This collage-like book is an inquiry into the nature of life and of existence itself. Simultaneously philosophical, spiritual, and literary, it pushes the boundaries of this area of thought beyond the strictures of science, religion, and all other forms of ideology. Author Richard Grossinger dazzlingly blends narrative memoir, short science fiction “novels” (the shortest being a mere paragraph), political think pieces, Buddhist screeds, public dialogue via found art, and even dreams to create a bold view of the world and humankind’s precarious place in it.

In a time of cosmic and political transition Richard Grossinger addresses basic issues of life on Earth: what it is to be human and in the world now. Among his topics are: the relation of matter to consciousness,the meaning of having a body, the current split between science and spirit, the perils of religious and scientific fundamentalism, the human assault on nature (and nonhuman species), the basis of reality and personal identity, the origin of language, telekinesis, Chaos Theory,karma, the Dreamtime, and the history and long-term future of our planet. On the Integration of Nature is arranged in almanac fashion as brief essays, science-fiction tales, non-fiction narratives, obituaries,post-glacial landscapes (many of them set on Mount Desert Island,Maine), editorials attacking the second Bush Administration, music and book reviews, and Buddhist commentary. It is a text of alphabets,clocks, penguins, yellows, tidepools, spiders, reggae, megaliths, avatars,crimes, clouds, minor chords, ghosts, and glimpses of something that is unfathomable.

Life

 The Character of Life

 Dogs

 Submolecular Activity

 Dimensionless Strings

 Cell Machine

 Mortality

 The Birth of Consciousness

 The Animals' Rebellion

 Check Digits

 Incarnation

 Disease

 Life As a Computer Simulation (1)

 Brief Biology Lesson

 Parents

　Destruction by Degrees of Impersonality

　Freud and Jung

　Incorporation

　Mercy

　Martial Arts

　Wager

　Nonmemory

　Life As a Computer Simulation (2)

　Anonymity

　The Unconscious

　Water

　Death

　Opening the Energy Gates

　Cocoons

　Penguins

Landscapes

　Mount Desert Island

　Spider

　Seal Cove Pond

　Somes Pond

 Wolfie's Rock

 The Milky Way

 Tidepools

 The Snake

 Thunder Hole

 Western Mountain

 Sacred Geography

 Power Outage

 Long Pond

 Destiny

 Abode of the Message, New Lebanon, New York

 Lunch Line

 Pirates

 Long Beach, New York

 Surf

　……

Matter

Astronomy

Vision

Responses to Dzogchen Buddhist Commentary

Politics

History

Six Very Short Science-Fiction Novels

Reviews

In Memory of Friends