing other urgent topics: climate, permaculture, alchemy, biological transmutation, viral transmission, meta-politics, hyperobjects, spiritwalking, shapeshifting, the etheric realm, oracles, locutions, time travel, astrology, crystals, and subtle bodies.

Grossinger lives in Portland, Maine, and Berkeley, California.

Brian Swimme, Ph.D., a specialist in mathematical cosmology, was educated at Santa Clara University and the University of Oregon. At the present time, he is the director of the Center for the Story of the Universe, a research affiliate of the California Institute of Integral Studies, in San Francisco.

Reviews

“In this profound but accessible book, Richard asks timeless questions like, ‘Who am I?’ ‘What is reality?’ and ‘What is consciousness?’ In an era of distraction and despair, he returns our attention to what deeply matters and explores, with clarity and nuance, the hidden meaning of life.”

“Richard Grossinger is uniquely qualified to set our feet upon a righteous path--not around the problem, as so many do, but straight into its convoluted tangle. Is consciousness an illusion or a fundamental property of nature? Addressing this question has occupied many minds, and Richard’s foray here will engage yours to take you deeper into your own sense of being. If you are a scientist, here you must confront the limitations of science to explain your life. For the spiritualists, Richard’s erudition will rub your nose in the hard realities of the physical universe. Puzzle and wonder as you scratch beneath the surface with Richard as your able guide.”

“Richard Grossinger is one of the most articulate spokesmen of our time. He has the unique ability to move adeptly from one field to another, not superficially but deepening our understanding of how these fields interweave. I was especially drawn in by his thoughtful chapter on trauma . . . truly an engaging addition to the field. In his study of energy patterns, complexity, psychic phenomena, and consciousness, Grossinger takes us on an engaging journey. It may not be an easy read, but it is a rich one.”

Bottoming Out the Universe is an amazing literary task. It will help people who are never going to quiet their minds and see the nature of things to understand ‘bottoming out’ as best as possible conceptually. What Richard does is about as far as one can go with concept, in my opinion.”

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