Introducing John Tan’s New Website
New · October 2026
Introducing John Tan’s
New Website
Thusness / PasserBy · Books, articles and narrated videos
Exploring anatta, emptiness and dependent arising
I’m happy to share John Tan’s new website. Many readers of Awakening to Reality will know John as Thusness / PasserBy, the author of Seven Stages of Enlightenment and On Anatta (No-Self), Emptiness, Maha and Ordinariness, and Spontaneous Perfection.
The new site brings together his books, articles and narrated videos, with a particular focus on post-anatta insights—the deepening of emptiness and dependent arising. Its opening page, After Anatta, connects these explorations to phases 5–7 of the seven phases of insight. The written materials and videos are free to read, watch and share, and the site also provides read-aloud listening.
For the fuller picture, read these two articles first
If you are new to Awakening to Reality, my recommendation is to begin with these two foundational articles, in this order, before exploring John’s new website:
- Thusness/PasserBy’s Seven Stages of Enlightenment
The broader experiential map: from I AM, through non-duality, to anatta, emptiness and spontaneous perfection. - On Anatta (No-Self), Emptiness, Maha and Ordinariness, and Spontaneous Perfection
A closer exploration of the experiential insights of no-self, including the two stanzas, and their relationship to emptiness, luminosity and practice.
Together, these give the context for understanding where the new collection fits. John’s website goes deeply into what unfolds with and beyond anatta; reading the earlier articles first helps place that material within the wider journey.
This is a reading recommendation, not an attainment requirement. You do not need to have already realised anatta before visiting the site. The point is to approach the later explorations with the broader picture in view.
Why this collection matters
One of the important themes of John’s After Anatta introduction is that insight, experience and view do not necessarily mature together. He describes how anatta had dawned, yet habitual ways of understanding experience still needed further examination. Seeing through a separate observer does not, by itself, settle every assumption about the reality of mind, phenomena, time or causality.
The new material takes up these questions in depth. How does the understanding of no-self deepen into the emptiness of phenomena? What does dependent designation mean in lived experience? How can continuity, responsibility and everyday functioning be understood without positing an independently existing carrier underneath them?
For readers familiar with the foundational AtR articles, this collection offers a way to follow those questions through sustained explanations, experiential reflections and close engagement with Madhyamaka. I recommend reading slowly, returning to the earlier articles where useful, and bringing the inquiry back to experience.
What you will find: the books
The library currently brings together the following five works. They approach related questions from different directions, so you can move between them as your inquiry develops.
The Logical Necessity of a Substrateless World
The extended argument: an examination of the assumption that anything can exist from its own side, and its implications for mind, perception, causality and continuity.
The Transition from Anatta to Emptiness
The experiential companion: how the understanding develops from anatta into a more thorough understanding of emptiness, including the relationship between view, insight and experience.
Nāgārjuna’s Middle Way
A chapter-by-chapter presentation of Nāgārjuna’s Fundamental Verses on the Middle Way, with Sanskrit, an English translation, explanations and diagrams. It provides textual context for arguments discussed throughout the collection.
The Observer and the Taste of Presence
A shorter route through the inquiry into the observer and the nature of presence, extending into discussions of Madhyamaka and Dzogchen, including the expression “beyond cause and effect.”
The Logic After Anatta
An introduction to the logic of dependency through eight steps, followed by its application to questions about mind, time, rebirth and other topics. This material forms the site’s After Anatta starting page and links into the fuller discussions in the books.
Where I suggest beginning
After the two foundational AtR articles above, open John’s guide to reading the books. It explains how the works relate and offers different routes for readers interested in experience, reasoning or the source texts.
- For the transition itself: begin with The Transition from Anatta to Emptiness, especially if your interest is how view and experiential insight develop together.
- For a short introduction to the reasoning: try the article The Logic of Dependency, or follow the eight steps in The Logic After Anatta.
- For a sustained study: read The Logical Necessity of a Substrateless World, returning to the relevant chapters of Nāgārjuna’s Middle Way alongside it.
There are also shorter articles on particular questions, including Dependent Designation and the Taste of Presence, Two Modes, One Seeing, and The Architecture of Carrierless Continuity. These can be useful when a specific question draws your attention.
Read, listen, watch—and explore the sources
If you prefer listening, the chapters offer a read-aloud option. The Watch section gathers narrated videos with drawings, providing another way to approach the material and revisit it after reading.
The site also includes Ask the Books, where Claude answers questions using the collection and links to the chapters it draws on. This is an AI reading aid, rather than a direct conversation with John. Follow the chapter links and read the passages in context. The site notes that this feature uses your own Claude allowance and asks for permission on first use.
John Tan · Thusness / PasserBy
Continue exploring
My hope is that readers will study the foundational articles alongside these newer explorations, giving both the experiential unfolding and the deepening of view the attention they deserve.
Explore John Tan’s Website ↗atr-passerby.comIntroduction and reading recommendations by Soh Wei Yu · October 2026. Book descriptions and site features are based on John’s reading guide, library and After Anatta introduction, checked on 27 October 2026.
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