“Behind the multiplicity of forms there is a single reality.”

– Aldous Huxley –

“Behind the multiplicity of forms there is a single reality.”

– Aldous Huxley –

About the Beware Thing

Like any journey toward an unfamiliar destination, a spiritual path pursued with tenacity, honesty, and earnestness will gradually reveal some profound revelations. The mother of them all? You don’t exist the way you’ve been programmed to believe. Like apples and quarks and the jerk who cut you off in traffic, you’re an expression of the One, a life being lived versus someone living a life. So yeah, beware of the Doug [your ego name goes here]. If you need some gear for your trek, I run a sister site with resources collected from a broad collection of mystics, masters, seers and sages. Good luck!

About the Beware Thing

Like any journey toward an unfamiliar destination, a spiritual path pursued with tenacity, honesty, and earnestness will gradually reveal some profound revelations. The mother of them all? You don’t exist the way you’ve been programmed to believe. Like apples and quarks and the jerk who cut you off in traffic, you’re an expression of the One, a life being lived versus someone living a life. So yeah, beware of the Doug [your ego name goes here]. If you need some gear for your trek, I run a sister site with resources collected from a broad collection of mystics, masters, seers and sages. Good luck!

LATEST POSTS

Dark night of the soul

My Dark Night of the Soul

Published On: January 24, 2026

I woke as I so often do hours before dawn. This time, however, something felt different. Initially, there was a sense of expansion, my consciousness akin to helium filling the vessel otherwise known as me. Because it's happened before I didn't think much of it. Abruptly, however, a sense of fear started to take its[...]

My Hard Reboot

A Meeting With the Ineffable

Published On: December 9, 2025

Without warning the headphones go silent, replaced by a profound, absolute stillness. It is otherworldly. But then, all of this is and has been for hours now. Just as abruptly comes a brilliant white light that fills everything. There is nothing but light and, as with the stillness, it is complete. Nothing exists beyond this[...]

Suffering-as-a-gift

Knock Knock

Published On: October 30, 2025

What if we saw our suffering the way the mystics do - as an inner opening to something transcendent, as a whispered urging from God? The Sufi mystic, Jalāl al-Dīn Rumi, told his followers, "What hurts you, blesses you. Darkness is your candle." The Indian sage, Ramana Maharshi, reminded us that the purpose of suffering[...]

Vision quest and elk

The Elk, the Pilot, the Lakota Guide and the Vision Quest

Published On: June 27, 2025

In 2007 I was invited by a Lakota to undergo a guided vision quest in New Mexico's mountains. We carefully hunted the saplings that would serve as four-corners staffs, bundled and tied the prayer flags, and chose a spot in a meadow on the edge of a forest at roughly 9,000 feet in altitude. The[...]

  • Dark night of the soul

    My Dark Night of the Soul

    I woke as I so often do hours before dawn. This time, however, something felt different. Initially, there was a sense of expansion, my consciousness akin to helium filling the vessel otherwise known as me.[...]

  • My Hard Reboot

    A Meeting With the Ineffable

    Without warning the headphones go silent, replaced by a profound, absolute stillness. It is otherworldly. But then, all of this is and has been for hours now. Just as abruptly comes a brilliant white light[...]

  • Suffering-as-a-gift

    Knock Knock

    What if we saw our suffering the way the mystics do - as an inner opening to something transcendent, as a whispered urging from God? The Sufi mystic, Jalāl al-Dīn Rumi, told his followers, "What[...]

  • Vision quest and elk

    The Elk, the Pilot, the Lakota Guide and the Vision Quest

    In 2007 I was invited by a Lakota to undergo a guided vision quest in New Mexico's mountains. We carefully hunted the saplings that would serve as four-corners staffs, bundled and tied the prayer flags,[...]

  • Stop the world

    Stop the World, I Want to Get Off

    Not long after I turned 13, I found myself living with my father on the 11th floor of a Virginia apartment 20 minutes from downtown Washington, D.C. One morning, shortly before departing for his secretive[...]

  • Advaita: End of the Spiritual Path

    Advaita Vedanta: End Point of the Spiritual Journey

    Searching for peace, happiness, truth, God, meaning, I spent years exploring a variety of religious, spiritual, metaphysical, and alternative teachings. One by one, however, each failed me due to their various inventor-inspired rites, rituals, teachers,[...]

Dark night of the soul

My Dark Night of the Soul

I woke as I so often do hours before dawn. This time, however, something felt different. Initially, there was a sense of expansion, my consciousness akin to helium filling the vessel otherwise known as me.[...]

My Hard Reboot

A Meeting With the Ineffable

Without warning the headphones go silent, replaced by a profound, absolute stillness. It is otherworldly. But then, all of this is and has been for hours now. Just as abruptly comes a brilliant white light[...]

Suffering-as-a-gift

Knock Knock

What if we saw our suffering the way the mystics do - as an inner opening to something transcendent, as a whispered urging from God? The Sufi mystic, Jalāl al-Dīn Rumi, told his followers, "What[...]

Vision quest and elk

The Elk, the Pilot, the Lakota Guide and the Vision Quest

In 2007 I was invited by a Lakota to undergo a guided vision quest in New Mexico's mountains. We carefully hunted the saplings that would serve as four-corners staffs, bundled and tied the prayer flags,[...]

“Peace will come to the hearts of men when they realize their oneness with the universe. It is everywhere.”

– Black Elk –

Black Elk

“Peace will come to the hearts of men when they realize their oneness with the universe. It is everywhere.”

– Black Elk –

Black Elk beware of the doug

Recent Posts

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MORE POSTS

MORE POSTS

  • Dark therapy

    Spelunking Toward Inner Development

    Sensory deprivation via natural or manmade caves has now become, if not routine, certainly more commonplace. In recent months Outside and National Geographic have[...]

  • Psilocybin causes massive brain changes

    ‘Massive’ Changes Detected in Brains Using Psilocybin

    Using fMRI technology, scientists for the first time have revealed significant - albeit temporary - changes in the brain function of individuals using psilocybin,[...]

  • The paradox of enlightenment

    The Mischievous Paradox Lurking Within Enlightenment

    Read enough stories on the topic of spiritual awakening and you'll discover a common vein running through all of them: the eradication of the[...]

  • About Beware of the Doug

    The Spiritual Lesson Lurking in Materialism

    The material world is not what we perceive it to be. This is the age-old message of the mystics, sages, and seers. But it's[...]

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My Other Sites

Perennial Way

I’ve collected a lot of useful resources along the way and share them here for those on the same path.

Kidzu

Originally focused on extracurricular activities for kids, it’s expanding into more meaningful focuses.

My Other Sites

Perennial Way

A collection of resources (teachers, books, organizations, etc.) that may be of use to others on a similar journey.

Kidzu

Originally focused on extracurricular activities for kids but expanded to include more meaningful focuses.