A good book

MauiRob

MauiRob

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I may have mentioned this book before quite awhile ago, but it bears repeating. The Four Agreements by Don Miguel Ruiz.

Here is a summary of his 'agreements' or guidelines to live by: the following ideas are the entire topic of the book.

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.
 
Don't take anything personally.


This may be nitpicking, but I've a point to make about this one. This is very very important. When you have enough confidence to stand, to not react to other's misconceptions and aspertions, attacks or definitions of you, you've accomplished a lot.
But you have to care. You take things personal because this is a very personal experience, this 'living' and 'loving' in life.

To be engaged, involved, to care; without that you are nothing. But it is what you do with that caring that matters, so don't overeact. It's personal, but don't lose your faith.


munk
 
Munk, I think you brought up some very important points that he would agree with.

I think it helps to have more background with his philosophy than is provided in that little snippet I posted...

He doesn't advocate "not caring", he simply wants us to be aware of the distinction between how others view us, and how we really are To remain aware that they are projecting their own view of the world and of us, onto the situation--(often completely missing who we are and what we stand for) this awareness helps us to not entangle our sense of self with their sense of who we are, and lose our ability to act from our hearts.
 
named David Lee Roth once said in an interview(shortly after being sacked as Van Halen's frontman)"Don't sweat the little sh-t!" rigtht after he said, "It's all little sh-t!"
Wisdom from the mouths of rockstars. Who'd have thunk.
 
It's disheartening to see one's self fall short of fulfilling all four of said aggreements. (sigh)

Hard enough just to stick to Confucius' golden rule at times!
 
I believe those same four rules were described in the "rules on how to be a gentleman" published back in the Victorian period. I used to have a copy somewhere...
 
I believe those same four rules were described in the "rules on how to be a gentleman" published back in the Victorian period. I used to have a copy somewhere...
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Interesting... I assume Ruiz based his on Toltec wisdom which predates Victorian times by a long shot, but I don't know for sure that those agreements come from Toltec...
 
I have read "The Four Agreements", and I am with Munk in his observations on "don't take anything personally".

I have the same reservations. What other people think is *often* important as a reality check on our behavior. Though they may see things through their own "reality", sometimes their reality is better than our reality...

Also, I was very interested in what Mr. Ruiz had to say until he got into his more..... esoteric...... beliefs.

I stopped with the four agreements and let him go his own way about the rest of the Universe.....

Andy
 
This is really good stuff. Esp. the "take personally" which I do constantly. I find myself upset at times over the actions of others towards me, only to find out later that nothing overt or hostile was intended. It was all me projecting.

I do a good job of doing my best, and in always keeping my word, but not so well on the other two points. I'll have to look for a copy of this.

Thanks very much for the referral.

Norm
 
MauiRob said:
Such as....?
Click to expand...

The author eventually gets away from such useful things as the four agreements into a discussion of (as far as I could understand it) a discussion of his beliefs about how the universe is basically made up of one fabric, how we are woven into it as a part of a whole, a beleif that is basically a derivation of lots of indigenous peoples around the Earth.

I don't happen to share it, except on the most atomic level, but certainly not at a spiritual level.

Unfortunately, IMO, his continuation beyond the more useful ideas such as the four agreements moved him, at least for me, partially into the crackpot realm.

I took from his philosophy what I found useful, and he can keep the rest.

No harm in reading it, of course. :thumbup:

Andy
 
I took from his philosophy what I found useful, and he can keep the rest.
Click to expand...

And I think he'd be very happy with that. He says as much in either that book or his other one "the voice of knowledge".

My teacher who definitely delves into the spiritual realm says the same thing 'take what is useful to you, and the rest? Let it blow away on the wind"
 
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