Ancient Wisdom for a Modern World
THE FIFTH AGREEMENT
An Interview with Don Miguel Ruiz and Don Jose Ruiz
To ask the right questions we will
today, it didn’t take me long to see that most everything we “believe” to be true is in fact nothing more than half-truths at best and superstitions generated from things that may or may not have happened as far back as the Iron Age. The only way I can see that we will have a sustainable and durable future is to bring religion, politics, and human understanding into the 21st century through open dialogue, honesty, and integrity … however, this takes courage, the courage to doubt and ask questions of people and organizations that have traditionally placed themselves beyond questioning.
W
hile doing my research in writing my book on the consequences that belief systems have on our world
need some guidelines, something simple, nothing complicated. These guidelines are portrayed eloquently in the new book The Fifth Agreement. I can see a movement on the horizon that is insisting that traditional ideas and beliefs find the middle ground beyond their polarized and rigid views. And even though they may come kicking and screaming, in the end it will be the only way to create a new world vision that is sustainable. To even imagine that the whole world could somehow be coerced into believing the way you do is to be living in the grandest of delusions, although that’s exactly how most of our nations and religions behave. This delusion shows itself in many of our leaders today, and I for one am questioning their authority and their mental stability when making major decisions that affect my life.
Many of us have watched the
unfolding of world events, the financial and environmental collapse, an unending war, the world’s diminishing food and freshwater supply, the fishing out of our oceans, the devastation of virgin forests; the list goes on. While we still have much to be grateful for, we need to start doubting and not believing everything that we are told. We live in the information age, so investigate, be informed about the products you buy, the news you hear, the politicians’ rhetoric,
and every single person who’s telling you what you should do and believe and promising you a reward somewhere down the road or in the next life.
We were given minds that have the
power to go beyond “needing to pretend we know things that are, in fact, unknowable.” This is our world—we all live and breathe the same air, have dreams for better lives for our children, and are walking around on this fragile planet with the unalienable rights of every human being to pursue happiness and live out our lives in peace. It says in our Declaration of Independence that governments are regulated and given their power by the people, but we’ve been asleep at the wheel. Today, the people who have the power are special-interest groups, lobbyists, and now we seem to have a nutritional-industrial complex telling us what “nutrition” is and isn’t, all in the name of protecting the interests of the pharmaceutical companies.
So it boils down to this: If you
blindly accept another person’s idea of what is true, it’s like expecting to be nourished when someone tells you of a great meal he had; you can be nourished only by what you eat and you can benefit only from knowing through direct experience.
Rahasya Poe, Lotus Guide
28
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