Toltec Spirit:  Wisdom of don Miguel Ruiz and The Four Agreements passed on to others

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The role of the guide - teacher, or rather UN-Teacher

When I was first offered the opportunity to apprentice with don Miguel, all sorts of fears and stories surfaced for me.  I was curious what he "wanted" from me.  Was this a cult?  What would I owe him?  What would I "have" to do?  I didn't want to give up direction of my life, particularly to whatever unknown requests don Miguel might come up with.  Essentially I had a great deal of fear and hesitation.  I was also being very sensible and prudent in my decisions.  What I was feeling was that this was no small undertaking.  I was being asked to trust someone, other than myself, to guide me out of my unhappiness, and to Spiritual fulfillment.  It is best to give some consideration to these questions.      

As I soon learned, my questions were valid.  But don Miguel was able to answer them quite clearly.  He explained that the role of the Guide was for him to be in service to his students and apprentices.  We were engaged in a journey for our happiness, and personal freedom from emotional drama and suffering.  His role was in service to us to guide us through this endeavor.   Our own commitment was to ourselves and our personal freedom.  His commitment was to us and our personal freedom as well.   We had no obligations to the teacher.   We owed him nothing and could walk away at anytime. 

It was offerings like these that I began to understand don Miguel's generosity, and the prospect of what he meant by freedom.

I offer the same.  No one has an obligation to work with me any more than they choose.  My services are offered, but I don't try to persuade anyone to make use of them.  And when someone wants to stop working with me, they are free to do so.  If I don't ask why they are changing their mind it is not because I don't care.  It is because they have a right to make that choice for themselves, without having to explain themselves to anyone, including me. 

The Guide's role is one of service, not of need for or from their students.

On another note I prefer the term Guide to Teacher.  The term "Teacher" implies that there is a student, and that the teacher has to teach the student.  Which imposes the belief that the student has something to learn, or should be come "better".  Or it implies that the student should be more like the teacher.  In general the mind often implies or infers a duality of separateness.  Which the inner judge then quickly uses to make comparisons and create rejection stories.

Well if we look, we notice that we are largely working to "unlearn" the agreements of our domestication.  With that in mind, then the Guide isn't really a "Teacher", but rather an UN-Teacher.   So, I prefer Guide to teacher, or even Un-Teacher to Teacher.  But most people won't read too deeply into this website to find this quirk, I buried in here.  But what the heck.  I said it.

And on a more formal note:

A Guide, or Teacher, provides the necessary tools of awareness and transformation. The Guide also provides the instruction and guidance in the skillful application of these tools. The most powerful gift that a guide can provide is his or her unconditional love. Unconditional love has the power to pierce the illusions that blind us from beauty and happiness.

    Without the help of a Guide to sort out the truth from the lies in the inventory of ones agreements the process is much more difficult.  Looking at my own process, I'd say it would be nearly impossible without the help of a Guide.  The path of Love is simple, however, the methods the mind concocts to distort ones perceptions can be complex and tricky. In seeing the truth of how we distort our perceptions and our word, we are a long ways towards the freedom from the agreements that go against ourselves. However, just because we "know" what makes us suffer, does not mean we have changed our dream. Transformation comes after the awareness, and only with action.

    The role of the Guide is for the Warrior to recover his own freedom. This means freedom from her reliance on the Guide as a source of clarity, wisdom, truth, and unconditional love.

    When I was little I had many teachers. I had teachers to teach me manners, how to behave, mathematics, spelling, writing, grammar, music, engineering, art, and other things. What I realized entering this work is that I did not have anyone to teach me joy, happiness, and unconditional love. Nor did I have anyone to show me how to break the agreements and patterns that kept me in the drama of unhappiness. I realized that prior to meeting don Miguel, I had not known someone who was truly happy in every moment of his life. I learned that joy, was a fleeting experience. Don Miguel is a master of happiness, joy, gratitude, and love. He has shown me these masteries, and I have practiced them and mastered them. These masteries have far more value than any other lesson I ever learned.

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