The Four Agreements Book

[ExploringReality]

If you know, you know. This ain't fake spirituality. Or maybe it is 🤔 😂 

But this is a really good book. Has this book helped you along your journey? And let me hear y'all say each agreement. Always do your best.

[aurum]

It's a good book, but not for serious awakening.

Pop-spirituality.

[Be-ing]

Number 2 I pull out of my mental "self care tool kit" all the time: "Do not take anything personally"   Of the four, for me it's the most important on my path. The others, I'd already worked on in some way by the time I'd found the book.  

"Do not take anything personally" Why? Nothing anyone does has anything to do with anyone else. Why? We're all always internally motivated.

Buddhists, in my understanding of it,  also say this as the cause/effect understanding and we're always cause.  This also can be seen in the idea of, "the thing isn't the thing."   Usually, if we're caught up in an issue which seems to be another person to us, the answer is always found within ourselves. Every time I think, "They...," ...it's really my own issue projected and/or I always have choice in how I act in response. Even if the "action" is only in how I think about/perceive what happened. 

I was so happy to find this book when I did. 

In my opinion, there's no separating personal growth from spiritual growth in that, in my experience,  all things are of "Spirit" (however one defines it) in their base nature. The better we know ourselves, the better we become ourselves.   

I agree that it's a really good book, ER.

[PurpleTree]

Read it at some point i think.

But don’t remember much.

Just more self help.

[The Caretaker]

@PurpleTree Same. Actually had to pen my notes to remember even a single line or idea. At least during that period of my time, I have it 9/10. But from what I noticed in my notes, the book does not have any original ideas.

However, for somebody who is only starting, it seems like a good read.

[BlueOak]

Have you read the fifth agreement.

https://fourminutebooks.com/the-fifth-agreement-summary/

When I was studying Almine and studying Toltec shamanism, it was in that realm.

It works because you are what you focus on, and if you focus on love, you become it and essentially bliss out. But the unresolved things hit you in face, it energetically feels like that.

[Joshe]

The idea of the book itself is what is powerful. The idea that if you take just a handful of principles and practice them to mastery, that’s all you really need. If you had to pick only 4 practical principles to live by, which would you choose? 

For example: 

1. Essentialism
Pursue only what truly matters. Strip life down to its core priorities. Say no to anything that doesn’t align. Focus is power.

2. Equanimity
Remain grounded, no matter what happens. Master your inner domain. Don’t spike, react, or lose yourself. Stillness is strength.

3. Minimalism
Clear away the clutter — physical, mental, emotional. Create space for clarity, precision, and peace. Own less, think less, carry less.

4. Resolve
Commit fully. See it through. No flinching, no drifting. Decide with intention — and follow through. 

If mastered, these 4 principles alone would manifest for you an amazing life. But instead, we focus on 70 principles and thus make very little progress in any. 

Edited Sunday at 09:47 PM by Joshe

[theleelajoker]

15 hours ago, Joshe said:

The idea of the book itself is what is powerful. The idea that if you take just a handful of principles and practice them to mastery, that’s all you really need. If you had to pick only 4 practical principles to live by, which would you choose? 

For example: 

1. Essentialism
Pursue only what truly matters. Strip life down to its core priorities. Say no to anything that doesn’t align. Focus is power.

2. Equanimity
Remain grounded, no matter what happens. Master your inner domain. Don’t spike, react, or lose yourself. Stillness is strength.

3. Minimalism
Clear away the clutter — physical, mental, emotional. Create space for clarity, precision, and peace. Own less, think less, carry less.

4. Resolve
Commit fully. See it through. No flinching, no drifting. Decide with intention — and follow through. 

If mastered, these 4 principles alone would manifest for you an amazing life. But instead, we focus on 70 principles and thus make very little progress in any. 

In agree that those are good principles, but in my experience just reading them is not enough to really experience a change. 

What I mean is that basically anyone could write a set of rules or principles to live by with two minutes but (almost) nobody actually lives like that. Here I do it in the fly:

• Physical movement and breath 
• Be authentic 
• Eat healthy 
• Build strong social connections 
• Be open re experiences/ don't judge 
• Do what you love/ what really matters for you 
• Be present 
• Be active and decisive in your actions 

It's a mental trap in my POV that just reading or listening to sth or someone will create the desires change. It's not completely useless, but in my opinion the focus in education (and self help) is way too much on concepts and not enough on skills how to actually put this into practice. I feel it's a side effect of our intellectualized and overly regulated western society. 

[Joshe]

1 hour ago, theleelajoker said:

In agree that those are good principles, but in my experience just reading them is not enough to really experience a change. 

For me, that goes without saying. When I say live your life based on a small handful of principles, what I really mean is become intimate with those principles. I mean flesh them out fully so they are not vague. Comprehensively define what living in alignment with them looks like, come up with quotes, maxims, or pearls of wisdom that you can use for realignment, elucidate why the principle matters so much to you, etc. And then, review each day to make sure you lived in alignment with them. 

Also, it makes sense to choose just a few for each season of life. The problem with a long list is there’s not enough time to work on them all. 

Also, not everyone is in need of integrating the same set of principles, so my list would likely be different from yours. To put presence before principles that facilitate financial freedom is, for many, to put the cart before the horse. But maybe someone doesn’t care about financial freedom, and in that case, they can skip the principles that facilitate it. I chose those 4 specific principles because they facilitate financial freedom, which is my current goal. Once attained, I will pick new ones.

Edited Monday at 03:31 PM by Joshe