Author Guide · Non-Duality
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Tony Parsons was born in London in 1933 and was about twenty when, by his own account, he “spontaneously awoke to the rediscovery of his true nature”. For years he talked about it only with friends. His first book, The Open Secret, is about fifty pages long, and its message has stayed the same in everything since: there is no separate person, no path and nothing to attain. He has spent decades repeating that point in meetings in Britain and across Europe, and his books record them. This guide covers his 6 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 6 key books · 1995–2015 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Tony Parsons, the British non-duality speaker, has published six key books: The Open Secret (1995), As It Is (2000), All There Is (2003), Invitation to Awaken (2004), Nothing Being Everything (2007) and This Freedom (2015). Start with The Open Secret, his short first statement of the message the later books return to in dialogue.
Where to Start with Tony Parsons
If you want the message in its shortest form
→ The Open Secret (1995) — about fifty pages.
If you want his best-known book in the US
→ As It Is (2000) — the InnerDirections edition of 2000.
If you want to hear him answer questions
→ Nothing Being Everything (2007) — dialogues from meetings in 2006 and 2007.
If you want his most recent book
→ This Freedom (2015).
6 Tony Parsons Books, in Order
The Open Secret
His first book, published by his own imprint, Open Secret Publishing; the current paperback runs to 52 pages. Parsons describes a sudden seeing he calls simple and ordinary, and argues that it comes not from trying to change one’s life but from seeing who is living it. It sets out the claim of all his later books: a liberation beyond effort, method and belief.
As It Is
Published by Inner Directions in the United States. It argues that freedom does not depend on a path, effort or belief, that there is nothing to become, and that a misperception of who we are is what makes life seem a struggle of pain and fear.
All There Is
A paperback of about 250 pages from Open Secret Publishing, its cover copy calls it “a radical and uncompromising message of absolute non-dualism”. Its central point is that seeking itself is what seems to stand in the way, and that the need for personal effort falls away once the reader stops looking for something.
Invitation to Awaken
A short illustrated book of about 130 pages, published by InnerDirections in Carlsbad, California, the house that brought out As It Is. As its subtitle indicates, it presents awakening as recognising a presence that is already here rather than reaching a new state.
Nothing Being Everything
Talks and question-and-answer exchanges from the meetings Parsons held in Britain and elsewhere in Europe in late 2006 and early 2007, published by Open Secret Publishing., which makes it the closest of his books to sitting in one of his meetings.
This Freedom
A paperback of 134 pages, presented by Open Secret Publishing as his fourth book, after The Open Secret, All There Is and Nothing Being Everything. It restates the same message as directly as before: a freedom that does not depend on effort, a spiritual path, a process or belief.
In What Order to Read Tony Parsons
Parsons says the same thing in every book, so order matters less than form. The Open Secret and This Freedom are short, compact statements; Nothing Being Everything is built from his meetings, where people ask questions and he answers.
Two publishers are involved: his own Open Secret Publishing in England, which counts four books, and InnerDirections in California, which published As It Is and Invitation to Awaken. Start with the first short book, then read a book of dialogues to see how the message holds up under questions.
A reading path
1. The Open Secret (1995)
2. Nothing Being Everything (2007)
3. All There Is (2003)
4. This Freedom (2015)
The years · 1933–2023
Quick facts about Tony Parsons
- Known for
- Tony Parsons is known for “The Open Secret”, an uncompromising non-dual message that there is no separate self, no path and nothing to attain.
- 1933
- Born in London
- 1953
- Awakening at about twenty
- 1995
- The Open Secret
- 2003
- All There Is
- 2023
- New edition of The Open Secret
- Born
- 1933, London
- Not to be confused with
- The British novelist and journalist Tony Parsons, born 1953
- Awakening
- At about twenty, by his own account
- Teaching
- Called “The Open Secret”; often classed as neo-Advaita
- Publishers
- Open Secret Publishing (England); InnerDirections (California)
- Website
- theopensecret.com
The red mark is 1995: The Open Secret, the short first book that gave his teaching its name.
How Tony Parsons Writes: One Message, Repeated
Parsons does not offer a method. Every book makes the same claim: there is no separate person who could become enlightened, so practice, effort and spiritual paths only keep the seeker going. In a 2008 essay he wrote that “The Open Secret recognises that there is no such thing as enlightenment or liberation.”
His work comes out of decades of talks and meetings in Britain and abroad. Nothing Being Everything is built from talks and exchanges in Europe in 2006 and 2007, and its answers keep returning to the same point: there is no one there to do anything.
He sets his message apart from traditional Advaita, which he describes as “a teaching about that which can be known”. That is why his work is usually filed under neo-Advaita and why it is debated by teachers of the older tradition. His short books draw on Taoism, Advaita Vedanta, Zen, Dzogchen and Christian mysticism, according to his publisher, without following any of them.
Watch
Tony Parsons Interviewed in Munich
Tony Parsons is interviewed in Munich in April 2013 about non-duality, in a video posted in October 2013. From the official Tony Parsons channel.
Frequently asked questions about Tony Parsons’s books
Is this the same Tony Parsons who wrote Man and Boy?
No. This Tony Parsons is the non-duality speaker born in London in 1933, author of The Open Secret, As It Is and All There Is. The British novelist and journalist Tony Parsons, born in 1953, wrote Man and Boy and the Max Wolfe crime series. They are different people.
How many books has Tony Parsons written?
Six key books are listed here, from The Open Secret (1995) to This Freedom (2015). Four come from his own Open Secret Publishing and two from InnerDirections in California.
What are Tony Parsons’s books in order?
The Open Secret (1995), As It Is (2000), All There Is (2003), Invitation to Awaken (2004), Nothing Being Everything (2007) and This Freedom (2015).
Where should I start with Tony Parsons?
With The Open Secret, his first book, which is short enough to read in one sitting and contains the whole message. Then read Nothing Being Everything to see him answer questions.
What is Tony Parsons’s most famous book?
The Open Secret, which gave his teaching its name. In the United States As It Is: The Open Secret of Spiritual Awakening (2000) is also widely known.
What does “the open secret” mean?
His name for the claim at the centre of his first book: that what spiritual seekers look for is already present in every part of ordinary life, and is recognised not by changing one’s life but by seeing who is living it.
Does Tony Parsons teach meditation or a spiritual practice?
No. His books present liberation as “beyond effort, path, process or belief”, and he argues that any practice reinforces the idea of someone who could get somewhere.
Why is Tony Parsons called a neo-Advaita teacher, and is that controversial?
Because he rejects the gradual paths of traditional Advaita Vedanta and says there is no one to be liberated. Writers on traditional Advaita have criticised this approach as incomplete or one-sided. The Advaita Vision website hosts the debate, including a June 2008 essay in which Parsons argues that traditional Advaita teaches what can be known, while his message points to what cannot.
Where can I hear Tony Parsons speak?
He has held talks and meetings in Britain and Europe for decades; his own site, theopensecret.com, carries his books and meeting details. He has also given interviews, such as a 2012 conversation with Rick Archer on Buddha at the Gas Pump.
Footnotes
- Tony Parsons — Buddha at the Gas Pump
- “Traditional not two-ness is better than Neo not two-ness???” — Tony Parsons, Advaita Vision, 2008
- The Open Secret — Goodreads
- As It Is — AbeBooks
- Invitation to Awaken — library catalogue record
- Nothing Being Everything — Biblio
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“The Open Secret recognises that there is no such thing as enlightenment or liberation.”
— Tony Parsons, “Traditional not two-ness is better than Neo not two-ness???”, essay on Advaita Vision (2008)
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