It's truly fascinating how ancient spiritual knowledge can be presented in such a clear, accessible way, offering keys to unlock a more joyful and free life. **The Roots: The Toltec and the Smokey Mirror** Our exploration begins with the source of this wisdom: the Toltec. Thousands of years ago in southern Mexico, the Toltec were known as "women and men of knowledge." While some anthropologists might think of them as a nation or race, the truth, as presented here, is even more intriguing: they were scientists and artists who formed a society specifically to explore and preserve the spiritual knowledge and practices of ancient peoples. These masters, known as naguals, and their students came together at Teotihuacan, a place outside Mexico City sometimes called the place where "Man Becomes God". Over time, these teachings had to be kept hidden, veiled in secrecy by the naguals. Why? The sources mention European conquest and a "rampant misuse of personal power by a few of the apprentices" made it necessary to protect this knowledge from those unprepared to use it wisely or who might intentionally misuse it for personal gain. This esoteric knowledge was passed down through generations in different nagual lineages, waiting for a time when it would be necessary to share the wisdom with people again, as foretold by ancient prophecies. Don Miguel Ruiz is presented as a nagual from the Eagle Knight lineage, guided to share these powerful teachings. It's noted that Toltec knowledge arises from the same fundamental truth as sacred esoteric traditions worldwide. It isn't a religion, but rather a way of life that honors all spiritual masters and embraces spirit, distinguished by its focus on achieving happiness and love. To truly grasp the depth of this wisdom, the source shares a fascinating origin story, like a foundational myth for understanding reality – the story of "The Smokey Mirror". Imagine a human, thousands of years ago, near a city surrounded by mountains, studying to become a medicine man but feeling there must be more than what he was learning. One night, while sleeping in a cave, he had a powerful dream. In this dream, he saw his body sleeping, came out of the cave under a clear, starry sky on a new moon, and something inside him transformed his life. Looking at his hands, feeling his body, he heard his own voice declare, "I am made of light; I am made of stars". He then looked at the stars again, realizing something profound: it's not the stars creating light, but light creating the stars. He concluded that "Everything is made of light... and the space in-between isn’t empty". This led to the realization that everything that exists is one living being. Light, he understood, is the "messenger of life" because it is alive and contains all information. He saw that while he was made of stars, he wasn't _those_ stars; he was "in-between the stars". He named the stars the _tonal_ and the light between them the _nagual_. He knew that what created the harmony and space between them was Life or Intent. Without Life, the tonal and nagual couldn't exist. Life is the force of the absolute, the supreme, the Creator. His discovery was this: Everything in existence is a manifestation of the one living being called God. Everything _is_ God. Human perception is simply "light perceiving light". He also saw that matter itself is a mirror, reflecting light and creating images. The world as we perceive it, the "world of illusion," or the "Dream," is like smoke that prevents us from seeing what we really are. "The real us is pure love, pure light," he said. This realization was life-changing. He saw himself in everything – in other humans, animals, trees, water, rain, clouds, the earth. He saw how Life mixed the tonal and nagual in billions of ways to create countless manifestations of life. He comprehended everything in those moments, filled with peace and excitement, eager to share his discovery. However, explaining it was difficult; there were no words. Though others couldn't fully understand, they saw he had changed – something beautiful radiated from his eyes and voice. He no longer judged anything or anyone. He could understand everyone, but no one could understand him. They thought he was an incarnation of God, and he smiled, saying, "It is true. I am God. But you are also God. We are the same, you and I. We are images of light. We are God". Still, they didn't understand. He realized he was a mirror for others, seeing himself reflected in them, but nobody saw him as themselves. He understood that everyone was dreaming but without awareness of what they truly were. The reason they couldn't see him as themselves was a "wall of fog or smoke between the mirrors," made by the interpretation of the images of light – the Dream of humans. To remember his visions, he called himself "the Smokey Mirror," signifying that matter is a mirror, and the smoke in-between keeps us from knowing who we are. He stated, "I am the Smokey Mirror, because I am looking at myself in all of you, but we don’t recognize each other because of the smoke in-between us. That smoke is the Dream, and the mirror is you, the dreamer". This sets the stage for understanding the human condition as living within a perceived reality, a dream, often obscured by interpretations and beliefs. **Domestication and the Dream of the Planet: How We Learn to Dream Hell** Building on the idea of the Dream, the source explains that what we experience moment to moment is essentially a dream, even when we are awake. The mind is constantly dreaming, 24 hours a day. The difference between waking and sleeping dreams is the "material frame" in the waking state, which makes us perceive things linearly. Humans are constantly dreaming, and before we were born, previous generations created a "big outside dream" – society's dream or the dream of the planet. This global dream is a collective of billions of individual dreams, forming the dreams of families, communities, cities, countries, and ultimately, humanity. The dream of the planet encompasses society's rules, beliefs, laws, religions, cultures, governments, schools, and social events. We are born with the ability to learn how to dream, and the existing humans teach us to dream like society does. The outside dream hooks our attention and introduces rules into our minds, often through parents, schools, and religion. Attention is our ability to focus on what we want to perceive from millions of possibilities. Through repetition, adults around us hooked our attention and put information into our minds, teaching us a whole reality, a whole dream. We learned societal behavior: what to believe or not, what's acceptable or not, good or bad, beautiful or ugly, right or wrong – all pre-existing knowledge and rules. This learning process involves hooking attention, often competitively, as seen when children seek validation. The outside dream teaches us what to believe, starting with language, which is a code based on agreements. We didn't choose our language, religion, or moral values; they were already there. We didn't even choose our name. Though we didn't choose these beliefs as children, we agreed to the information from the dream of the planet, passed on by others. Information is stored by agreement, and if we don't agree, we don't store it. Agreement leads to belief, which is called faith. Children strongly believe what adults say, and this belief system becomes so powerful it controls their entire dream of life. Even rebellion is often overcome by surrendering to these beliefs through agreement. This process is called the "domestication of humans". Information from the outside dream is conveyed to our internal dream, creating our belief system. Through punishment when we went against the rules and rewards (like attention) when we followed them, we became afraid of punishment and not receiving rewards. This fear leads us to pretend to be what we are not, just to please others and feel "good enough". We try to please parents, teachers, and the church, acting out a role based on fear of rejection, which evolves into a fear of not being good enough. Eventually, we become copies of others' beliefs. In this domestication, normal tendencies are lost. We learn to say "no" and rebel to defend our freedom and desire to be ourselves, but adults are bigger and stronger. Fear develops because we know wrong actions lead to punishment. Domestication becomes so ingrained that eventually, we no longer need external domesticators; we become our own "autodomesticator". Using the same system of punishment and reward we were taught, we domesticate ourselves according to the given belief system. We punish ourselves for not following the rules in our internal "Book of Law" and reward ourselves for being "good". This "Book of Law" rules our mind, and whatever is in it is considered our truth without question. All judgments, even those against our inner nature, are based on this Book. Moral laws like the Ten Commandments are programmed during domestication and become agreements ruling our dream. There's an "inner Judge" in our minds that judges everything, even the weather or animals. This Judge uses the Book of Law to evaluate everything we do, think, and feel. When we go against the Book, the Judge finds us guilty, deserving of punishment and shame. This happens constantly throughout our lives. Another part of us, the "Victim," receives these judgments. The Victim carries blame, guilt, and shame, thinking things like, "Poor me, I’m not good enough, I’m not intelligent enough, I’m not attractive enough, I’m not worthy of love". The Judge agrees, reinforcing these negative beliefs, all based on a system we never chose. These beliefs are so strong they continue to control us even later in life when we try to make our own decisions. Going against the Book of Law creates fear, felt as a physical sensation. Breaking these rules opens emotional wounds, leading to the creation of "emotional poison". Because the Book of Law is considered truth, anything challenging it makes us feel unsafe, even if the Book itself is wrong. Paradoxically, the wrong Book of Law makes us feel safe. It takes great courage to challenge our beliefs because, despite not choosing them, we agreed to them. The agreement is so strong that even understanding intellectually that a belief isn't true, we still feel the associated blame, guilt, and shame for going against it. Our belief system is like a personal Book of Laws ruling our dream, just as a government's laws rule society. The Judge decrees, and the Victim suffers. However, this system isn't just; true justice means paying only once for a mistake. Humans, unlike other animals, pay thousands of times for the same mistake due to memory, judging and punishing ourselves repeatedly. We also make others pay repeatedly for their mistakes, sending them emotional poison. The Judge and the Book of Law are wrong because the system is based on false law. A staggering "Ninety-five percent of the beliefs we have stored in our minds are nothing but lies," causing suffering. In the dream of the planet, suffering, fear, and emotional dramas are considered normal. Society's dream is often unpleasant, filled with violence, fear, war, and injustice. Personal dreams vary but are often nightmares, filled with anger, jealousy, hate, envy, and other negative emotions. The source compares society's dream to religious descriptions of hell – a place of punishment, fear, pain, and suffering. The "fire" of hell is generated by emotions rooted in fear, like anger, jealousy, envy, or hate. We are, in this view, already living in a dream of hell. Hell is described as a state of mind. No human can condemn another to hell, as we are already there; others can only push us deeper if we allow it. Humans constantly search for truth, justice, and beauty because they only believe the lies stored in their minds and lack justice in their belief systems. They search for beauty, failing to see it even in beautiful people, because their beliefs obscure it. Everything is already within us, but our agreements and beliefs blind us to the truth. False beliefs create a need to be right and make others wrong, leading to suffering. This is like living in a fog that prevents us from seeing beyond our immediate perceptions. This mental fog, the "dream, your personal dream of life — what you believe, all the concepts you have about what you are, all the agreements you have made with others, with yourself, and even with God," is called the _mitote_ by the Toltecs. The mind is a chaotic dream where "a thousand people talk at the same time, and nobody understands each other". This _mitote_ prevents us from seeing our true selves and recognizing we are not free. In India, this is called _maya_, or illusion. The biggest fear humans have is not death, but the fear of being alive and expressing what we really are. Just being ourselves is terrifying. We learn to live to satisfy others' demands and points of view, fearing rejection and not being good enough. Domestication leads us to form an image of perfection to be accepted. We create an image of how we _should_ be, particularly for those we love, but this image is unreal, and we can never meet it. Not being "perfect" according to this image causes self-rejection, the severity of which depends on how effectively our integrity was broken during domestication. We are not good enough _for ourselves_ because we don't fit our own perfect image. We cannot forgive ourselves for not being what we believe we should be. This leads to feeling false, frustrated, dishonest, hiding ourselves, and wearing social masks out of fear that others will notice we are not what we pretend to be. We also judge others based on our perfect image, and they naturally fall short. We dishonor ourselves to please others, even harming our bodies, like teenagers using drugs to avoid rejection. They reject themselves because they aren't what they pretend to be, leading to shame and guilt, and punishing themselves endlessly. Self-abuse is presented as more severe than abuse from others; we tolerate abuse from others up to the limit of our self-abuse. Believing we deserve abuse or are unworthy of love/respect keeps us in harmful relationships. The need for acceptance and love from others stems from an inability to accept and love ourselves. Self-abuse comes from self-rejection, which comes from the unattainable image of perfection. This image is why we reject ourselves and others as they are. **The Agreements: Our Personal Operating System** The source emphasizes that our lives are ruled by agreements. We make thousands of agreements with ourselves, others, our dream of life, God, society, parents, spouses, and children. The most critical are the agreements we make with ourselves, defining who we are, what we feel, believe, and how we behave. These internal agreements determine our personality, setting limits on what we believe is possible or real. While a single agreement might not be problematic, having many agreements that cause suffering and failure is. To live a life of joy and fulfillment requires the courage to break fear-based agreements and reclaim personal power. Agreements based on fear consume energy, while those based on love conserve or increase energy. We are born with personal power, replenished daily. Unfortunately, most of it is used to create and maintain our agreements, leaving us feeling powerless, with just enough energy to survive the day, trapped in the dream of the planet. Changing our life's dream requires changing our agreements, but this seems impossible when we lack the power to change even small ones. Here's the good news: if we recognize that agreements rule our lives and we dislike our current dream, we can change the agreements. When we are ready, four powerful agreements are offered to help break the fear-based, energy-depleting ones. Each time an agreement is broken, the power used to create it returns. Adopting these four new agreements can generate enough personal power to transform the entire system of old agreements. Adopting these agreements requires "a very strong will". Living by them can lead to an "amazing" transformation, seeing the "drama of hell disappear" and creating a "new dream — your personal dream of heaven". Let's explore these Four Agreements: **1. The First Agreement: Be Impeccable with Your Word** This is presented as the most important and difficult agreement, yet potentially sufficient on its own to reach "heaven on earth". It sounds simple, but it's incredibly powerful. Why the word? Your word is your power to create, a gift directly from God. It's through the word that you manifest everything – your dream, feelings, and true self. The word isn't just sound or symbol; it's a force, the power to express, communicate, think, and create events in your life. As the most powerful tool humans possess, it's the "tool of magic". However, like a double-edged sword, the word can create a beautiful dream or destroy everything. Misusing the word creates hell; impeccability creates beauty, love, and heaven. The word can set you free or enslave you further. All your magic is based on your word; misuse is "black magic". The word is so potent it can change or destroy millions of lives. An example given is Hitler, who used the word to manipulate a country and lead them to war. The human mind is fertile, especially for seeds of fear. Hitler's words were seeds of fear that grew into destruction. The power coming out of our mouths is immense. One fear or doubt planted can create endless drama. Humans often use the word like black magicians, casting spells thoughtlessly. Every human is a magician, capable of casting or breaking spells with words. Opinions are spells. An example is telling a friend they look like someone who will get cancer; if they agree and believe it, it can manifest due to the power of the word. During domestication, parents and siblings cast spells with their opinions, which we believed, leading to fears and negative self-images. Believing you are ugly, for instance, creates a spell you live under, regardless of reality. Believing you are stupid can lead to behaviors reinforcing that belief. Conversely, someone using words to challenge such a belief can break the spell, leading to new agreements and different behavior. Reinforcing a negative belief with words makes the spell stronger. "Impeccability" means "without sin". A sin is anything you do that goes against yourself. Judging or blaming yourself is a sin. Being impeccable is the opposite: not going against yourself. When impeccable, you take responsibility but don't judge or blame yourself. This shifts the concept of sin from a moral/religious idea to a matter of common sense. Self-rejection is the biggest sin, a "mortal sin" leading to death. Impeccability leads to life. Being impeccable with your word means not using it against yourself. It's the correct use of energy, directing it towards truth and love for yourself. Agreeing to be impeccable allows truth to manifest through you and clean emotional poison. This is hard because we habitually lie, especially to ourselves. In the "dream of hell," the word is misused to curse, blame, find guilt, and destroy. We use it to spread poison – anger, jealousy, envy, hate. We use this powerful gift against ourselves, planning revenge and creating chaos. Misusing the word perpetuates hell, pulling each other down into fear and doubt. This constant misuse is black magic, often done unknowingly. A poignant example is a mother, tired from work, telling her happy daughter her singing is ugly. The daughter, believing this, makes an agreement that her voice is ugly, stops singing, becomes shy, and struggles to speak. Her normal tendencies are lost due to this spell cast by her mother, who loved her most but didn't realize the power of her word. The mother did what was done to her. The source notes how often parents unknowingly cast such spells on children, who carry the black magic for years. Forgiveness is suggested because those who harm us with words often don't know the power of what they do. Another example: a friend telling you you look ugly or ridiculous can immediately send you "all the way down in hell" if you believe it. The truth is the sword that breaks the spell of black magic. Everyday interactions are filled with spell-casting words. Gossip is highlighted as the "worst form of black magic" because it's "pure poison". We learn to gossip by agreement, hearing adults do it, passing on emotional poison. Gossip becomes a main form of communication, fostering a false sense of closeness by making us feel better seeing others suffer, reinforcing the idea that "Misery likes company". Fear and suffering in the dream of the planet keep us down. Gossip is compared to a computer virus: language with harmful intent, inserted unknowingly, corrupting the system with conflicting messages. Hearing negative gossip about a teacher before meeting them imprints you with poison, making you see them through the gossiper's eyes. This poison spreads as you gossip to others. This endless chain of spreading emotional poison results in the _mitote_, the chaotic, clogged state of the human mind. Through this virus, cruel behavior can be justified. Beyond gossiping about others, we use words against ourselves constantly, calling ourselves fat, ugly, old, stupid, or unworthy. Understanding the power of the word is the first step. Becoming impeccable with your word changes how you deal with yourself and others, especially loved ones. We often gossip about loved ones to validate our point of view, which is just our opinion, not necessarily truth, born from our beliefs, ego, and dream. This creates and spreads poison. Adopting this agreement cleanses emotional poison from our minds and communication. It also provides immunity from negative spells; your mind won't be fertile ground for black magic words but for words of love. The impeccability of your word is directly proportionate to your self-love. Being impeccable makes you feel good, happy, and at peace. This agreement alone can transcend the dream of hell. It requires cultivating your mind to be fertile for love instead of fear. It's powerful because it uses the word to share love, practice "white magic," beginning with telling yourself how wonderful and loved you are, breaking self-suffering agreements. It's possible, as others have done it. This one agreement can lead to personal freedom, success, abundance, replacing fear with joy and love. You can live in heaven even amidst others in hell because you become immune. _Suggestion for exploration:_ How aware are you of the words you use daily, both when speaking to others and in your internal dialogue? Try noting down your self-talk for a day – is it mostly critical or supportive? **2. The Second Agreement: Don’t Take Anything Personally** This agreement is described as being "born" from the first. Whatever happens around you, don't take it personally. If someone insults you, without even knowing you, their words are about them, not you. Taking it personally means you agree with their words, allowing their "poison" to enter you, trapping you in hell. Taking things personally is called "personal importance," the "maximum expression of selfishness" because it assumes everything is about "me". We are taught to take everything personally during domestication, believing we are responsible for everything. Nothing others do is because of you; it's because of themselves. Everyone lives in their own dream, their own mind, a different world from yours. Taking something personally assumes they know your world, and you try to impose your world on theirs. Even direct insults have nothing to do with you; their words and opinions come from their own agreements and programming. If someone calls you fat, not taking it personally recognizes they are dealing with their own feelings and beliefs. They tried to send poison, and taking it personally means you ingest it. Taking things personally makes you easy prey for "black magicians" (those misusing their word), easily hooked by opinions and fed poison. Not taking things personally grants "immunity in the middle of hell". When you take things personally, you feel offended, defend your beliefs, create conflict, making a small thing big because you need to be right. Your reactions, feelings, and opinions are projections of your personal dream and agreements, having nothing to do with others. The source gives the example of people calling the author "the best" or "the worst". He doesn't take it personally because he knows who he is and doesn't need acceptance. Others' thoughts about him are about _them_, their belief system, their way of seeing the world. Even if someone says you hurt them, it's not your words causing the hurt, but existing wounds within them that your words touch. They are hurting themselves, and you can't take that personally, recognizing they see the world through their own eyes, creating their personal movie. Your point of view is personal, not universal truth. If someone gets mad at you, they are dealing with themselves, and you are merely the excuse. Anger stems from fear; without fear, there's no anger, hate, jealousy, or sadness towards others. Living without fear, living in love, means feeling good. When you feel good, everything around you feels good and makes you happy. You love everything because you love yourself, are content, and happy with your life and agreements. This leads to a state of bliss, where everything is wonderful and beautiful, and you are "making love all the time with everything that you perceive". Therefore, whatever people do, feel, think, or say, don't take it personally. Even if they praise you, they do it because of themselves; you already know you are wonderful. You don't need to believe them. The source makes a dramatic point: even if someone shot you, "it was nothing personal". Even your own opinions about yourself aren't necessarily true, so you don't need to take what your internal voice says personally. The mind talks to itself and can perceive information from "other realms" or "Allies" (or "Gods"). Our minds exist on the level of the Gods and can perceive that reality. The mind sees and perceives both the waking world and other realities without the eyes. Ideas can originate outside your mind, but you perceive them _with_ your mind. You have the right to believe or not believe these voices and not take them personally, just as you choose what to believe in the dream of the planet. The mind is divided and talks to itself, like one hand shaking the other. The "big problem" is the _mitote_, where "a thousand parts of your mind are all speaking at the same time". The programming (agreements) is not always compatible. Each agreement is like a separate being with its own voice, creating a "big war in the mind". The mitote makes it hard for humans to know what they want because different parts want opposite things, creating inner conflict. Inventorying our agreements can reveal these conflicts and bring order to the mitote. Don't take anything personally because it makes you suffer unnecessarily. Humans are addicted to suffering and support each other in it. If you need abuse, you'll find abusers. If you're with those who need to suffer, you might abuse them. This addiction is a reinforced agreement, like having a sign asking to be kicked. People will lie to you everywhere, and as your awareness grows, you'll see you lie to yourself too. Don't expect truth from others who lie to themselves. Trust yourself to choose what to believe. Seeing others as they are, without taking it personally, prevents hurt from their words or actions. If others lie, it's often from fear, afraid you'll see they aren't perfect. It's painful for them to remove their social mask. If others say one thing but do another, you lie to yourself by ignoring their actions. Being truthful with yourself, though painful initially, saves emotional pain; the pain isn't permanent, and healing follows. If someone isn't treating you with love and respect, their leaving is a gift, saving you from future suffering. Walking away might hurt, but your heart heals, allowing you to choose what you truly want and trust yourself. Making it a habit not to take anything personally avoids many upsets. Anger, jealousy, envy, and sadness can disappear. This agreement provides great freedom and immunity to black magicians and negative spells. You won't ingest their emotional poison. This practice helps break many habits trapping you in hell and causing suffering. Practicing the first two agreements (Impeccable Word and Don't Take Personally) breaks 75% of the suffering-causing agreements. Write this agreement down as a reminder: "Don’t take anything personally". This habit means you rely on trusting yourself for responsible choices, not others' words or actions. You are only responsible for yourself. This makes you hardly hurt by careless comments or actions. With this agreement, you can move through the world with an open heart, say "I love you" without fear of rejection, ask for what you need, say yes or no without guilt, and follow your heart. You can be in the middle of hell and still experience inner peace and happiness, immune to hell's effects. _Suggestion for exploration:_ Think about the last time you felt deeply hurt or offended. Can you re-examine that situation through the lens of "Don't Take Anything Personally"? Whose actions were truly about them? **3. The Third Agreement: Don’t Make Assumptions** We tend to make assumptions about everything and believe they are the truth. We make assumptions about others' actions or thoughts, take it personally, blame them, and send emotional poison with our words. This habit of making assumptions leads to problems and creates drama unnecessarily. The sources state that all sadness and drama in our lives are rooted in making assumptions and taking things personally. The human "war of control" and the "dream of hell" are based on this. Making assumptions and taking things personally generates much emotional poison, which we often spread through gossip. Because we are afraid to ask for clarification, we assume, believe our assumptions are right, defend them, and try to make others wrong. The source strongly advises: "It is always better to ask questions than to make an assumption, because assumptions set us up for suffering". The _mitote_ (chaos in the mind) causes misinterpretation and misunderstanding. We see and hear only what we want, not reality. We tend to dream things up based on imagination rather than reality. When we don't understand, we assume meaning, and when the truth comes out, our fantasy bubble bursts. An example is seeing someone you like smile at you in a mall and walk away. You can make many assumptions and create a whole fantasy relationship, believing "Oh, this person really likes me". This dream, a "fantasyland," exists only in your mind. Making assumptions is particularly problematic in relationships. We assume partners know what we think and want without being told. When they don't meet our unstated expectations, we feel hurt and think, "You should have known". The example of a couple where the wife assumes the husband knows why she is mad illustrates how not clarifying feelings and making assumptions leads to conflict and misunderstandings with loved ones. It's interesting how the human mind works: we need to justify, explain, and understand everything to feel safe. When others tell us something or don't, we make assumptions to fulfill this need and replace communication. We assume meaning even if we don't understand. Assumptions are often made quickly and unconsciously because we have agreements to communicate this way. We've agreed asking questions isn't safe or that loved ones _should_ know what we want/feel. We become so attached to being right about our assumptions that we'll even ruin relationships to defend them. The biggest assumption humans make is assuming everyone sees life, thinks, feels, judges, and abuses the way we do. This fear of being ourselves around others stems from believing they will judge, victimize, abuse, and blame us as we do ourselves. So, we reject ourselves even before others have a chance to. Assumptions about ourselves also cause inner conflict. Assuming we can do something without gathering facts or being honest with ourselves about our desires can lead to over- or underestimating ourselves. In a new relationship, we might justify why we like someone, only seeing what we want and denying negatives. We lie to ourselves to be right, make assumptions (like "My love will change this person," which the source states is untrue), get hurt, and then blame the other person to justify our pain. True love, according to the source, is accepting others as they are, without trying to change them. Trying to change someone means you don't truly like them. It's easier to find someone who is already the way you want them to be. That person must also love you as you are. Why be with someone who wants to change you?. Being yourself is key: "If you love me the way I am, 'Okay, take me.' If you don’t love me the way I am, 'Okay, bye-bye. Find someone else'". This straightforward communication makes agreements clear and impeccable. Imagine relationships without assumptions. Communication would transform, free of conflicts from mistaken assumptions. The way to avoid assumptions is to ask questions, ensuring communication is clear. Have the courage to ask until you are as clear as possible, but still don't assume you know everything. Once you get an answer, you know the truth and don't need assumptions. Also, find your voice to ask for what you want, respecting others' right to say yes or no, just as they respect yours. Asking and being clear is better than assuming. Stopping assumptions leads to clean, clear communication, free of emotional poison, and makes your word impeccable. Clear communication changes all relationships. If all humans communicated this way, there would be no wars, violence, or misunderstandings; problems would be resolved. This Third Agreement, though sounding easy, is difficult due to deeply ingrained habits. Awareness is the first step, but action is what makes the difference. Taking action repeatedly strengthens will, nurtures the seed of the new agreement, and builds a solid habit. With repetition, these agreements become second nature, transforming you from a "black magician" (misusing the word) into a "white magician" (using the word for creation, giving, sharing, loving). Making this one agreement a habit can completely transform your life. When your dream transforms, magic happens, needs are easily met, and spirit flows freely. This is the mastery of intent, spirit, love, gratitude, and life – the goal of the Toltec and the path to personal freedom. _Suggestion for exploration:_ Identify a relationship where you often make assumptions. How could you approach a typical interaction by replacing assumptions with clear questions? What might be the biggest fear preventing you from asking? **4. The Fourth Agreement: Always Do Your Best** This final agreement is crucial because it enables the other three to become deeply ingrained habits. It means, "Under any circumstance, always do your best, no more and no less". A key understanding here is that "your best is never going to be the same from one moment to the next". Life is constantly changing, so your best fluctuates based on factors like energy levels, health, mood, and even intoxication. Your best changes from moment to moment, hour to hour, day to day, and improves over time as you practice the new agreements. Regardless of the quality, keep doing your best – no more, no less. Trying too hard (more than your best) wastes energy, works against you, and takes longer to reach your goal. Doing less than your best leads to frustration, self-judgment, guilt, and regret. Just doing your best, in any circumstance, removes the possibility of self-judgment. If you don't judge yourself, you won't suffer from guilt, blame, and self-punishment. Always doing your best can break a significant spell you are under. The source shares a story about a man seeking transcendence from a Buddhist Master. He asks how long it will take if he meditates four hours a day, and the Master says ten years. He then asks about eight hours a day, and the Master says twenty years. Confused, the man asks why more meditation takes longer. The Master's reply clarifies the agreement: "You are not here to sacrifice your joy or your life. You are here to live, to be happy, and to love. If you can do your best in two hours of meditation, but you spend eight hours instead, you will only grow tired, miss the point, and you won’t enjoy your life. Do your best, and perhaps you will learn that no matter how long you meditate, you can live, love, and be happy". This highlights that "doing your best" is about intensity of living and enjoying the process, not just effort or hours spent. When you always do your best, you live intensely, are productive, and are good to yourself, giving to your family, community, and everything. The _action_ itself brings intense happiness. Doing your best means taking action because you love it, without expecting a reward. This contrasts with many people who suffer through work just for external reasons (pay, supporting family), feel frustrated, and seek escape (like getting drunk) because they dislike themselves and their lives. We hurt ourselves when we dislike who we are. Taking action for the sake of doing it, without expecting a reward, allows you to enjoy every action. Rewards will come, but you are not attached to them; you might even receive more than imagined. Liking what you do and doing your best leads to enjoying life, having fun, and avoiding boredom and frustration. Doing your best deprives the inner Judge of the opportunity to find you guilty or blame you. If you've done your best, your answer is simple: "I did my best". There are no regrets. While not easy, this agreement is liberating. Doing your best also involves learning from mistakes through practice, honest assessment, and repetition, which increases awareness. When you do your best for the pleasure of it, action itself is enjoyable. Action is "living fully"; inaction (like spending years watching TV out of fear) is denying life and the risk of expressing yourself. Ideas are just seeds; action leads to manifestation, results, and rewards. The example of Forrest Gump is used: he didn't have great ideas but took action, always doing his best, was happy, and richly rewarded without expectation. Taking action is being alive, taking the risk to express your dream (without imposing it on others). Doing your best can become a great habit, a ritual. Turning everyday actions, like taking a shower, into a ritual of honoring your body is an example. It's a way of giving to and receiving from your body, expressing love for it. This connects to the Indian ritual of _puja_, honoring God through caring for idols. The source notes that God is life in action. The best way to express love for God is by living your life doing your best. The best way to thank God is by letting go of the past and living in the present moment. Letting go of the past means surrendering what life takes away and allowing yourself to be fully alive now. Living in a past dream or wishing things were different prevents enjoying the present, leading to self-pity, suffering, and tears. You were born with the right to be happy, love, enjoy, and share love. Being alive proves the existence of God/life/energy. Just being, taking risks, and enjoying life is what matters. Say yes or no authentically. You have the right to be you, which happens only when you do your best. Not doing your best denies this right. You don't need external acceptance or knowledge; expressing divinity comes from being alive, loving yourself, and others. Expressing love is an expression of God. The first three agreements rely on the fourth; they only work if you do your best. Don't expect perfection with the first three agreements; your habits are strong. Just do your best. You don't need to judge, feel guilty, or punish yourself if you slip up. If you're doing your best, you'll feel good about yourself despite mistakes. Doing your best repeatedly leads to becoming a "master of transformation". Practice makes the master. Everything is learned through repetition. Action is the difference. Doing your best in the search for freedom and self-love ensures you'll find what you seek; it's a matter of time. It's about taking action as a human, honoring, respecting, enjoying, loving, feeding, cleaning, and healing your body. This care for your body is a puja, a communion with God. You don't need external idols; your body is a manifestation of God. Honoring your body plants seeds of love, leading to immense self-love and respect. Every action becomes a ritual honoring God. Eventually, every thought, emotion, belief, and judgment becomes a communion with God, leading to a dream free of judgments, victimization, gossip, and self-abuse. Honoring all four agreements together leads to a "beautiful life" and "control your life one hundred percent". They are the "mastery of transformation," turning hell into heaven, the planet's dream into a personal heaven. The knowledge is available; you just need to adopt and respect the agreements. You can make an agreement today: "I choose to honor The Four Agreements". They are simple and logical, but keeping them requires "a very strong will" because the path is full of obstacles. Everything around you, part of the planet's dream, can sabotage your commitment. The old agreements are alive and strong. You need to be a "great hunter, a great warrior," defending these agreements with your life, as your happiness, freedom, and way of living depend on it. The warrior's goal is to transcend the human experience of suffering, escaping hell and never returning, becoming the embodiment of God. Achieving this requires all your power. Falling is normal; the key is to stand up and keep going. Don't give the Judge the satisfaction of becoming a victim. Be tough with yourself; stand up and renew the agreement. Make the commitment for today: be impeccable, don't take personally, don't make assumptions, and do your best. If you break one, start again the next day. It's difficult initially but gets easier, until you are ruling your life with these agreements, leading to a transformed life. You don't need to be religious; self-love and respect will grow. Keep attention on today, the present moment. Always doing your best to keep them makes it easy eventually. Today can be the beginning of a new dream. _Suggestion for exploration:_ What small action could you commit to doing your best at today, purely for the joy of the action itself, without focusing on the outcome? How does this feel different from doing it for a reward? **The Path to Freedom and the New Dream** The ultimate goal is freedom, the freedom to be who we really are. We may live in supposedly free countries but are we free to be ourselves?. The source says no, we stop ourselves. True freedom is about the human spirit. We blame external factors (government, weather, parents, religion, God) for our lack of freedom, but the constraint is internal. Children are presented as free humans, wild and doing what they want. Their normal tendency is to enjoy life, play, explore, be happy, and love, without fear of the future or shame of the past. But adults are different; they are not wild because the Judge, Victim, and belief system rule their lives, preventing them from being who they truly are, leading to unhappiness. The domestication process, passed down through generations, is considered normal in human society. There's no need to blame parents or others for the abuse they inflicted, as they taught what they knew based on their own domestication, fears, and beliefs, over which they had no control. However, it's time to stop the abuse and free yourself from the Judge's tyranny by changing your agreements. The "real you" is still the childlike part that emerges when you are happy, playing, or expressing yourself. These are the happiest moments. But "responsibilities" (from the Judge) shift us into serious adult roles, making us lose our freedom. We often live to please others for acceptance rather than ourselves. Most people are domesticated and unaware they aren't free, feeling a whisper inside but not understanding why. Awareness is the crucial first step to personal freedom. We must be aware of our unfreedom to become free and aware of the problem to solve it. If unaware of mental wounds and emotional poison, they cannot be healed, and suffering continues. There is no reason to suffer. With awareness, you can rebel and challenge your beliefs, discovering that the system guiding your wounded mind is based on lies, and years of suffering were for nothing. This is why mastering your dream is important; life is an art you can change if you dislike it. Dream masters control their dream by making choices, aware of consequences. Being Toltec is a way of life without leaders or followers, living your own truth, becoming wise, wild, and free again. The Toltec path involves three masteries: Mastery of Awareness (who we are, possibilities), Mastery of Transformation (how to change, be free of domestication), and Mastery of Intent (Life, unconditional love). The Mastery of Intent is the Mastery of Love. The Judge, Victim, and belief system are seen as a parasite invading the human mind, making domesticated humans "sick". The parasite controls the mind and brain, feeding on negative emotions from fear. It lives through your body and dreams through your mind, thriving on drama and suffering. Freedom is about using your own mind and body, living your own life instead of the belief system's life. Upon realizing the parasite's control, there are two choices: surrender and continue living in the planet's dream, or rebel and declare war against the parasite for independence and control of your mind. Warriors, in shamanic traditions, fight this internal war. Being a warrior means rebelling, doing your best regardless of winning or losing, gaining the dignity of rebellion rather than being a helpless victim. At best, the warrior can transcend the planet's dream and change their personal dream to "heaven," a state of joy, happiness, and freedom to love and be oneself, attainable in life. The parasite is compared to a thousand-headed monster (each head a fear). Freedom requires destroying it. Three solutions are presented: 1. Attack fears "head by head," facing them one by one (slow but effective). 2. Starve the parasite by controlling emotions and refraining from fueling fear-based ones (difficult). 3. The "initiation of the dead" (symbolic death killing the parasite without harming the physical body). This requires great courage and strength. The Art of Transformation (Dream of the Second Attention) involves changing beliefs by focusing attention on old agreements and replacing them. This is using attention for the second time. Unlike childhood, you can now choose what to believe, including believing in yourself. Awareness of the mental fog (mitote) and that you are always dreaming is the first step to transforming your dream. Awareness that your life's drama stems from beliefs that aren't real allows you to change them. Focus attention on the beliefs you want to change by taking an inventory of your agreements. This process is the Art of Transformation, a mastery of reprogramming your mind. Adopting alternative beliefs, like the Four Agreements, is part of this. The Four Agreements are a declaration of war against the parasite and tools for transformation. They help break limiting agreements, gain power, and become stronger to face bigger internal "demons". Going to the core of agreements is "going into the desert," facing demons that can become angels afterward. Breaking old agreements is an act of power, starting with small ones to gain strength for larger ones. The example of the girl who stopped singing illustrates breaking a small belief: trying to sing despite believing she's bad, gaining power and courage through repetition until the agreement breaks. For every suffering-based agreement broken, it must be replaced with a new, happiness-creating one to prevent the old one from returning. This is slow and requires patience, as domestication took many years. Breaking agreements is hard because we invested our will (word) into them, and most personal power is used to maintain them. We are addicted to being the way we are and to negative emotions/beliefs. Adopting the Four Agreements requires repetition, like learning anything else. Practicing them improves your "best" and makes you a master through repetition. The Discipline of the Warrior is controlling your own behavior and emotions. Emotions influence perception; anger makes everything wrong, sadness makes everything sad. Emotional energy is spent daily; letting emotions deplete it leaves no energy for change. The emotional body is like infected skin with wounds from injustice and emotional poison (hate, anger, envy, sadness). This wounded state is considered normal due to domestication, but it's not. Fear is a disease (mental illness), and negative emotions are its symptoms. Extreme fear can lead to psychotic behavior. There is a cure: forgiveness. Forgiveness opens wounds, removes poison, and heals. We must forgive those who wronged us, not for them, but for ourselves, to stop paying for injustice and break free from the Judge and Victim roles. Forgiving God and then yourself is key to overcoming self-rejection and beginning self-acceptance and self-love. True forgiveness is evident when seeing or hearing someone's name no longer elicits an emotional reaction or pain. Truth is like a scalpel, painful because it opens wounds covered by lies (the denial system) for healing. Once healed, denial isn't needed because a healthy mind can be touched without hurt; it's pleasurable. Most people lack control over their emotions, which control their behavior. Becoming a spiritual warrior requires controlling emotions to gain power to change fear-based agreements and escape hell. The warrior has awareness (of being at war in the mind) and discipline – not external, but internal discipline to be oneself. The warrior has control over their emotions and self, unlike victims who repress emotions out of fear. Refraining is holding emotions to express them at the right moment, demonstrating impeccability and control. The Initiation of the Dead is the final path, taking death as a teacher to learn how to be truly alive. Awareness of potential imminent death teaches us to live fully in the present. If told you have a week to live, you can either suffer or choose to be happy and enjoy life, being yourself without fear of others' judgment. The angel of death teaches us to live each day as if it's the last. Start with gratitude for being alive, seeing the sun, being yourself. This perspective promotes openness and reduces fear. It encourages treating loved ones with love because it might be the last chance, avoiding fights and expressing love freely. Living this way prepares you for the initiation of death, where the old dream (with the parasite) dies forever. Memories remain, but the parasite is dead. It's difficult because the Judge and Victim resist death. Surviving this initiation is the "resurrection" – arising from the dead, being alive and free like a child, but with wisdom. You break domestication, heal your mind, and are free to use your mind and run your own life. The angel of death teaches surrender to the present by taking away the past. The parasite makes us carry the past, making life heavy. Living in the past or future prevents enjoying the present. The "New Dream: Heaven on Earth" is your creation, a perception of reality you can change. You have the power to create hell or heaven. Why not dream heaven using your mind, imagination, and emotions?. Imagine seeing the world with new eyes, seeing love everywhere – from nature, light, even other humans despite their feelings. This is the state of bliss, perceiving love directly. Imagine a new life, a new dream, where you don't need to justify your existence and are free to be yourself. Imagine having permission to be happy, enjoying life free of conflict with yourself and others. Imagine living without fear of expressing your dreams, knowing what you want, free to change your life, not afraid to ask for needs or say yes/no. Imagine living without fear of judgment, not ruling behavior by others' opinions, not needing to control or being controlled. Imagine living without judging others, forgiving easily, not needing to be right or make others wrong, respecting yourself and others. Imagine living without fear of loving or being unloved, unafraid of rejection or needing acceptance, able to say "I love you" openly, walking with an open heart without fear of hurt. Imagine living unafraid to take risks, not fearing loss or death, being alive in the world. Imagine loving yourself exactly as you are – body, emotions, knowing you are perfect. These visions are "entirely possible". The state of grace/bliss/heaven can be experienced. Only love puts you in this state; being in love is like being in bliss, floating, perceiving love everywhere. It's possible to live this way constantly; others have done it by changing their agreements and dreaming a different dream. Experiencing bliss makes you love it, knowing heaven on earth is real and attainable. It's up to you to make the effort. Jesus spoke of the kingdom of heaven/love, but few were ready to hear it. Just imagining his message is possible makes it yours. The world is beautiful; life is easy when love is your way. You can choose to be loving always, even without a reason, because it brings happiness. Love in action produces happiness and inner peace, changing your perception. Seeing everything with eyes of love, being aware of love around you, dissolves the mitote. Humans have sought this happiness, the "lost paradise," for centuries; it's the future of humanity. This way of life is possible and in your hands. It's called the Promised Land, Nirvana, Heaven, or a New Dream. However, your identity is intertwined with the planet's dream and the mitote. You feel the parasite's presence and mistake it for yourself, making it hard to let go and experience love. You are attached to the Judge and Victim; suffering feels safe because it's familiar. There's no real reason to suffer. You suffer because you choose to. Happiness is also a choice. While we may not escape our human destiny, we can choose to suffer it or enjoy it, to live in hell or heaven. The choice is yours. The source includes prayers for freedom and love, presented as ways to connect with the Creator (Love), share love, forgive, accept self and others, clean emotional poison, and live in peace. The Prayer for Love uses a powerful metaphor of receiving a flame of love in your heart, which grows to unify you with yourself, others, and all of creation. The new dream is one of being radiant with love, seeing yourself in everyone, and living in that love. _Suggestion for exploration:_ Reflect on the idea of suffering as a choice. How does this concept sit with you? Can you identify small instances where you might be choosing suffering over a different perspective? **Wrapping Up and Looking Ahead** So, there you have it – an overview of the powerful wisdom presented in Don Miguel Ruiz's "The Four Agreements" from the provided text. It's a journey from understanding the nature of our perceived reality and how we become domesticated, trapped in a dream of suffering ruled by our own internal judgment and victimhood, to recognizing the power of our word, the freedom gained by not taking things personally and avoiding assumptions, and the transformative strength of always doing our best. These agreements, practiced diligently, offer a path to break free from the internal parasite, heal our emotional wounds, and transition from a personal dream of hell to a personal dream of heaven on earth. It requires awareness, courage, discipline, forgiveness, and above all, a strong will to live in love and truth, one day at a time. It's a rich tapestry of ideas, isn't it? And there are so many fascinating threads you could pull on to explore further: - The concept of the _mitote_ is quite deep. How does understanding the "chaos of a thousand voices" in the mind change how you view your own thoughts or internal conflicts? - The comparison of gossip to a computer virus is very modern for ancient wisdom. How else might ancient spiritual concepts be reinterpreted using contemporary metaphors? - The idea that self-rejection is the biggest sin is a profound shift from traditional religious definitions. How does viewing "sin" as anything that goes against yourself change your perspective on morality or personal responsibility? - The assertion that we are addicted to suffering is quite challenging. What does it mean to be "addicted" to suffering, and how might someone begin to identify and challenge this addiction? - The "initiation of the dead" as learning to live fully by embracing the awareness of death is a powerful practice. How could integrating the perspective of your potential last day change your daily choices and interactions? - The prayers offered at the end are examples of applying the principles through intention and spiritual connection. How might you craft your own personal prayers or intentions based on the Four Agreements?