Aside from the natural worries of everyday life, some of us are bedeviled by an obvious conundrum: why, if reality is one Ð as is clear to any thinking person Ð does it appear to us as a duality, a division between the self and the world? This existential confusion compromises our ability to enjoy the freedom that is our birthright. Why and how non-dual reality appears as a duality Ð and what can be done about it Ð is the essence of Vedanta and the main theme of this wonderful fourteenth-century analysis of existence/consciousness by Vidyaranya Swami, Panchadasi, with commentary by James Swartz.