Well, there are a few titles on regular intervals which are constantly realising what is the real purpose of life. The world faces many problems and we do suffer from these from time to time. But the biggest dilemma of humankind is that we often dream of changing the world without even considering to bring changes in ourselves. Ironically, without accepting the changes for good, within oneself, no one will be able to change the world. There is a book The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom which is written by Miguel Ruiz, the author who has touched these issues in detail and talks about loving our life worry-free. The work is based on ancient Toltec wisdom that talks about the belief that life is a dream and that we are always dreaming, even when awake. Let’s discuss the book in detail.

The book tries to provide the truth of life in pretty simple words. The book has been a simplified version of complex ideas conceived in the mind of the author; in short, you can say that to describe the book in one line. The author has not tried to mix philosophical and psychological ideas to make it a complicated piece of literature just to look better among the elite readers who measure the depth of a book by the lexicon being used by the writer. He has kept the things simple, elegant and effective. His approach is practical and informative that can be easily implemented in real life if one tends to do so. However, we should not believe anything just by reading a few pages. There is more about it.

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The author has simplified the ancient Toltec wisdom and provided the basic ideas of its core. It is like challenging yourself to live the four simple truths. And the four agreements are: Be Impeccable With Your Word, Don’t Take Anything Personally, Don’t Make Assumptions, Always Do Your Best. These words, if seen from outside, seem just nothingness mummified. However, if you look carefully and try to realise the same, you can understand that the author, Don Miguel Ruiz, is trying to convey to the readers that life is not to be taken more seriously than what we are meant to take. Moreover, these ideas look scary when you provide too much philosophical explanation but when you put in the basket of reality it will be easy to understand. The author has explained all the four agreements in detail and a very lucid manner.

The book has only 168 pages so it will not take much of your time to finish it. It is captivating and will keep the readers of seriously written non-fiction in a simple way excited throughout the book. It goes on explaining what is most important for us and how we can work more insightfully.

The first of the four agreements states that always own your word. Say what you mean exactly. Never say half-truth or baked truth. Use the power of word so that you can have a peaceful life and nothing to regret. Words are powerful and they impact instantly. Therefore, one must stick to the idea behind the words. Frequent changing ideas behind your words will never let your words be taken seriously in the future. And never try to take anything personally because it is just the projection of someone’s thought. When you start to take things personally, an endless misery will follow your life.  There is nothing personal; you do your work and let them do their works. Something that the great Mahatma Gandhi also believed ‘Live and Let Live’. Don’t make assumptions and have the courage to ask and dare to listen anything. Don’t create unwanted drama in your life and always try to be clear in thoughts and your words and never misunderstand anything. It’s better to make things clear than making assumptions and having stress all day long. Just break the cycle of excuses and never be afraid of failure. Just always do your best and live your life happily. This is what the author tries to offer to the book readers by his simple thoughts. Your best does not come from better health only, you need to be mentally prepared as well. The author implies that feeling sick might be more dangerous than falling sick. It would be great if Indian authors could take some ideas from books like these and come with something like this when they pick up their ideas for publication using many options from many self-publishing companies in India.

These are the four mantras the author has talked about in his book. The book is really short and insightful. A must-read book that offers a fresh wave of motivational ideas to the readers and those who are interested too much in the book can also try to implement the same in their lives.

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review by Manish for Featured Books