Does the name Don Miguel Ruiz mean anything to you?
His Book “The Four Agreements, A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom,” published in 1997, has sold approximately 9 million copies worldwide. For many readers, I therefore think it’s therefore not necessary to introduce "The Four Agreements" to you. his book that has changed the lives of many people.
This book has changed many peoples' lives. To quote a quote from this wise narrative:
"Every time you read it, it's not the book that has changed, but you." Don Miguel Ruiz.
Miguel Ruiz is a Mexican author, teacher, and shaman. This cult book presents the 4 main principles of Mexican ancestral culture that allows access to happiness.
This powerful code of conduct, capable of quickly transforming our lives into an experience of freedom, all based on the discipline of the warrior, can act on our consciousness in the here and now. These 4 agreements resemble certain other theories, I would even say methods from social or cognitive psychology, but they have the advantage of allowing them to be easily appropriated through the use of simple words and key phrases. Here is the summary:
1- Be impaccable with our words
2- Don’t take anything personally
3- Do not make assumptions
4- Always do your best.
The Four Toltec Agreements are, in a way, a guide to becoming aware of one's own behavior and mental state, in order to be able to act on it by removing any source of limiting belief. Self-forgiveness is therefore an essential path to healing. In very simple terms, it demonstrates how to free yourself from your fears of resentment, naming it all as collective conditioning.
These “agreements” make us lose touch with reality and limit our potential. To enter the path of personal freedom, we should live by these four rules, therefore enter into these four agreements.
1. Be Impeccable With Your Words
Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean.
Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others.
Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
2. Don't Take Anything Personally
Nothing others do is because of you.
What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream.
When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won't be the victim of needless suffering.
3. Don't Make Assumptions
Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want.
Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama.
With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
4. Always Do Your Best
Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick.
Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
Since Carl Gustav Jung, we have known that what we do not accept in ourselves is our dark side. When someone criticizes us, it is as if they were putting a spotlight on what we are trying to keep hidden, what Freud called the unconscious and yes, we are not always masters of ourselves. This is why we may react violently or feel hurt, simply because it awakens unconscious wounds.
To work on the Toltec agreements is to feel love for yourself, so that you can then put aside resentment. It is to have a totally positive perspective, followed by a protective shield against various external aggressions. It is to develop a benevolent attitude with yourself.
Shouldn't we first try to find ourselves, before being our own lawyer and judge? Socrates' "know thyself" obviously has no place here... Too bad, a personal inventory can sometimes be beneficial and that's when the 4 agreements can become one more tool, or even a daily method to learn to feel better.
We invite you to revel in this reading and read and reread this book, as your unconscious becomes conscious.
