The Open Secret

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A mixed bag - Rated
This is a short text and that's quite a refreshing change from many spiritual books that seem to be very wordy.

The idea of no (ego) self is from Buddhism. Also, the idea of separation as an illusion is also Buddhist. Plus the idea of awakening and immediate radical insight that is effortless in the here and now is typical of Zen Buddhism.

This book weaves these three ideas together in a very engaging and succinct way, but it is not really particularly original. However the author writes is an insightful way and clearly understands these truths deeply.

Also, there are contradictions and confusions which the author does not resolve, - e.g. do nothing to attain anything spiritual at one point and at another, to let go of projections, motivations and expectations, the separate self and make a leap in perception at the fundamental level. Quite a lot of doing nothing!

Also, the authors adds the idea that there is no one AT ALL, yet speaks of I this or I that most of the time. In fact there is a whole page on I Am this and that. On that page he refers to consciousness etc and expands on Buddha's central proverb, I Am, You are, It is, though no mention is given to Buddha here. The author should have explored "self as everything", the I Am that I Am, which would resolve the contradition in this book.

The author says no self means no choice / no free will and so you can add no personal responsbility too. This is a departure from most others approaches and the biggest concern of all.

Advaita Without Tears - Rated
When people speak of "Advaita" which is what "The Open Secret" is all about, one tends to think of Ramana Maharshi, Sri Nisargadatta Maharaj, Ramesh S. Balsekar, and cultlike books written by the mysterious Wei Wu Wei such as "Ask the Awakened". I won't say throw them all away and embrace Tony's book instead, because "you" can't do that anyway. But throwing books away may happen, after you have read "The Open Secret".

Advaita means not two, or "the teaching of non-duality". This is where Tony differs from most other Advaita "teaching". A lot of teaching that goes under the official line that there is no such thing as a "separate person", then exhorts that "person" to practice certain techniques or methods. It will be seen that such dualistic advice is conspicuously absent in Tony's book. It is Advaita in its purest form. The mind of course rebels because this is medicine without "sugar" or "honey". For example, if we compare Tony's book with say, "I Am That", we notice one or two small differences. "I Am That" is a spiritual classic, and quite rightly so, but it has 540 pages, it will hurt you if it falls on your foot. It also has a good portion of "sugar" and "honey" for the mind to play with. The "teaching" is there, but one has to do a lot of reading, and of course the book is a lot more expensive than "The Open Secret".

Of course books are mainly composed of words, and words are concepts. Nothing beats being present when "presence" is being discussed by the teacher. This you will not get from a book. But we have to start somewhere. "The Open Secret" then is a book for new "seekers" who have not yet encountered Tony, and for older hands who can even spell Nisargadatta.

Deadly Insight - Rated
"there is no you, and there never was", this is the escence of the book. You are invited, by the author, to realise that this is so.

At first the assertion seems utterly ridiculous; that you exist seems so palpable and so clear that the assertion to the contrary drags you rather forcefully to the conclusion that the author is mentally ill.

However, if you give yourself time to chew it, and allow yourself to enter in to the idea you will see that this assertion can in fact be correct.

Why do I say "can" be correct?

The "illusion" of the self is so utterly persuasive that there is a sense in which I say to you that it is not an illusion. If you have a substance in your hands that smells like water, tastes like water and feels like water, dare you say that it isn't actually water? This is how powerful the "illusion" of the self is. If you are like me, you appear to be in a body, looking out onto a world that you share with other selves just like you, you believe that you have a will that is at the service of your self and a whole lot of other things like this persuade you that you do exist and that you have existed for as long as you can remember. In short, you are utterly persuaded by some very powerful experiences that you ARE actually here.

What is clear, reading this book, is that the fundamental religious experience is that of entering into of a state of conciousness in which it is percieved that there is no such thing as your "self" and that there never was. Once this is "realised" there is no sense of the "world, and me in it" but only of the world. It is what is meant by non-dual conciousness. This non-dual state is the "realisation" at the very core of all religion.

It seems from this book, that when there is non-dual conciousness, dual conciousness is seen as an illusion, perhaps more accurately, a delusion. However, what is very interesting to me is that, seen from the point of view of a person with dual conciousness (ie. the likes of you and me!) the person who has non-dual conciousness appears to be the one who is deluded, perhaps even insane.

If you care to make sense of this you will ask "who is right?"

My conclusion, after reading this book is that the two states are incapable of judging each other. They each have a different basis for their integrity and have nothing in common save the fact that it is humans ( and I know not what other kinds of creature) that are capable of both ways of being.

People, the book is intended as a direct assault on your dual conciousness, this amounts to a direct assualt on what you call "you" an the motivation for this assault appears to be to free you from the illusion that you exist.

If you do not want to dissolve your self like a sugar cube in a cup of tea; if you prefer to hang on to your sense of self and are ready to tolerate the suffering that inevitably goes with it, if you do not want, in effect, to die whilst still living, don't read this book.

If dieing, or perhaps I should say, "realising" that you never actually existed in the first place is OK with you, buy this book. I think it quite possible that if you have the "realisation" the author plans for you that joy will arise - not joy for you of course, because you won't be there to experience it(!)- in fact there will be never be anything for "you" ever again, unless you become dual again and I am not sure whether that can happen. This change may be irreversible(!)

Anyway, assuming for minute that I do actually exist and that those of you who are reading this actually exist too, then this person hopes very much that you have found this review useful in your buying decision and, moreover, that life and love treat you well. Peace on you my friends, whatever happens; I could not mean it more.

Telling it as it is. - Rated
This is a beautifully put view into the real nature of our Spirituality. There is a challenging simplicity in Tony Parsons' explanation that cuts across the spiritual fluff that often surrounds this subject laying bare in a few pages the essence of the paradox surrounding a quest for enlightenment. Those bewildered by expansive explanations of Who We Are will find this a refreshing book.

Brilliant! - Rated
Absolutely mind-blowing for anyone interested in nirvana (enlightenment). If you're not familiar with the concept of enlightenment, you'll probably have no idea what the author is talking about.

This book is on a par with a good translation of the Tao Te Ching, only it's more specific in content. Tony Parsons explains the paradox clearly - there is nothing you can "do" to "achieve" enlightenment. Or, as the Tao Te Ching might put it, "the path that can be followed is not The Way". Be warned: reading this book will leave your mind in a state of not knowing how to proceed, which I suspect is what the author was hoping for... I'm definitely going to buy his other book!