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

Why Beware of the Doug?
For years I ran a blog on ending suffering. Now I’m running a blog on discovering the truth about the one who appeared to be doing all that suffering. It’s pretty clear that guy is the problem – well, the belief in him being separate and alone. Ergo the whole ‘beware of the doug’ thing.’ In other words, the only way this works out is if / when Doug gets dumped for good.

Why Beware of the Doug?
For years I ran a blog on ending suffering. Now I’m running a blog on discovering the truth about the one who appeared to be doing all that suffering. It’s pretty clear that guy is the problem – well, the belief in him being separate and alone. Ergo the whole ‘beware of the doug’ thing.’ In other words, the only way this works out is if / when Doug gets dumped for good.
LATEST POSTS
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 Pentagon job, my father announced he'd be gone for an extended stretch of time due to growing concerns a nuclear war with the then-Soviet Union was brewing. As he packed an overnight bag he suggested that in the event I saw a blinding flash of[...]
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, and related orthodoxies. Note here the inventor wasn't the mystic behind those religions. To the contrary, anyone who studies the sages and saints, mystics and masters will clearly recognize they were allergic to the idea of formal religions being constructed around their words. Whether you're[...]
Spirituality is often dismissed as the domain of fantasists, the reasoning being that if one can't touch, smell, hear, taste, see or think it, it's of no tangible benefit to those occupied by the 'real world.' Yet what most of our species thinks of as the real world - the one they're busy sensing and stressing over - is anything but. Ask some scientific heavyweights and they'll tell you the world around us is an illusion. "Reality is merely illusion,"[...]
Like most, I've experienced my share of suffering. Also like most, I turned to the usual suspects for help: psychoanalysis, drugs (legal and not-so-legal), sex, money, adventure, career, family, and so on. Some of it worked. Until it didn't. I suppose because a stretch of my childhood was particularly rough, my brand of suffering may have been more intense than most. Which is why I invested so much time and energy in avoidance strategies. That worked too, for awhile.[...]

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[...]

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,[...]

Spirituality is often dismissed as the domain of fantasists, the reasoning being that if one can't touch, smell, hear, taste, see or think it, it's of no tangible benefit to those occupied by the 'real[...]

Like most, I've experienced my share of suffering. Also like most, I turned to the usual suspects for help: psychoanalysis, drugs (legal and not-so-legal), sex, money, adventure, career, family, and so on. Some of[...]
“Peace will come to the hearts of men when they realize their oneness with the universe. It is everywhere.”
– Black Elk –

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


Sensory deprivation via natural or manmade caves has now become, if not routine, certainly more commonplace. In recent months Outside and National Geographic have run stories on the practice, which usually involves a stay lasting[...]

Using fMRI technology, scientists for the first time have revealed significant - albeit temporary - changes in the brain function of individuals using psilocybin, a hallucinogen known more casually as 'magic mushrooms.' "I've never seen[...]

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 one doing the seeking. Spiritual awakening, writes David Carse, is letting[...]

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 also become a central discovery of modern science. Assuming we're open-minded[...]
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Because we spend our lives driven by thought, it can be terribly difficult for even the tiniest snippet of Truth to edge its way into our consciousness. Without such Truths, the inner journey lacks legs.[...]

A meta-analysis of studies on psilocybin show that high doses of the substance can alleviate symptoms of depression in people at levels comparable to the SSRI drug escitalopram, which is used to treat major depressive[...]

Cleaning out my home office, I stumbled across the journal of my ex-wife, who died several years ago due to the ravages of alcoholism. I spent a few minutes scanning the handful of pages she'd[...]

During my teens I'd stumbled across, and become fascinated with, the idea of a Native American-inspired vision quest. Coming from a controlling and demeaning childhood, the idea of venturing into the wilds in search of[...]





