Not-Two Is Peace: The Ordinary People's Way of Global Cooperative Order

by Adi Da Samraj

The World-Friend Adi Da speaks from his island-sanctuary, breaking his silence out of his concern for the current plight of humanity. Adi Da invites you to consider his urgent calling for the founding of a Global Cooperative Forum to address the profound ills of today's world, and to re-establish human civilization based on principles of mutual trust, cooperation, tolerance, prior unity, and the limitless participation of all of humankind in transforming its own destiny. Adi Da's term "prior unity" points to the unity that exists prior to all the apparent differences and conflicts in the world. That unity, in other words, is senior to all apparent signs of disunity. Adi Da also calls this the "unifying life-principle" and the "cosmically extended pattern of Oneness". In this gem of instruction we find Adi Da asking all of mankind to do something completely different, as a whole. He writes in this "It is a matter of the greatest present-time urgency that the prevailing global mood of political separatism, end-game competitiveness, and endlessly multiplied divisiveness be immediately and thoroughly and universally and permanently relinquished such that the entire world-population of humankind becomes universally intelligent with the heart-positive mind of cooperation and tolerance." In this book you will find 15 essays, with titles such The Truth of Prior Unity Is The Intrinsic Self-Revelation of Reality Itself, Reality-Politics for Ordinary Men and Women, Only Rightness Makes Justice True , Everybody-All-At-Once, Humankind Is Literally One Family, Cooperation + Tolerance = Formula for World Peace and The Three Great Principles Of All Truth. Ervin Laszlo, scientist, philosopher and President of the Club of Budapest, has written the introduction to this book. In addition, there are endorsements from Professor Ashok Gangadean of Haverford College and the Global Dialogue Institute, Patricia Gagic of the Colours of Freedom Foundation, Hilde Rapp of the Centre for International Peacebuilding in London, Rolf C. Carriere, former U.N. official and Senior Adviser to the Nonviolent Peaceforce and Professor Jonathan Lynch of Penn State University and many others.

Genres: Nonfiction, Religion

200 pages, Paperback

First published January 28, 2006

About the author

Adi Da Samraj (AKA Da Free John), born Franklin Albert Jones, was an American-born spiritual teacher, writer, and artist, widely recognized as the founder of the new religious movement Adidam. His teachings, writings, and artistic expressions were deeply rooted in a commitment to radical nonduality, which he referred to as “the Bright” — the inherent, indivisible reality that transcends the egoic self. Adi Da taught that true spiritual realization is not something to be sought or attained but is already fully present and must be directly realized through the transcendence of separateness and the activity of seeking itself.
He wrote extensively throughout his life, authoring more than 75 books on spirituality, philosophy, art, and global peace. Among his best-known works are The Knee of Listening, an autobiographical account of his early life and spiritual realizations; The Aletheon, a summation of his spiritual instruction; and Not-Two Is Peace, a work addressing the global human condition and advocating for a radically new form of cooperative culture. His writings are considered by followers to be revelatory and are presented not as mere philosophy, but as direct communications of the spiritual reality he claimed to have fully realized.
Raised in the United States, Adi Da studied at Columbia University and later at Stanford University, where he developed a strong interest in literature, philosophy, and theology. Despite achieving academic success, he found intellectual pursuits ultimately insufficient for the depth of truth he sought. This dissatisfaction led him to explore a wide range of spiritual paths, including Zen Buddhism, Vedanta, and various esoteric practices. After years of spiritual searching and intense personal experiences that he described as revelatory, he began to teach others, presenting a radically different approach to spiritual life that emphasized immediate, intuitive recognition of the divine reality.
Central to Adi Da’s teaching was the concept of devotional recognition-response — the spontaneous turning of attention toward what he described as the living presence of the divine. He rejected conventional religious forms and techniques as inherently limited and emphasized a transformative relationship to the spiritual reality he embodied. His community of devotees, known as Adidam, formed around this core relationship and sought to live in accordance with the principles he articulated.
Beyond his spiritual teachings, Adi Da was also an accomplished visual artist whose work spanned photography, digital media, and mixed media installations. He referred to his aesthetic approach as “Transcendental Realism,” seeking not to represent the world but to provide a perceptual portal into the non-dual reality. His art has been exhibited internationally and received attention in both spiritual and contemporary art contexts.
Adi Da spent his final years in Fiji on Naitauba Island, a remote setting he regarded as sacred and conducive to spiritual practice. There, he continued to write, create art, and guide his devotees. His legacy continues through the Adidam community, which maintains his teachings and artistic work, promoting his vision of a new culture rooted in spiritual realization, radical truthfulness, and the transcendence of ego.
His life and work remain a source of devotion, debate, and philosophical inquiry, reflecting a bold and unconventional path toward the ultimate questions of human existence.

Reviews

[Morgan Blackledge · Rating 5 out of 5]

I love Adi Ada’s writing.

Most of it.

But I’m with Ken Wilber in the sentiment that Adi Da was a once in a lifetime unparalleled genius level spiritual thinker/author. And there are some very problematic aspects of his work and community. Da became very authoritarian. A cult atmosphere emerged around him. Particularly his later life.

And people were harmed.

Any reader of Da needs to be an informed consumer. This is not “safe” material. It’s not ment to be safe. Enter at your own risk.

Given all that.

This book wins my - Oh dear God please make it so, it would be so dang great if even 1% of this awesome, awesomely awesome awesomeness could happen award for 2025.

🥇 10/5 stars (⭐️ x10) + a double rainbow 🌈 🌈

This is the first (and perhaps last) book to win this award.

I guess we’ll just wait and see what happens in 2026.

Anyway.

Last year I read Nuclear War: A Scenario by Annie Jacobsen. It won my - 2024 most totally awful, horrible, horrible, horrible, shit-your-pants-and-die, awful, awful nightmare book award.

This year, that same venerable distinction will go to If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies by Eliezer Yudkowsky.

It’s a dystopian paranoia fest about how AI will end humanity as soon as it is able (🤖 = ☠️).

Ironically, and almost completely by happenstance, I read both books at the same time.

I read this book in the morning (for God-shots and inspiration).

I read Yudkowsky in the evening (for some reason… ???).

To compare these books is ridiculous.

So that means I’m definitely going to do that.

“Not-Two Is Peace argues that humanity’s core problem is the illusion of separateness (“two-ness”) and that our global crises—war, ecological collapse, injustice—stem from this ego-based division. Adi Da proposes a shift to “prior unity,” a non-dual recognition that all beings and worlds are already inherently one, and calls for a new form of cooperative global order and leadership grounded in that realization rather than in nation-state competition or partisan politics.”

That was completely written by AI. 👆

“If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies argues that if anyone successfully builds advanced superhuman AI under current conditions, it will almost certainly lead to human extinction—because aligning such a system to human values is vastly harder than building it, and once created, a misaligned superintelligence would rapidly gain power and optimize the world in ways that destroy us.”

That was also completely written by AI. 👆

Anyway.

The thing that both of these books have in common is:

Both books posit that we’re completely 100% fucked if we keep doing what we’re doing. And both books make EXTREMELY compelling arguments for this (IMO) super obvious fact.

✔️ Check.

Both books also claim that the ABSOLUTELY and VERY LITERALLY only solution is for the entire globe (including everyone) to come together, lay down our differences, and cooperate.

Ummm 🤔

I completely agree.

And…

It seems like that could never ever happen.

Ever.

So…

I guess we’re fucked?

As completely wonderful and inspiring as this book is, after everything is said and done, it kind of leaves me as hopeless as the other one.

It’s a really WILD feeling.

Given all that, I’m personally going to do my absolute best to BE the change that Not-Two Is Peace seeks to achieve.

I just loved this book.

Oh dear God, please make it so. It would be so dang great if even 1% of this awesome, awesomely awesome awesomeness could happen.

10/5 stars (⭐️ x10) + a double rainbow 🌈 🌈

NOTE: As enthusiastic as I am to all the above (except for the we’re all fucked part). The HUGE/INSURMOUNTABLE problem for me is. Adi Da claims to be the embodied supreme being. And his prescription for suffering is for everyone to become his devotees. That’s an obvious problem. If it’s not a problem for you. I’d say that may be a bigger problem for me. Just saying. So please don’t take this 5/5 star review as a whole cloth endorsement of the Adi Da GURU/CULT thing. It’s not. This book is for adults only. If you read Da. You need to be a discerning critical thinker. You need to take the good. And leave the bad. Da is not for everyone. Consider yourself warned 😜

[Bruce Michael Hubbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quote;

The human world has become a kind of insane sporting event, at which people threaten one another and carry on in an insane manner - something like the gladiatorial contests in Rome. It is madness.

[Italian · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is not an easy book at first. But if one can relax and allow oneself to enter into feeling, it gives and gives, and every time one reads something it is a new revelation, a profound intuition and a magnificent source of inspiration.
The "working-presumption of prior unity" is not something esoteric, every single one of us can enact it in our daily life. And what a different world this will be when we do!
Thank you for this masterpiece.