Musings on The Four Agreements, Toltec Lore and the Path to The Ultimate Freedom
-
The Fifth Agreement – Brushing Aside Existing Views as a Way to Freedom and Completeness
Posted on February 11th, 2010 1 comment
Famed creator of The Four Agreements, don Miguel Ruiz, has released his newest book, The Fifth Agreement. What is this principle all about, and why is this such an essential doctrine?
Background of don Miguel Ruiz
Don Miguel Ruiz belongs to a clan of curanderas (healers) and was brought up in a hinterland in Mexico by a curandera mother and a nagual (master shaman) grandfather. The family believed that Miguel would take up their old legacy of healing and teaching, and promote the mystic Toltec knowledge. Instead, disturbed by modern life, Miguel chose to go to medical school.
A tragic experience changed his plans in life. Shocked by this experience, he began a complete practice of self-study. He committed himself to the full learning of the age-old ancestral wisdom, studying consistently with his mother, and finishing an apprenticeship with a powerful nagual in the Mexican desert. In the established practice of the Toltecs, a shaman helps a mortal to personal freedom. Don Miguel is a shaman from the Eagle Knight ancestry, and is dedicated to transmitting his knowledge of the principles of the ancient Toltecs. He is the author of The Four Agreements, The Mastery of Love, and The Four Agreements Companion Book. At the moment he is promoting The Fifth Agreement.
From the accounts of those who have worked with him personally, don Miguel is a very perceptive and enlivening person. When he first began teaching, he would frequent at private residences in California and share his knowledge in Toltec. This was before he turned into a recognized sage. He was always gracious and displayed love. During his talks he would frequently say, “Don’t believe me, don’t believe anyone else, don’t believe yourself.” They were compelling words, which don Miguel has now converted into a new masterpiece, The Fifth Agreement.
Brushing aside belief systems is the main teaching of the Toltec Path. Whenever you already have a conjecture, you no longer inquire what it really is. You perceive only what Toltecs label, the smoky mirror. You interpret what you see through colored glasses. Like for example, in Japan the number four is something that connotes death or misfortune. The word ‘shi’, which means four in Nihonggo sounds like the Nihonggo word ‘shinu’ which means death. For this perception, they eliminate the fourth floor in their establishments. Also, the number 13 is almost always considered disastrous in western cultures, and the 13th floor is at times excluded in buildings. Each culture really interprets certain things and events differently.
Another concrete example – in many countries suicide is believed to cause terrifying consequences in the afterlife. This is attributed to the influence of Christian beliefs about heaven and hell. In Japan, on the other hand, the Samurai treated suicide as an honorable act. If defeated, a warrior considered suicide victory. To this day, suicide is perceived strangely in Japan.
Why is this principle crucial on a spiritual path? It is crucial because in order to attain the truth, to realize reality fairly and squarely, one must be free from old perceptions. One must change the way they think of themselves and their surroundings in order to grow and succeed. Toltecs term the old belief systems inventory. In order to grasp reality and beyond into what Toltecs term the second attention, the world of energy, they strive to say goodbye to all inventory. This is much like interpreting the world through the eyes of an infant, or what Buddhists term ‘The Beginners Mind’.
It is not hard to understand how things such as racial prejudice and discrimination are frequently based on existing belief systems. If a person is convinced that a race of people is inferior or less significant, they will actually perceive things that match their views. They perceive the world through lenses colored by their usual perceptions.
Don Miguel Ruiz aspires to transform this world into a better place. To do so we must first transform our personal aspirations. We must become clear, devoid of the existing belief systems that handcuff us. This is the potency of the Fifth Agreement.
-
What is This Thing Called Me?
Posted on October 27th, 2008 No comments
Maia Merril Berens asked:
“Each of us is something of a schizophrenic personality, tragically divided against ourselves.”
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Who is the Real You, your authentic self? In the Human Experience, from the time you are born until you are roughly seven you are your perfect, authentic self. Then you take on layers of personality. That personality is made up of beliefs, decisions, unresolved and unexpressed emotions, real or imagined perceptions of the world, defense mechanisms and all the influences from around you. Thus, what you are doing on a transformational journey is uncovering and sorting out all that is not your authentic self.
Theoretically, you will never be able to completely uncover the Real You except in longer and longer fleeting glimpses. However, you will become adept at sensing the road blocks between your core authentic self and your life.
Envision a golden shining inner core that is continually accessible to you for guidance – this is your intuition – this is the Real You.
Further, imagine that you use frosted or opaque glasses through which you perceive and act in your life.
If you choose a personal growth or spiritual growth path, it will help you clear your vision – the glasses you are seeing through will become more and more translucent.
My husband says transformation is like learning golf or tennis. Learning anything requires focus, commitment and practice, whether it be learning to play a sport, an instrument or the game of life. I can teach you the rudiments of transformation however unless you apply the principles with focus, commitment and practice you will always only be a dabbler. The choice is yours.
A Part of Me
“Observe all men, thyself most.”
Benjamin Franklin
“All these little living beings create inner conflict because they are alive and they each have a voice.”
Don Miguel Ruiz
Self-observation is the act of literally examining the world inside of you, by focusing on your inner thoughts and emotions as opposed to examining the world outside of you. If you give much greater importance to your outer reality – how you look and how it looks out there, it will be very tough to make inner changes because you will worry about how you appear to the rest of the world. Without training yourself to focus inward – by becoming aware of your different moods, and those different inner “selves” both negative and positive – that seem to take over sometimes – no real change will be possible.
I often speak about a “part of me”. For example, “a part of me wanted to buy that Almond Roca candy at the 99¢ store this morning.” I’ve often been told by friends that there are no “parts to you – you are a fully integrated person”. My Real Self is a fully integrated person, however, I have parts or different selves.
You have parts and different selves, too. Built into a transformational journey is the necessity to learn to identify and separate from those parts so that they lose power over you in order that they lose power over running your life.
Recognizing those selves helps in the journey towards integration, leading you closer and closer to the Real You. Once you bring awareness to them, they will be in charge of your life less frequently.
One of the most persistent “selves” throughout my life has been the one that thinks something is wrong with how I look. She used to be in charge a good deal of the time. She made me hate myself. She made it impossible to see what I really looked like. She had become the root of my food addiction. Now, even though her voice is still a memory, she is almost never present. Most of the time I like how I look, regardless of my weight, hairstyle or attire. When she does come around, I recognize her quickly and she loses her power because my Real Self is so much clearer and so much more available. I do not need her any more. Having done the healing I have done, I do not need to find ways to hate myself any longer.
I thank those parts that have protected me and that I no longer need. Each part of us is important when it forms but when it is no longer needed, we have the opportunity to let it go.
Martin
