The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom (A Toltec Wisdom Book)

by Miguel Ruiz

You will find that you suffered all those years of drama for nothing. Why? Because the belief system that was put inside your mind is based on lies.

Your life is the manifestation of your dream; it is an art.

Your story. Your film

There are three masteries that lead people to become a Toltec. First is the Mastery of Awareness. This is to be aware of who we really are, with all the possibilities. The second is the Mastery of Transformation — how to change, how to be free of domestication. The third is the Mastery of Intent. Intent from the Toltec point of view is that part of life that makes transformation of energy possible; it is the one living being that seamlessly encompasses all energy, or what we call “God.” Intent is life itself; it is unconditional love. The Mastery of Intent is therefore the Mastery of Love.

The Toltec believe that the parasite — the Judge, the Victim, and the belief system — has control of your mind; it controls your personal dream. The parasite dreams through your mind and lives its life through your body. It survives on the emotions that come from fear, and thrives on drama and suffering.

The process of domestication can be called the dream of the first attention

using your attention for the second time, thus creating the dream of the second attention or the new dream.

you are no longer a child. Now it’s up to you to choose what to believe and what not to believe.

to really change your beliefs you need to focus your attention on what it is that you want to change.

You take an inventory of all that you believe,

changing the fear-based agreements that make you suffer, and reprogramming your own mind, in your own way.

3 step

example, the little girl who was told not to sing is now twenty years old and she still does not sing. One way she can overcome the belief that her voice is ugly is to say, “Okay, I will try to sing, even if I do sing badly.” Then she can pretend that someone is clapping

replace it with a new agreement that makes you happy.

a slow process.

We are addicted to the beliefs that tell us, “I’m not good enough, I’m not intelligent enough. Why even try? Other people will do it because they’re better than me.”

humans are mentally sick with a disease called fear.

When the fear is too great, the reasoning mind begins to fail, and we call this mental illness.

We must forgive those we feel have wronged us, not because they deserve to be forgiven, but because we love ourselves so much we don’t want to keep paying for the injustice.

Forgiveness is the key.

You will know you have forgiven someone when you see them and you no longer have an emotional reaction. You will hear the name of the person and you will have no emotional reaction.

We must learn to control the emotions so we have enough personal power to change our fear-based agreements, escape from hell, and create our own personal heaven.

It is when we lose control that we repress the emotions, not when we are in control.

Victims repress because they are afraid to show the emotions, afraid to say what they want to say. To refrain is not the same thing as repression. To refrain is to hold the emotions and to express them in the right moment, not before, not later.

When we try to live in the past, how can we enjoy the present? When we dream of the future, why must we carry the burden of the past? When are we going to live in the present? That is what the angel of death teaches us to do.

Imagine living your life without being afraid to take a risk and to explore life.

The only reason you suffer is because you choose to suffer. If you look at your life you will find many excuses to suffer, but a good reason to suffer you will not

Happiness is a choice, and so is suffering.

Vicktor Frankl

Focus your attention on your lungs, as if only your lungs exist.

Take a deep breath and feel the air as it fills your lungs.

To breathe gives us much pleasure.