'Mastering the Art of healthy and joyful living through 4 simple Agreements' by Miguel Ruiz

'Mastering the Art of healthy and joyful living through 4 simple Agreements'

The 4 Agreements by Miguel Ruiz

If you haven't read 'The 4 agreements' by M. Ruiz yet and feel like you could benefit from more joyful, healthful and soulful living, then don't delay.  The 4 simple agreements Miguel Ruiz exposes in his book are powerful tools that will empower you to turn your life around and become free to live a happy and healthy existence.  For more, read below or listen to the "Let Love Rule" Radio Show segment from February 16, 2010 @ www.letloverule.us, or, better yet, read the book!

'HOW TO APPLY THE “4 AGREEMENTS” INTO YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE'

The main mistake people make when searching for love and happiness is to look outside themselves for what resides within... It is only once you have found that deep self-love that you can go and share it amongst family, friends and every living creature, animate or not.  But, words are still just words and so practically speaking, 'How can you achieve personal freedom and in turn cultivate Love into your life? And how do you find Love inside yourself and manifest it into your daily life?' First things first, if it’s not already there infusing your daily thoughts, words and deeds, then it probably means that the grooves are already developed in your mind, that the seeds of Love were never properly planted into your mind early on in life.  Therefore a “mind de-conditioning” phase needs to take place before you can start attracting Love into your life... That’s the only “Secret”; not much of a secret really if you think about it as energy attracting the same type of energy.  But we can talk about resonance, entrainment and the "Secret" some other time.  Today I'd like to just focus on practical tips to help you achieve personal freedom, with the intention of ultimately helping you to develop new ways of bringing Love into your life. Rather than “re-inventing” the wheel, I’ve decided to just discuss Miguel Ruiz's “Four Agreements” which contain a wealth of  extremely practical advice on how to achieve personal freedom.  The Toltec Wisdom the Spiritual Master imparts in this book is extremely down-to-earth and so I thought we could talk about how we could apply the 4 Agreements into Everyday Life, through very practical examples.  Following are the 4 agreements and a short explanation on how to apply them in your day-to-day life.

1.  BE IMPECCABLE WITH YOUR WORD   = > LIVE IN TRUTH

Obviously, this means “BE TRUTHFUL”, do not lie. This not only applies to others but also to your own self.  How can you possibly be completely honest and truthful with others if you do not have the inner knowledge of who you are and what your own truth is?  If you cannot see through your own self, and why it is that you do the things you do, then how can you even expect to be true to others since you do not even know that you are not being truthful in the first place? This does not only apply to your words but to your thoughts and deeds too; because being truthful reflects not just in your words but is a direct result of your thoughts and directly influences all your actions. Therefore, the first step towards “impeccability” of word (thought and deed) is self-knowledge, one that is developed through self-exploration and objective contemplation of the reasons and mechanics behind your thoughts, words, and deeds... Meditation is the key...  There are many ways available for you to explore this path and you must explore in order to find the one that is most suited to your personality...  Yoga, Meditation, other Passionate Endeavors, anything that makes you vibe and fall into the moment...

2.  DON’T TAKE ANYTHING PERSONALLY => CULTIVATE DETACHMENT

In life, all people ever do in their personal interactions is react to one another based on their own mind conditioning, projections, opinions and biased perspectives. In short, you are never the target just the recipient of an energy that you may attract or a trigger to the person who reacts to what you represent to them.  Once you know that and you understand that you only project when you try and decipher another’s behaviors, you free yourself from that heavy burden.  When you think someone is treating you wrong, you cannot assume that it has anything to do with you.  Everybody lives in their own head.  If you stop projecting and mis-reading/ interpreting others then you become free.  As long as you follow the first rule/ code and are impeccable in your thoughts, words, and deeds, then the judge inside you can let go of any judgment and see others' reactions and your own for what they really are, self-judgment and automated/ conditioned responses to keep ourselves safe and simple reactions to triggers. Does that mean that you should be willing to surround yourself with such people?  Certainly not.  Once you’ve identified specific individuals as 'toxic' for you, you need to root them out of your life.  You can still love them and wish them well, but you don’t need to subject yourself to their constant mood swings, judgments and become the victim of their lack of awareness.  You need to detach yourself and move on with your life, attract a more positive energy that reflects the same love you feel and wish to share.

3.  DON’T MAKE ASSUMPTIONS - ASK FOR CLARIFICATION 

Move away from the victim/ judge scenario.  Let truth be known and come out. When you don’t know, when you are in doubt, do not project your own judgements or insecurities onto a situation or a person, be brave and ask for clarifications.  Making assumptions is also the result of your own M.O. and conditioning, which has nothing to do with what other people might be thinking.  Rather than projecting onto someone your own mode of thinking and behavior, ask.  Even if you feel afraid to do so, know that fear won’t change the end result. Face your own fears and doubts. Do not let fears and pains turn into suffering through false projections and interpretations. Don't let fear take over your whole being and life, face reality and don’t waste time in unnecessary speculations and potentially painful false ideas and erroneous deductions.  ASK.  If you believe in yourself, you know your word to be impeccable, you understand that nothing in life is personal, and if you have done your best (which we’ll talk about in a minute), then what is there to be afraid of?  When you live in Truth, nothing can hurt you...  So stop the voices in your head, walk towards freedom and love with open mind and open heart.

4.  ALWAYS DO YOUR BEST => BE PRESENT AND GIVE 100% OF YOUR ATTENTION TO WHAT YOU DO

You don’t need to compare yourself to others.  You don’t need to judge yourself against standards of perfection that will always keep you feeling below “standard”... Be in the NOW.  Be who you are.  Give 100% of yourself to everything that you do.  What else can you do?  If you give your best, put all your attention/ energy in one direction, onto one subject, that in itself is perfection.  You don’t need to do anymore than that.  You don’t need to be “best”, better than”... you just need to accept yourself and give it your everything.  In time, anything you put your whole attention and intention to, will sprout into a beautiful flower.  Channel Divine/ unlimited energy, i.e. tap into the “Cosmic” Mind. When you do your very best and live life to the fullest, there is nothing to regret or have remorse over.

Following is a comprehensive review of the Toltec wisdom book that will give you more background information on the author and the content of the book.

Don Miguel Ruiz is known as a nagual, or shaman, of the Toltec tradition. The Toltecs were an ancient group of scientists and artists that was formed to explore and preserve the practices and spiritual knowledge of the ancient ones. It is not a religion, but a way of life that embraces spirit and honors all the spiritual masters who have taught on the earth. Toltec wisdom arises from the same essential unity of truth as other sacred esoteric traditions that are found all over the world. The Four Agreements are very simple, but very profound. To embrace and live each of the Four Agreements is to find yourself experiencing personal freedom--possibly as never before.  The Four Agreements are: (1) Be Impeccable With Your Words, (2) Don't Take Anything Personally,
(3) Don't Make Assumptions, (4) Always Do Your Best.  These are explained in details below.

Be Impeccable With Your Word: 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.

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.

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.

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.

This book may be small in size, but it packs a hefty punch in terms of shattering personal illusions and opening up a path to personal freedom. I consider this book a must-have for anyone wanting to become more conscious and wanting freedom from personal stories and agreements that cause suffering.