The message of the book Prior Unity is that the impulse to peaceful, cooperative coexistence is humanity's "true north." The impulse comes from our root-intelligence as one single species, and, at the same time, reflects the inherent unity of all life. To satisfy what human beings truly want and need (security, and the opportunity for unlimited participation in our social, cultural and economic life), and to ensure a benign future for life on earth, we have no choice: We must transcend what separates us and build on the deep foundation we all share, which is our prior, or already-existing unity. The prophetic call running through the whole book is that if we want to find the real basis for a new human culture, we must look beyond the outer world of separate objects, others, and events to the source, the root-condition in which all our experience is actually happening. This is not a religious matter, nor even a spiritual matter in any exclusive sense. It is about the source-reality that has no name, that is not a deity, but which is the being-essence in which we exist, the limitless conscious awareness to which everyone of us has access, regardless of our beliefs or philosophy. This is not a book about politics as we know it. It is about uncovering the true basis for a new politics, a new social contract that is founded in, and expressive of, how things really are.
