As It Is: The Open Secret of Spritual Awakening (Paperback)

~ (Author) "While we remain locked within the apparent experience of being separate individuals living in an existence with which we have to negotiate, we live in..." (more)
Key Phrases: awakening happens, infinite expression, formal meditation, Tony Parsons (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

As It Is is a profound and radical work that points to the fundamental freedom that is independent of path, process, effort, or belief. In these pages the reader is taken on a journey--one that clearly reveals that there is nothing to become, nor any specific goal to attain. Rather, what is shown is how a deep-rooted misperception of our true identity has caused us to live in "apparent" pain and fear.Through the direct perception of "what is, as it is," Tony Parsons offers the reader a very practical and accessible approach to authentic spiritual realization. His invitation is to live life from a wholly different perspective--one centered in the infinite awareness of one's true Self.

About the Author

Tony Parsons is an esteemed teacher who regularly shares this "open secret" of spiritual awakening with people throughout the world. His straightforward and highly effective message of awakening to life "as it is," is delivered with an impersonal authority that emanates from absolute clarity.

Product Details

• Paperback: 138 pages
• Publisher: Inner Directions (September 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1878019104
• ISBN-13: 978-1878019103
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8.8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (46 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #345,413 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

50 of 53 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Discovering Our Identity, March 2, 2001

By A Customer

Tony Parson's book is another in a series of gifts to humanity: books by individuals who have realized the Holy Grail of spiritual seekers throughout history. Seeker/readers who found Eckhart Tolle's book 'The Power of Now' valuable will immediately connect with Parson's open, simple, and fundamental description of and access to the nature of the Prize. In brief, succinct introductory chapters entitled Awakening from the Dream, Context, No Achievement, No One Becomes Enlightened, Time, Expectation & Purpose, he describes his own experiences and revelations on his path and beautifully expresses that seemingly contradictory truth "that enlightenment only becomes available when it has been accepted that it cannot be achieved". These chapters conclude with "The Park" in which he recounts the arrival of the Recognition as he walked across a park in a London suburb. The remainder of the first part of the book deals with the perennial issues with which, I believe, we must each finally come to grips: Presence, the Choiceless Choice, My World (the nature and value of individual subjectivity), the Death of the Body Mind, Abstraction, Fear, Guilt, Thinking, Relationships. Part one concludes with two short descriptions of who "I Am Not" and who "I Am". Part two comprises a series of dialogues with other seekers which he prefaces with the statement that "words are not truth just as honey is not sweetness". If you have read and treasured any of the writings of Eckhart Tolle, Ramesh Balsekar, Douglas Harding, Gangaji, HWJ Poonjaji, it is my suspicion that you may well have come as far as "you" can go on the Path. From here on, the truth simply becomes more and more transparent. Tony Parsons deserves our deepest gratitude and appreciation for his assistance.

43 of 47 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars what's it like to awaken?, April 8, 2003

By	Orva Schrock "[e-mail]" (goshen, in United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Tony Parsons is obviously one who knows what IT is. what it means to be awake. this great little book keeps pointing at the real, the truth, what we really are. what he describes has the taste and feel of something wonderful, something beyond the usual mode of thinking and knowing. he knows who he is. he knows what he is and what we all are, too. he invites us to just see it: as it is. this book is fascinating in that it points to something very special which is available to all of us, available just for the seeing. but we continue to believe in ourselves as separate beings, and in that perception of separation, the true vision cannot appear. here's how Tony puts it in his own words from the book: "this is the great game: the infinite manifests through you as a dreamed character in a grand play called life.....what you are is no thing. what you are is beyond anything you ever believed.....it's always attractive to the mind when it is offered a method or technique like stilling the mind or killing the ego. there is no possibility for the mind to still the mind, and once it is recognized that what you are is the still silent awareness that sees the mind and its activities going on, then it is also recognized that there is no need to still the mind.....ultimately, you will realize that you are not your thoughts, your mind, your body, or any other object, but that behind all of these is a still, constant, seeming nothingness from which everything emanates; this is what you are."

29 of 32 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars THIS BOOK IS WONDERFUL, August 12, 2001

By A Customer

I love this simple and beautiful book. Tony's descriptions of "presence" are as clear and beautiful as any I have ever read. I find myself entering deeply into that profound state just after reading a few sentences of his book. It carries the purest essence of truth, coming as it does from a truly liberated human being. I was especially intrigued with his "dialogue" which is guaranteed to bring out a great deal of ego resistance. But if you feel that resistance and defensiveness coming on don't get stuck there - read it again and again and you will resonate with the deep truth of his statements. His has great gentleness but also will come on strong against your ego. Read his along with Eckhart Tolle's book - "The Power of Now." Two awakened brothers.