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In the first section of The Four Agreements, don Miguel Ruiz introduces the reader to the Toltec people, tells a story that encapsulates their worldview, and introduces Ruiz’s concept of domestication. The book begins with Ruiz’s account of who the Toltec people of ancient Mexico were. He describes them as a society formed of artists and scientists who acted as spiritual masters (naguals) and students, together seeking to preserve spiritual knowledge received from “the ancient ones.” This knowledge, more a way of life than a religion, has been passed down through generations of naguals in secret until now. The introduction explains this way of life through a legend of a medicine man who felt that there was more to the world than just the knowledge he was being taught. In a dream, it was revealed to him that the world is made of light and what is in between light, and furthermore, because light is life, and life is God, that all of creation is a manifestation of God. However, humans are not able to see this clearly because of their own interpretations and thus have a sort of fog or smoke between each other, forming a world of illusion called the Dream.

Chapter 1 further explains this concept of the Dream and how it has led to what Ruiz calls the domestication of humans. Society is formed of a collection of individual dreams, creating one large dream that holds all our rules, beliefs, and culture. This dream is taught to each new generation, but it is a lie—based not on actual reality, but on humanity’s distortion of reality fueled by fear, hatred, and anger. It is on the basis of this lie that we form a Book of Law, a Judge, and a Victim within ourselves that dictate how we act, driven by fear of rejection and the desire for attention. All of this comes about because we make agreements with ourselves and others to believe what we are taught and to act accordingly. Ruiz encourages the reader to consider the agreements they have made with themselves and others, discover which are harmful, and replace them with The Four Agreements supposedly from Toltec wisdom.

The second section discusses the first two agreements. Chapter 2, introduces the First Agreement, “Be impeccable with your word,” by explaining the power of the word and the meaning of being impeccable. According to Ruiz, the word has the ability to create and destroy, and is how people manifest their intent in reality. Thus, if the word is used for evil, then evil will happen; conversely, if the word is used for good, then good will happen. Ruiz defines impeccable as “without sin,” and then further defines sin not as a religious doctrine but as the act or habit of doing things that are against yourself. In this way, being impeccable with your word is simply not using the power of the word against yourself. Chapter 3 explains the Second Agreement, “Don’t take anything personally,” by identifying personal importance, or the assumption that everything is about us, as a major cause of suffering. When we take things personally, we are assuming that others’ actions and opinions are because of us, and thereby we allow ourselves to suffer. In reality, Ruiz states, others’ actions are only because of themselves, not because of us. Remembering that will allow us to not take in what he calls emotional poison, which causes us pain and suffering.

The third section discusses the next two agreements. Chapter 4, centers on the Third Agreement, “Don’t make assumptions,” pointing out that assumptions are based on lies and misinformation and only fuel further lies and misinformation. When we do not communicate with others and rely only on our assumptions, we create a cycle of further suffering in which we must continue to make more assumptions to justify our initial assumptions. This is destructive to ourselves and to our relationships, and can only be fixed with clear communication and asking questions. Chapter 5, describes the Fourth Agreement, “Always do your best,” emphasizing that your best will not be the same every day. It will vary over time. Ruiz cautions against doing more than your best, which will drain your energy, or less than your best, which will cause you to have regrets and frustration. When you do your best, you will be free from self-judgment. Doing your best requires doing every action for the sake of the action, not for a reward, and remembering that action itself is the means by which to live your life to the fullest. The way that you do the action matters as well, because an action done without love will only cause more suffering.

The fourth section explains the need to break old agreements to find freedom and invites the readers to take their first steps to free themselves from the old dream of the world and create a new dream. Chapter 6 explains several methods to break these old agreements, freeing yourself from the “parasite” made up of the Book of Law, the Judge, and the Victim as well as emphasizing that any old agreement based on fear must be replaced with a new agreement based on love. The first method involves breaking old agreements slowly, one by one, starting with the weakest and ending with the most powerful. The second method involves controlling your emotions, especially those fueled by fear, thus conserving your energy so that you may use it to enact change instead of succumbing to fear. The third method, called the “initiation of the dead,” involves allowing the dream of the old world to die, and the parasite along with it, and being reborn into your dream of the new world, with the freedom of a child but the wisdom of an adult. Chapter 7 invites the reader to imagine a life free of suffering, judgment, and fear and replaced with happiness, acceptance, and love. Ruiz then states that this kind of life is more than possible if one lives with love. The book ends with two prayers, one for freedom and one for love. 

Previous section Chapter 7: The New Dream: Heaven on Earth & Prayers

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