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Don Miguel Ruiz (born 1952) is a Mexican author, nagual, shaman, and teacher.Don Miguel Ruiz went to medical school and was a surgeon until a near-death experience impelled him to seek answers in ancestral traditions of the Toltec in which his mother was a curandera (healer), and his grandfather a nagual (shaman) who, after death, continued to teach Ruiz in his dreams.

Don Miguel Ruiz most famous and influential work, The Four Agreements, was published in 1997 and has sold around 4 million copies. The Four Agreements 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 within this reality.The Four Agreements are:

• Be Impeccable With Your Word.
• Don’t Take Anything Personally.
• Don’t Make Assumptions.
• Always Do Your Best.

Don Miguiel Ruiz also wrote a workbook as a companion to The Four Agreements. He then wrote several other books, including The Voice of Knowledge, Prayers, and The Mastery of Love. In Beyond Fear, by Mary Carroll Nelson, 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, but has since recovered. He has handed the Eagle-Knight lineage over to his son Don José Luis.

Editorial Reviews extracted from Amazon.com (Don Miguel Ruiz)

Sit at the foot of a native elder and listen as great wisdom of days long past is passed down.

In The Four Agreements shamanic teacher and healer Don Miguel Ruiz exposes self-limiting beliefs and presents a simple yet effective code of personal conduct learned from his Toltec ancestors.

Full of grace and simple truth, this handsomely designed book makes a lovely gift for anyone making an elementary change in life, and it reads in a voice that you would expect from an indigenous shaman.

The four agreements are these: Be impeccable with your word. Don’t take anything personally. Don’t make assumptions.

Always do your best. It’s the how and why one should do these things that make The Four Agreements worth reading and remembering.