Book Review: The Four Agreements
A Toltec Wisdom Book By Don Miguel Ruiz
The first thing you need to know, and that Don Miguel Ruiz tells you, is that the Toltecs were ancient Mexican culture from 800-1000 CE, from which the Aztec culture emanated. They had Naguals (masters) that passed down their beliefs through the generations. The Toltecs had a theory that we are each dreaming our own dream of the world in which we live. This theory is called the “Dream of the Planet,” and is the basis of the book. The Four Agreements of the Toltecs are guidelines to live by. They are intended to take the place of all the things we learned through “attention.”
“ We are born with the capacity to learn how to dream, and the humans who live before us teach us how to dream the way society dreams. We can perceive millions of things simultaneously, but using our attention, we can hold whatever we want to perceive in the foreground of our mind. By using our attention we learned a whole reality, a whole dream.”
All that may sound good as you read it. But, when you realize that Don Miguel is right, we learn everything from our parents, teachers, and churches, we believe everything we learn, and all without any choice in the matter – you start to wonder how to create your own dream. Fortunately, we have the Four Agreements of the Toltecs:
- Be impeccable with your word
- Don’t take anything personally
- Don’t make assumptions
- Always do your best
The book goes through each Agreement in a manner that is simple, and easy to relate to.If you need a little push to encourage you to read the book, the last paragraph of the introductory chapter may help you:
“You need a very strong will in order to adopt the Four Agreements – but if you can begin to live your life with these agreements, the transformation in your life will be amazing. You will see the drama of hell disappear right before your very eyes. Instead of living in a dream of hell, you will be creating a new dream – your personal dream of heaven.”
The Companion book provides guidance to help you adopt the Agreements in your life.
