Toltec Wisdom and a Path to Heaven on Earth
Training the Mind with Four Internal Agreements
Jul 18, 2009
A universal energy is with all humans from birth and that energy is love. Bit by little bit, the natural energy is damaged and wounded, until humans operate on the basis of fear rather than love. Toltec wisdom teaches that energy lost to the wounds of life can be recaptured through conscious effort. Self-awareness of the wounds can lead to steps to heal them.
Don Miguel Ruiz & The Four Agreements
The Toltec beliefs for helping the wounds heal are found in Don Miguel Ruiz’ best selling book, The Four Agreements. Healing the wounds can return one’s state of mind to love, lifting the mind out of drama and hell and returning to a child-like state of love, which Ruiz describes as heaven.
In The Four Agreements Miguel Ruiz first describes injuries to the human spirit and human reaction to them. In reaction to injuries from companions and family, the mind begins to make agreements with itself. These agreements are to adopt conduct to avoid pain and injury. People are driven by the fear of mental anguish that comes from the negative judgment of others. They lock up their true being, trying to be what they believe the world or someone else wants them to be and wind up living in hell.
The Toltec answer as put forth by Ruiz is to consciously replace the internal agreements that ultimately lead to pain with four new ones. The new agreements with one’s self are intended to lead to peace, joy and contentment, in short: an escape from hell and the road to heaven while still on this earth.
For that to happen one needs to be keenly self-aware of the debate inside the mind and take control of the debate and consciously impose the new agreements on every day life until they become a habit.
The First Agreement is Be Impeccable with Your Word.
It is critical to acknowledge the power of words. They can hurt, destroy, and spread poison and chaos. In spreading poison people hurt themselves. Ruiz posits that by realizing the power of the word, and avoiding gossip, lies, hurtful remarks and empty promises leads to personal freedom taking away all fear and changing it to joy and love.
The Second Agreement is Don’t Take Anything Personally
Everything anyone says is actually always about them. Statements people make come from the prism of their existence and always has their bias attached. When someone comments about another person, it's important to remember that no opinions are truly objective; the comment comes from the bias through which the speaker filters the world. Realizing this makes one impervious to the hurtful comments of others and allows one to be in the middle of hell and yet experience contentment.
The Third Agreement is Don’t Make Assumptions
Assuming what others are thinking without checking with them is the source of much stress. Understanding that people have differing motives for their actions, and really trying to understand and discuss these motives before judging their behavior, can limit significantly interpersonal conflict. It takes courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Clear communication can banish misunderstanding, sadness and drama.
The Fourth Agreement is Always Do Your Best
A person’s best changes from moment to moment. It may vary between days of good or ill health, but if one does one’s best at every given moment there can be no regrets. If there has been an honest effort put into life, one will be ashamed of nothing. Doing one’s best will avoid self-judgment and self-abuse.
A Personal Relationship and Relationship With the World
The Four Agreements is a book about living well for one’s self, It describes a path to self-healing of the wounds inflicted by the world. In a way, it is a relationship book, but the relationship is strictly internal. However, a predicted bonus is that by finding peace and contentment within one’s own being, improved relations with others in the world will result. This theme is further explored in a following book, Mastery of Love.
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