Toltec
Tools of Transformation
An Interview with the Toltec Nagual, don Miguel
Ruiz
by Allan Hardman
Allan Hardman: Don Miguel, you often describe our lives as a dream. Would you explain what you mean?
Don Miguel: Yes, thank you. All the drama in your life, all the comedy in your life, all the love in your life, all those disappointments, the good parts, the bad parts-- all of that is nothing but a dream. And it is wonderful to know that because it is a dream, you can start taking charge of how to dream your life. It is not about believing or not believing. It is about what is. You dream your life according to what you believe.
Allan: So we all have a different dream?
Don Miguel: We can say that we perceive the same things, but we analyze everything completely differently. We take everything in a different point of view but it is just a dream. The way you dream your life, you create all those images about yourself and about everything-- all those images about how everything should be. We create a whole mythology-- heroes and villains. That mythology is just your beliefs and it is not even real or true... but it rules your life. And that is your personal dream.
Allan: What do you mean, then, when you talk about being a dream master?
Don Miguel: By being a dream master, we change as fast as the dream changes. And we adapt to the dream, instead of resisting the dream, and guide the dream in whatever direction we want to.
I want to share with everybody the three rules that I gave you guys when you became my apprentices. Rule number one: Don't believe me. I don't want you to believe me but I want you to listen and make choices-- your choices. If what I say doesn't work for you, leave it. but if it works for you and that is what you want, then make it yours.
Rule number two: Don't believe yourself. Why? Because most of your belief system is a lie-- it is not true. And by believing yourself, you create all the imitations that don't allow you to be what you really are. Don't believe yourself. Listen to what you say, listen to what you think, listen to what you believe. And when you listen, open your ears, open your mind, open your intelligence and make choices.
Rule number three: Don't believe anybody else. Don't believe them at all. Open your ears and your mind, listen and make choices.
If you follow these three simple rules, you can go anywhere in the world and still protect your new dream of love and heaven in your mind. You have to be aware of what it is that you believe. You have to listen to that voice and make choices.
Allan: It seems like we all have so many different voices, arguing in our heads. . . what you call the "Mitote," the sound of 1,000 people in the market place all talking at once and nobody listening.
Don Miguel: You are so right. Just because you hear an inner voice, that does not mean that what it says is true. No. Don't believe it. Follow your heart. You can understand. And you can make choices.
Allan: You are challenging people to make very big changes in their lives. Why is it that people seem to resist change? Is it just because we are afraid of the unknown?
Don Miguel: Once you break all those beliefs, you don't believe me, you don't believe yourself, you don’t believe anybody else, it begins to look like chaos. Why? Because the reason we need to believe is in order to feel faith. You begin to feel that your whole system is cracking, so you no longer are safe. The old dream is a nightmare that makes humans into slaves and puppets of that dream, and makes you believe that you are just a human and that you are not perfect. But you want to believe it!
You are so much more than just a human. There is all that possibility-- all that magic and power that is limited by your own beliefs, by you own life, by the way you lie to yourself. If we change that, there is nothing else that can limit us. Everything is possible, including for you to be always happy and always in love.
Allan: You are talking about a complete transformation of what we believe about ourselves and our lives!
Don Miguel: Yes. What I am giving you right now is the first half of the Toltec Mastery of Transformation, which is the destruction of an old dream or belief system. The second half of the Mastery of Transformation is the re-creation of a dream. [The three Masteries of the Toltecs are Awareness, Transformation, and Love (Intent).]
And that is what my "Four Agreements" are about. They are the way to re-create the dream. And the result is what we call the mastery of love, which is a way to live your life and a way of being, in your own way and with your integrity, just the way you are. It is a dream that is completely love.
But you need to do your work to change your beliefs and your ways. You need to become a dream artist. It is the supreme art that all human beings have. When you have the awareness and power, you are definitely going to make different choices. Having that power is what we call free will. If you could make a choice, you are never going to choose anger, jealousy, emotional pain, or suffering. You choose that way of dreaming because you have no choice. If you have a choice, you are going to be always happy, always in love.
Allan: Tell us the Four Agreements.
Don Miguel: Number one is to be impeccable with your word, which means that you never are going to use the word against yourself. You never go against yourself. The second agreement is: Don’t take anything personally. If you don't take anything personally, you will not be offended wherever you go. Because the truth is that whatever people do or don’t do, it is not because of you.
Number three is don't make assumptions because the way we learn to dream the dream is based on assumptions. That is how we create all those big dramas. By not creating assumptions, we avoid all those lies-- we recover part of our integrity. And the most important agreement is: Always do your best. For sure, you always can do your best. And your best changes all the time-- when you are sick or tired, your best is different than when you are awake and fresh. But by always doing your best, your are always going to be content with yourself.
If you make the choice to do your best and believe it, that is your best. You have the power to make the choice. And magic begins to happen in your life. This is the mastery of life. This is the goal of the Toltec. This is the path to personal freedom.
Allan: Thank you don Miguel.
Don Miguel: Thank you for giving me this opportunity to share my love with everybody.
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