In books like Embyogenesis and Embryos, Galaxies, and Sentient Beings, author Richard Grossinger brought together the subjects of biological embryology and the esoteric process of human consciousness becoming embodied ("The embryo is the universe writing itself on its own body"). In Dark Pool of Light, his three-volume series of books discussing the nature of reality and consciousness, Grossinger weaves neuroscience-based behaviorism and the phenomenology of "being" and reality together with psychological and psychospiritual views of "that single thing which is most difficult to understand or vindicate: our own existence."
In 2008, Grossinger began studying with noted psychic teacher John Friedlander, who helped him refine his vision of cerebral and somatic awareness to still-subtler levels. "Dark Pool of Light began unnamed in the journals of my psychic work with John Friedlander," says Grossinger, "not so much a record of actual practices as insights from them and extensions out of them."
This expansive inquiry into the nature of consciousness ends with this third volume in the series, The Crisis and Future of Consciousness. Grossinger addresses the perennial question of evil and shares the author's hopes and fears for the future of humanity. While wisdom gleaned from such seemingly disparate sources as science, philosophy, religion, and spirituality might appear "very, very different things," Grossinger nevertheless finds their meeting place in subjective, lived experience.
“This magnificent volume concludes one of the most arresting, vibrant, personal, and profoundly useful explorations of our common human potential that has been written in our mystical renaissance. No one I know writes with the fullness of being and exploratory curiosity and all-embracing hunger for understanding that the Richard Grossinger demonstrates with such eloquence and brilliance. Take these three volumes into your solitude and allow their wisdom to carry you forward into your next stage of divine human evolution.”—Andrew Harvey, author of The Hope: A Guide to Sacred Activism and Radical Passion
"Dark Pool of Light wrenches my heart and jerks my tears even as it challenges my intellect to stretch to the limits of its capacity. It's packed with torturously ecstatic wisdom, which is why—better than any book I've ever read—it's so adept at conveying the torturously ecstatic nature of life itself. Grossinger demonstrates here why he not only deserves to be inducted into the Smartest People in the World Hall of Fame, but also rates his own special award: Most Compassionate Genius. His virtuoso, eclectic analysis is drenched with hard-earned love. His infectious curiosity blooms from his triumphant humility. He pays reverence to the Great Mystery with the most elegant, playful, ferocious questions anyone on earth has ever dared to formulate. Most importantly to me, he proves, with the wicked good brilliance of a shaman in a scientist's body, that having consciousness is the most fascinating fun imaginable—and the best gig in the universe. “—Rob Brezsny, author of Pronoia is the Antidote to Paranoia: How the Whole World is Conspiring to Shower You with Blessings
“The complexity of Grossinger's database reminds me of Frank Zappa and Ken Wilber on steroids."—Albert La Chance, author of The Modern Christian Mystic: Finding the Unitive Presence of God
"Grossinger has a great synthetic mind and is a master of poetic prose and imaginative, free-ranging scholarship."
—Michael J. Harner, author of The Way of the Shaman
