The Four Agreements is a knowledgeable book that takes on the alternative approach from the indigenous Mexican beliefs to the existence and reality. The author identifies himself as Toltec, and he believes that neoshamanistic approaches are more realistic than others. In this book the type of mythology the author has introduced is amazing. His writing capability and the strong treatment of the illusions of nature are hard to ignore. If you have already read about the western philosophy of the four agreements, then in this book you will get the truer facts and more enjoyable ones. If you are a novice in the philosophy sector, then you can go through the neo-shmanism approach and then try to lift your spirit to something advanced. Also, this book is the best path for beginners.
THE FOUR AGREEMENTS SUMMARY
Before you dive into the book, it’s important to know WHAT ARE THE FOUR AGREEMENTS SUMMARY? This will give you an overview of the things you will read on the pages. So let’s get to it.
Human life is similar to living in a dream. You must have different layers and levels in your life and these are based on beliefs and concepts. But have you ever thought this can be an illusion? This means in a broader sense that you are living in a dream, and these dreams have programmed your system. This system is built from the day you were born. Your words first appeared from the uttering of your teachers, parents, peers, and the broader community. Then the words grew into different concepts, beliefs, and labels that define your way of living and the barriers towards the reality of it.
However, this dream isn’t harmless or soft to you. The illusions are very much real and you can touch them and change them according to your lifestyle. You also have to understand that these are the rules that others have set for you or you have copied from them. These rules tell you how things should be and how they are now, and these help you stay on track when everything is falling apart.
The important thing is that you like to follow these rules, and most of the time you don’t check them nor you are responsible for them and some of them are useful as well. But when think closely you will find many of these are unrealistic and inaccurate. You feel trapped when you try to see through the dreams that have already engulfed you.
The crucial things that these agreements say are that you are not enough, and your actions are falling short with your unstructured ideas of yours. The result you will get from the agreements is based on the decisions you made is the source of the woe in your life. The worse thing here is, when you suffer the world around you go through the same way, and you still want to cling to them. This is partly because you are unaware of how unpredictable your thoughts and ideas are, and this is also because you don’t have the alternatives. But you follow them because you feel safe staying within that boundaries. Also, feeling safe also means that even though those decisions make you suffer but it’s better than giving into chaos.
YOU CAN ALWAYS WAKE UP FROM THE DREAM
So, if you have been living in a dream is it possible to wake up? The answer is yes; you can always restructure the reality and cease the suffering and endless striving. To do this you must have three capabilities:
* Forgiveness: You have to accept the results of the dream and of others as well.
* Awareness: You must see the dreams and the illusions it creates.
* Action: You have to dissolve the dreams and shape them into what you want them to be not what others require from you.
* The second awakening is the end of all pain and suffering and its coined enlightenment.
YOUR JOURNEY STARTS WITH AWARENESS
After you wake up from the dream it will be the beginning of awareness, but the moment you start to feel this it will fade faster than you can grasp. Instead of rising with it, you will again sink down to the suffering. So, to keep the merriment going you need to go through this article.
Various paths lead to a heightened level of consciousness. You can achieve it through fasting and prayers as depicted in different religions. However, if you follow Buddha’s path it will lead you to mindfulness and meditation. In the shamanism of the Native Americans, they used a plant-based way to elevate consciousness.
Even after all these the author has coined a pathway to freedom. In this way whatever method you choose the importance of awareness should not be overused.
AWARENESS GIVES WAY FOR FORGIVENESS
When you have achieved understanding and awareness you will naturally get forgiveness. This is for the past failures and decisions that you are still holding inside of you. You have to forgive those incidents and free yourself from the suffering. This forgiveness is an inevitable acceptance, and this is the universal truth. This is the greatest win for the four agreements. You have to grasp it and this way you will feel the weight is lifting from your shoulders. You will forget about the weights you have to carry.
You will fail to meet the expectation of yours and others. The same thing will happen with others around you. But you have to understand the complexity of human lives, as we are the production of illusory dreams that creates reality. You have to perceive the reality, and accept the state you are in, and forgive yourself.
FORGIVENESS TO ACTION
Once you forgive yourself you have to dive into actions. You can shape reality into action. You have to follow the steps such as,
* Eliminate the old thoughts and agreements
* Prevent unwanted ideas and uproot the ones that you now follow.
* You have to be impeccable with your words and try not to take things personally.
* Try to avoid assumptions and try to do your best at all times.
This is the summary of the four agreements, and it depicts more than a brief introduction. You can understand the skills of the author and the way they wrote the book. After reading the book and perceiving the thoughts in it you will get a glimpse of a new life, and it will stick to you for a long time. The book only has 153 pages and within that, it sums up a deep impact for the readers.