Don Miguel Ruiz

Miguel Ángel Ruiz
Born August 27, 1952
Mexico
Pen name Don Miguel Ruiz
Occupation Author, teacher, shaman
Nationality Mexican
Genre Personal growth
Subject Motivational
Notable works The Four Agreements, The Mastery Of Love, The Voice Of Knowledge, The Fifth Agreement
Website
www.miguelruiz.com

Don Miguel Ángel Ruiz (born 1952), better known as Don Miguel Ruiz, is a Mexican author of Toltec spiritualist and neoshamanistic texts.

His work is part of the New Age movement that focuses on ancient teachings as a means to achieve spiritual enlightenment. Ruiz is listed as one of the Watkins 100 Most Spiritually Influential Living People in 2014.[1] Some have associated Ruiz's work with Carlos Castaneda, author of The Teachings of Don Juan.

Biography

Don Miguel Ruiz was born in rural Mexico, the youngest of 13 children. He attended medical school, and became a surgeon. For several years he practiced medicine with his brothers.

A near-fatal car accident changed the direction of his life. He promptly returned to his mother to acquire greater moral understanding. He then apprenticed himself to a shaman, and eventually moved to the United States.

While the Toltec culture left no written records, Ruiz employs the word Toltec to signify a long tradition of indigenous beliefs in Mexico, such as the idea that a Nagual (shaman) guides an individual to personal freedom. After exploring the human mind from an indigenous as well as scientific perspective, Ruiz combines traditional wisdom with modern insights.

The Four Agreements, published in 1997; was a New York Times bestseller for more than seven years. Other books have followed: The Mastery of Love, The Voice of Knowledge, Prayers, Beyond Fear and The Fifth Agreement, a collaboration with his son Don José. All of his books are international bestsellers.[2] His The Toltec Art of Life and Death will be published in late 2015.

Fluent in Spanish and English, he often lectures and leads retreats in the United States.[3] In February 2002, Ruiz suffered a near-fatal heart attack. The damage from the heart attack and subsequent coma left him with a heart functioning at only 16% of capacity and in constant pain.[4] He claims to have handed over an Eagle-Knight lineage[5] to his son Don José Ruiz. 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.[3]

The Four Agreements

His most famous book, The Four Agreements, was published in 1997 and has sold around 5.2 million copies in the U.S.[6] and has been translated into 38 languages. The book advocates personal freedom from beliefs and agreements that we have made with ourselves and others that are creating limitation and unhappiness in our lives.[7] It was featured on the Oprah television show.[8] The Four Agreements are:

  1. Be Impeccable With Your Word.
  2. Don't Take Anything Personally.
  3. Don't Make Assumptions.
  4. Always Do Your Best.

Ruiz has received a U.S. Air Force challenge coin engraved with The Four Agreements, and he is referenced as a "National Heirloom of Mexico".[9]

He also wrote a companion book to The Four Agreements.

Don Miguel Ruiz's son, Don Jose Ruiz, has subsequently released a sequel with his father, The Fifth Agreement, which adds a further agreement:

5. Be Skeptical but Learn to Listen.

Quotes

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Works

References

External links

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