I bought this book on the basis of the subject matter and another reader's review. However, I was quite disappointed in the book. I can sum up the book in a few simple statements:

1. You won't like what you read here.
2. The author discussed all this in his other books.
3. Everything is an illusion and chemical reactions in your brain.
4. If you don't like what you read here, your ego is playing games.
5. Your ego is an illusion so there is nothing you can do about it.

Although theoretically I understand what the author is trying to say (the concepts are not new) he could have called the book, "Paris Hilton's Guide to Enlightenment: We're Already Enlightened, So Let's Go Shopping."

He also says no one has a choice in life, since there is 'no one to choose'. There is no free will, and pain is only what we see on our 'plasma screen'. Yet at the same time, people can 'choose' to believe in what they want to believe, and do what they want to do.

There is one point of the book I do like very much. The question of what or why we are seeking anything at all is indeed a very important and pertinent question, and one that any true 'seeker' should ask themselves now and then.

About the author: "Jan Kersschot graduated in medicine from Antwerp University, Belgium. His lifelong quest for the ultimate truth was characterised by his interest in a wisdom which does not exclude anything or anyone." Jan is also the author of Coming Home, Nobody Home, and This Is It, all well-received books on the teaching of nonduality or Oneness.

The first thing I liked about this book is the compact size. It only has about 97 pages and is narrow enough to fit into my back pocket, so I took it with me on a walk and sat in the park and read it.

The theme is that liberation is a myth as there is only awareness, oneness, God, or Beingness. The theme is developed through as series of brief, pointed conversations on a number of topics: the body, the soul, the shadow side, intelligent design v. Darwinism, blasphemy, life after understanding, belief, religion, ego, control, hope, and more.

Prior to the conversations is Kersschot's introduction to the book. It is important because it easily enables the reader new to nonduality and Advaita to comprehend the prison walls of the mind and to see that they are made of thin air.

Something else I like about this book is that Jan is addressing questions that might be posed by any beginning investigator of Advaita or of Beingness. Such questions as, "If I am not my body, then I am a soul that has chosen this body to live in?" "What I eat, how much I pray, it's not essential? Is that what you're saying?" "Is there nothing we can do to change the world for the better?"

The responses are brief and lead to conversations consisting of further concise responses back and forth.

There is a freshness to this book that is illustrated in how Jan describes his offerings. The questioner asks, "Are you like the Zen masters, who say that the finger pointing to the moon is not the moon?" Jan responds, "I would rather say I try to point to the sun instead of the moon. And the sun stands here for the one and only source of light of everything. Of all beings."

This book of conversations is a concise and fresh guide to Advaita that considers a variety of worldly topics. This book will be extremely useful to people first investigating Advaita and to anyone who still has questions or doubts.

Jerry Katz
[[ASIN:1591810531 One: Essential Writings on Nonduality]]