Miguel Ángel Ruiz
Encyclopedia
Don Miguel Ángel Ruiz better known as Don Miguel Ruiz, is a Mexican
author of New Age
spiritualist and neoshamanistic
texts. His teaching is significantly influenced by the work of Carlos Castaneda
.
His most famous and influential work, The Four Agreements, was published in 1997 and has sold around 4 million copies. It was featured on the Oprah
television show, and advocates personal freedom from agreements and beliefs that we have made with ourselves and others that are creating limitation and unhappiness in our lives. Ultimately, it is about finding one's own integrity, self-love, and peace by way of absolving oneself from responsibility for the woes of others. The Four Agreements are:
Ruiz also wrote a companion book to The Four Agreements. He then wrote several other books, including The Voice of Knowledge, Prayers, and The Mastery of Love.
Ruiz has subsequently released a sequel, The Fifth Agreement, which adds a further agreement:
In Mary Carroll Nelson's Beyond Fear, he discusses some of his beliefs through a series of interviews, including his belief in the legend of Atlantis
; his belief that the sun entered its sixth age on January 11, 1992, which should lead to a new age for humanity; and his belief in the spiritual power of the pyramid of the sun at Teotihuacan
. He can speak English
. He often lectures and leads retreats in the United States. Many of his students are American. In 2002 he suffered a massive heart attack, and spent nine weeks in a coma, but recovered although he was in pain for the next 8 years. He has handed the Eagle-Knight lineage over to his son Don José Luis. On October 9, 2010, Ruiz received a heart transplant
at a hospital in Los Angeles
, California
. He was at a retreat in Wimberley
, Texas
, at the Lotus Ranch when he found out that a heart was available and had to charter a plane to get back to Los Angeles.
Mexican people
Mexican people refers to all persons from Mexico, a multiethnic country in North America, and/or who identify with the Mexican cultural and/or national identity....
author of New Age
New Age
The New Age movement is a Western spiritual movement that developed in the second half of the 20th century. Its central precepts have been described as "drawing on both Eastern and Western spiritual and metaphysical traditions and then infusing them with influences from self-help and motivational...
spiritualist and neoshamanistic
Neoshamanism
Neoshamanism is a term signaling a "new" form or a revival of an old form of "shamanism", a system that comprises a range of beliefs and practices concerned with communication with the spiritual world....
texts. His teaching is significantly influenced by the work of Carlos Castaneda
Carlos Castaneda
Carlos Castaneda was a Peruvian-born American anthropologist and author....
.
His most famous and influential work, The Four Agreements, was published in 1997 and has sold around 4 million copies. It was featured on the Oprah
The Oprah Winfrey Show
The Oprah Winfrey Show is an American syndicated talk show hosted and produced by its namesake Oprah Winfrey. It ran nationally for 25 seasons beginning in 1986, before concluding in 2011. It is the highest-rated talk show in American television history....
television show, and advocates personal freedom from agreements and beliefs that we have made with ourselves and others that are creating limitation and unhappiness in our lives. Ultimately, it is about finding one's own integrity, self-love, and peace by way of absolving oneself from responsibility for the woes of others. The Four Agreements are:
- Be Impeccable With Your Word.
- Don't Take Anything Personally.
- Don't Make Assumptions.
- Always Do Your Best.
Ruiz also wrote a companion book to The Four Agreements. He then wrote several other books, including The Voice of Knowledge, Prayers, and The Mastery of Love.
Ruiz has subsequently released a sequel, The Fifth Agreement, which adds a further agreement:
- 5. Be Skeptical but Learn to Listen.
In Mary Carroll Nelson's Beyond Fear, he discusses some of his beliefs through a series of interviews, including his belief in the legend of Atlantis
Atlantis
Atlantis is a legendary island first mentioned in Plato's dialogues Timaeus and Critias, written about 360 BC....
; his belief that the sun entered its sixth age on January 11, 1992, which should lead to a new age for humanity; and his belief in the spiritual power of the pyramid of the sun at Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan
Teotihuacan – also written Teotihuacán, with a Spanish orthographic accent on the last syllable – is an enormous archaeological site in the Basin of Mexico, just 30 miles northeast of Mexico City, containing some of the largest pyramidal structures built in the pre-Columbian Americas...
. He can speak English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
. He often lectures and leads retreats in the United States. Many of his students are American. In 2002 he suffered a massive heart attack, and spent nine weeks in a coma, but recovered although he was in pain for the next 8 years. He has handed the Eagle-Knight lineage over to his son Don José Luis. On October 9, 2010, Ruiz received a heart transplant
Heart transplantation
A heart transplant, or a cardiac transplantation, is a surgical transplant procedure performed on patients with end-stage heart failure or severe coronary artery disease. As of 2007 the most common procedure was to take a working heart from a recently deceased organ donor and implant it into the...
at a hospital in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. He was at a retreat in Wimberley
Wimberley, Texas
Wimberley is a small town in Hays County, Texas, United States. Prior to its incorporation in May 2000, it was a census-designated place . The population was 2,626 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, Texas
Texas
Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...
, at the Lotus Ranch when he found out that a heart was available and had to charter a plane to get back to Los Angeles.
Works
- The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Wisdom (A Toltec Wisdom Book), 1997, Amber-Allen Publishing, ISBN 978-1-878424-31-0
- The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationship (Toltec Wisdom Book), 1999, Amber-Allen Publishing, ISBN 978-1-878424-42-6
- The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom, A Toltec Wisdom Book [Special Edition], 2001, Amber-Allen Publishing, ISBN 1878424505
- Prayers: A Communion with Our Creator (Toltec Wisdom), 2001, Amber-Allen Publishing, ISBN 978-1-878424-52-5
- Wisdom from the Four Agreements (Charming Petites), 2003, Peter Pauper Press, ISBN 088088990X
- Wisdom from the Mastery of Love (Charming Petites), 2003, Peter Pauper Press, ISBN 0880884258
- The Voice of Knowledge: A Practical Guide To Inner Peace, 2004, Amber-Allen Publishing, ISBN 978-1-878424-54-9
- The Fifth Agreement: A Practical Guide to Self-Mastery, 2010, Amber-Allen Publishing, ISBN 978-1-878424-68-6