In his contemporary review of "All Things Must Pass", Ben Gerson of "Rolling Stone" wrote that "Beware of Darkness" was possibly the album's best song, commenting on its "enigmatic" music and the combination of "warning" and "affirmation" in its lyrics. Recalling the impact of "All Things Must Pass" in his 1977 book "The Beatles Forever", Nicholas Schaffner said that whereas "'s studio was his soap-box" on the concurrently issued "John Lennon/Plastic Ono Band", "Harrison's was his pulpit" through his album's focus on Hindu-aligned concepts such as maya, reincarnation, karma, chanting and transcendence. Schaffner paired "Beware of Darkness" with "All Things Must Pass" as "the two most eloquent songs on the album, musically as well as lyrically" with "mysterious, seductive melodies, over which faded strings ... hover like Blue Jay Way fog". In a rare early-1970s interview, Harrison told Mike Hennessey that "Beware of Darkness" was his favourite out of all his compositions, adding, "I like the tune, I like the idea and I like the chord changes ..."