Customer Reviews

The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom

5 star:		(266)
4 star:		(55)
3 star:		(19)
2 star:		(19)
1 star:		(36)

 

 

THE FOUR AGREEMENTS (see also Section 11) by don Miguel
Ruiz is a short yet powerful book that contains useful advice
about how to recognize self-limiting beliefs that rob us of joy and
create needless suffering . . . based on ancient Toltec wisdom, the
agreements seem to be so basic to apply--but in reality they
are much more difficult to implement.

Nevertheless, I still find myself thinking about them and how
to relate what they say to my daily life . . . should you want
to join me in the task, consider how you can:

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 endless 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.

Also, I very much liked this one other passage:
Making assumptions in our relationships is really asking for problems.
Often we make the assumption that our partners know what we
think and that we don't have to say what we want. We assume they
are going to do what we want, because they know us so well. If
they don't do what we assume they should do, we feel so hurt and
say, "You should have known."

I enjoyed the book, but it was very repetitive and a little simplistic. Lots nifty ideas with a few interesting metaphors and insights... The book doesn't provide many revelations (if any). It mostly serves to re-enforce what we already know is right and true. We've all heard a million versions of the ideas delivered in this book. Stuff like:

"Say what you mean. Mean what you say"
"Assuming makes an ASS out of U and ME"

You get the idea... Read this book as a reminder. Read it to gain an alternate perspective. I would recommend it to anyone who is on a path to self-discovery. Remedial or not, the toltec perspective referenced in this book is a valuable one...

One thing I've noticed about most of the negative reviews. They all seem a little bit angry. Perhaps too angry to be receptive to a book with such a positive spin...

I found "The Four Agreements" to be a simple, peace-imparting book. Even in the process of reading this book, I was able to apply the agreements to my life. Before fully comleting the book, however, in addition to the very elementary language and many unsubstatiated points the author assumes the reader buys in to, I was distracted by semantics Don Ruiz used in communicating a healthy pysche versus a not-so-healthy psyche. He referred to a healthy state of mind and progression through life as "white magic" and an unhealthy state of mind as "black magic". This use of semantics is naive and disappointing to me because in American society, there is a shameful, inherent tendency to associate "white" with purity and above reproach and equate "black" with something being evil and defiled. Thankfully, Ruiz made reference to "white magic" and "black magic" only once in the book. I was able to overlook this unwise choice of words and finish reading the book coming away with some semblence of the core lessons the author attempts to uncover.

As usual, I used the Amazon customer reviews to help me decide whether to buy this book.

This is the first time that I found those reviews to be sooooo far off target!

This book is such a disappointment. OK, there are 4 interesting & true messages - read the table of contents and save your money. You won't get much more out of buying the book and reading all of the author's bla bla bla.

The prose really made me think that the author had just sat down and wrote the book in one sitting; or maybe just spoke it into his dictaphone in one day and had his secretary type it up.

There is nothing new or earth-shattering here. I would certainly not dare to call it a "self help" book.

Save your money & buy something else.

For as many books on mindfulness, spirituality and enlightenment go this has been my least favourite book to read.
Miguel has a few ideas that COULD transform an individuals life for the better however I think it would be far too easy for some readers to take the wrong approach to these agreements.
I really struggled reading through the beginning as Miguel repeats over and over just how horrible our lives are, he then goes on to tell the reader not to take anything personally.
If a person has a poor opinion of you, that is not your fault, that is merely a result of their reality. I do agree with this idea to some extent however in the "wrong" hands it would be far too easy for an individual to take these words and use them to their destructive advantage. I can see certain people in society forming awful opinions and spouting them off like a water fountain, arguing that if others take these displays personally that is their own problem to deal with. Rather than repeating "Don't take anything personally" in each paragraph of the third chapter I find it unfortunate that the author didn't take some time to address that we have the right to hold differing opinions but we should not use this right to justify harming other individuals with our own "truths"

If you're looking for more inspirational books, I highly recommend
"Conversations with God" Neale Donald Walsch this book is TRANSFORMATION at its BEST!
"Peace is Every Step" by Thich Nhat Hanh
"The Teo of Pooh and the Te of Piglet" by Benjamin Hoff

Excellent Shape- an AMAZING book that EVERYONE should have to re-read, a small size book that can go with you everywhere

This book is an easy read, yet difficult to implement the teachings into your life. It is a great spiritual book that is more common sense and goodwill than anything else. I read this book often as a reminder of what is important in life.

This is something that everyone should read. These are very simple concepts that most children already know before they reach kindergarten, but which they are quickly taught to forget. If everyone followed these four agreements the world would undoubtedly be a better place. But luckily each person who follows them will find their own personal freedom, regardless of what anyone else does.

It was very easy to read. Lots of wisdom that is useful and easy to remember and apply to our everyday lives. Enlightening and enhances my life!

If you need a push to get back on track in your spiritual growth this book will do it. It is simply written without a lot of gargon and the need to impress with vocabulary yet it still manages to pack a powerful message between its beautifully designed covers. Even if you can manage to master one of these four agreements it will have been worth it. Imagine being able to always speak your truth not in a hurtful or egotistic manner but rather to simply say what it is that you want and need for your own wellbeing so that your communication and motives are clear to those with whom you are or seek to be in relationship. If we can master this one thing as individuals then maybe one day when we form a political party or head up a corporation we may be inclined to transmit the same values to our colleagues and then who knows what might happen!