Are you familiar with the Four Agreements?

Question

The Four Agreements are:
1. Be Impeccable With Your Word
2. Don't Take Anything Personally
3. Don't Make Assumptions
4. Always Do Your Best.

Do you prefer them to the "four spiritual laws?"
http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=Ahu29lfD8GxfsIik40F4vIHd7BR.;_ylv=3?qid=20071128120359AAqMAjU

Why or why not?

Sorry for leaving out details.. the author is Don Miguel Ruiz.. here's a site that goes into detail on it. It's a great book:

http://www.nderf.org/4AgreementsReview.htm

um Behonest, I guess you should never be "relatively sure" again.. your christianity is showing.

Answer 1

I wasn't aware of those Four Agreements. Are they yours? I seldom like overly generalized litanies of rules, but I prefer your Four Agreements to the list of things in the question you linked to.

Answer 2

Yes these are much better. The "four spiritual laws" are only for fundamentalist Christians. I prefer an agreement with yourself that will actually work to improve your life and make you a better person, to some hypothetical relinquishing of responsibility to a theoretical Jesus Christ.

Answer 3

Yes
Don Miguel Ruiz is a nagual, a Toltec shaman. He explains that we all live in a fog of beliefs that serve as filters for all our experiences. This fog of beliefs keeps us from attaining happiness. He believes that making four agreements with yourself can help clear away this fog.

Answer 4

Never heard of the four agreements and I prefer the four spiritual laws. Why? Because I can actually benefit from and use them regularly. I will always fail at the four agreements, but I can never fail at the four spiritual laws (which I am not even sure that there is such a term other than in Theophilus's mind, just as I am relatively sure that the four agreements only exist in yours).

Not afraid to admit when I am wrong, but you should feel flattered that I credited you with the thought though. Also, I said relatively, which means there is still reason for doubt, on purpose beause I wasn't certain. Had I known for certain I would have said so.

Answer 5

Read the book when it first came out. Think it contains sound advice.

From a heathen perspective, I see #1 as being true to yourself and being whole (having integrity). Not "sinning" as the linked reviewer describes it.

I'd refer to these more as best practices or goals to strive for rather than laws. Nobody's perfect. ;)

As to that "Four Spiritual Laws" fundie, well... you can see my reply there.

Answer 6

I can hear where these are coming from, but for me.
1. What and where cometh the word, is it your egoic mind, or the "word" the intuitive movement of the heart of all.

2. "Personally", again, is this the personality that is taking this, one can trust the heart, if each being learned this heart response, I would listen to that being and hear what was being brought for my undoing. So yes, I would take it on, as my brother/sister in love is there to be love also.

3. Assumptions, where do these come from, the past, then yes I agree, past assumptions are an error to move on, or use as reference, eg. he did this to me, therefore he will do it to you.
I see much of this in relationship between people

4. Always do your best. As long as you are not "trying" I would say. Living as love in this world is not about trying, it is about being.

There are always "levels" of sayings, which "help" some through a moment, then in that moment being moved on, there is the next one.
To stay bound to a certain "set" of pretty words, can also bind and limit one to "thinking" they are living righteously.
Be aware. Which is not about being in fear, but be aware of self, of the intuitive heart, this for each being is their teacher.
When you are ready, the heart will be heard, it is always speaking to you, when you are ready, you will hear the teacher within.

Very interesting question.
Peace in the heart
Living in Gods grace is all-there-is

Answer 7

i just added this book to the growing list of books that i want to read.

i try to do these already, so i can relate to them much better than the four spiritual laws.

actually i would consider the four agreements to be more spiritual than the others.
they seem to me to be more religious laws than spiritual ones.

just my thoughts.

bright blessings to you.

Answer 8

The "Four Spiritual Laws" in Mr. God-Lover's little question there are typical "religious" psychopathy and superstition. We get it, we're pathetic earth-scum and our only hope of redemption is to believe in Jesus. Worse than useless.

The "Four Agreements"...yeah, if only we could all live up to those. lol. Still, they're good ideals to shoot for. At least they involve actual moral principles, rather than pseudo-spiritual threats and promises.

As "behonest" says (and God bless her) - "I will always fail at the four agreements, but I can never fail at the four spiritual laws." Yeah, because the idea is that "Jesus" does all the work for you, and all you have to do is "accept" and "believe." It's the total abdication of all personal responsibility. I can see why people find it appealing!

Answer 9

I'm familiar with the Four Disagreements:

1. Be scathing with your word.
2. Take everything personally.
3. Assume.
4. Be an underachiever.

Answer 10

I like the 4 agreements better than the 4 spiritual laws...

I hate being called sinful simply because it's not true