Toltec wisdom and The Four Agreements

One of the most interesting cultures I have recently learned about is that of the Toltec.

The Toltec have been revered for thousands of years as men and women of knowledge in the southern regions of Mexico. Teotihuacan, the ancient city of pyramids just outside of Mexico City, is known as the place where “Man becomes God,” and remains the Toltec center of knowledge and spirituality.

Toltec knowledge combines the spiritual and the scientific, because they believe they both come from the same source and they follow the same universal laws. Toltec wisdom is not a religion, but is regarded as a way of life.

Toltec Nagual (master) Don Miguel Ruiz has made Toltec Wisdom part of American society. Born in Mexico and raised by his family of healers, Miguel Ruiz moved to the United States and began teaching and lecturing about the Toltec history of healing. Miguel Ruiz created the Four Agreements in order to help his students quiet their minds.

The Four Agreements became a New York Times bestseller and was on the New York Times Bestseller List for nearly ten years. What don Miguel Ruiz created was a toolbox of practical tools that anyone can use to help them incrementally change the way they view their lives.

“Americans are so fast-paced and don’t stop to think about what they say or how they act,” said Four Agreements fan Jessica Patricios. “I read The Four Agreements every year-or-so in order to re-instill those practices.”

The Four Agreements are:

1. 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.
   
   2. 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.
   
   3. 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.
   
   4. 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.

Below is a video narrated with excerpts from The Four Agreements, found on YouTube.com