Heaven on Earth
The parallel between The Four Agreements and the heart of Yoga
Heaven on Earth
“One who is happy within, who rejoices within, and who is illumined within—such a yogi becomes one with the Divine and attains peace.”
— Bhagavad Gita (a Hindu scripture that is a philosophical foundation for yoga as a whole way of living).
-
This week, I wanted to draw a parallel between the goal of the Four Agreements and the Heart of Yoga: to become one with the divine and attain peace.
We’ve been conditioned to search for happiness outside of us, in the external world.
Constantly abiding by rules we didn’t make and don’t agree with. Existing in a series of limits. And searching for peace through the approval of others.
We spend so much time surviving the outer world that we lose touch with our inner world.
-
So yes, there’s no question that we must continue to exist within the boundaries of the external world. Career, finances, bureaucracy… While slowly doing what we can to challenge injustice and inequity.
But it is also our right to connect with our internal world, our wildness, our personal freedom… and attain Peace.
-
What stops us from being free? We stop ourselves.
We lose our freedom when we are domesticated.
Humans are supposed to be wild, just like a flower, a tree, or an animal. Our normal human tendency is to enjoy life, to play, to explore, to be happy, and to love.
-
We’ve created a Book of Law through all of the many agreements we’ve made throughout life — agreements shaped by history, religion, war, gender, etc.
This Book of Law becomes our belief system, in which we can be both the judge and the victim.
With these agreements, you can free yourself from all of that, especially the role of the victim.
The real you can come out; you care less about the past and worry less about the future.
-
We suffer when we identify as the judge or the victim.
But we are neither of those. The four agreements can help us return to what we truly are, which is pure, loving awareness.
In yogic terms, this is called Saccidānanda — truth, consciousness, and bliss.
-
In Yoga, we practice Aparigraha, or non-attachment.
When you detach yourself from the human constructs of justice or fairness, you can no longer play the role of the victim or the judge.
You are the lover, the dreamer… pure, loving awareness.
-
The Toltecs understand that our freedom comes from the mastery of three things:
The mastery of awareness — to be aware of who we really are, with all the possibilities.
The mastery of transformation — how to change, how to be free from the Book of Law (by practicing the four agreements or yoga as a way of life).
The mastery of intent — that part of life that makes the transformation of energy possible.
-
Intent is life itself; it is unconditional love. The mastery of intent is therefore the mastery of love.
What happens when we enter different situations with the intention of friendliness?
Friendliness is not only accessible in daily life, but often doesn’t take much effort.
Friendliness makes every action more exciting, engaging, and motivating.
With intention, we bond and remember our belonging.
-
The Toltecs view the Book of Law (the victim, the judge, and the belief system) as a parasite.
Like a monster with 1,000 heads, each head is a fear that we have.
To destroy the parasite, we have to face our fears one by one, and we have to stop feeding them.
In a way, when the parasite dies, we die… but we are reborn.
The old version of us that is controlled by fear dies. The truest version of us, which lives from love, is reborn.
-
You have to know which agreements you want to change before you can change them. We need to develop awareness of all the self-limiting, fear-based beliefs.
The author Thomas Moore has a concept called “observing the soul.”
This simply means observing what’s going on inside of you without attaching yourself to those things.
You can meet your demons face-to-face without letting them control you. After a while, your demons become angels.
-
Start small by breaking agreements that don’t take much energy to change.
This could be something as simple as practicing a pause before responding to an email, or during an argument.
Saying no to requests, people, or environments that don’t value you.
Or simply speaking to yourself kindly.
It’s a slow process, but you will feel your personal power continuing to increase.
-
The power of repetition applies to how old agreements are made and destroyed, and how new agreements are solidified.
We are addicted to anger, jealousy, and self-pity because we have repeated those feelings and beliefs for much of our lives.
So we have to repeat our new agreements again and again until they ultimately replace our old agreements and become new habits.
If we allow our negative emotions to deplete our energy, we have no energy left to change our lives or to give to others.
-
We have a dysfunctional dream of our planet. So many of us are mentally sick with fear, hate, sadness, envy, and betrayal…
Because it’s so common, we think it’s normal.
But if we can see our state of mind as a disease, then we can find that there is a cure.
We must forgive, feel compassion for others and ourselves, and practice self-acceptance.
When someone can touch what used to be a wound and it no longer hurts you, then you know that you have truly forgiven — that you are content with who you are.
-
When our demons become angels, we stop living in fear of what we’re not and live in love for what we are.
We wake up and begin each day with gratitude rather than worry.
What makes us happy is telling others how much we love them.
-
Forget everything that you have learned. This is the beginning of a new understanding, a new dream.
The dream you’re living is your creation. You can change it at any time.
You have the power to create heaven.
-
You will start to see love coming out of the trees, love coming out of the sky, love coming out of the light.
You will perceive love directly from everything, including yourself and other humans.
Even when humans are sad or angry, you will see love as the source of all things.
-
You no longer rule your behavior according to what others think of you, and you also stop judging others. You can forgive easily.
You can walk through the world with grace and bliss, with your heart completely open.
When love is your way of life.
-
Pause: Place your hands on your heart — slow down. Let your palms receive your heartbeat.
Look into the deepest part of your heart. The part of your heart that is free from doubt. The part of your heart that wants you to be okay.
Love was always meant to be our way of life. We’ve just gotten distracted…
Feel your readiness to return to your loving, to attain peace.
Take a deep breath… and smile.
-
Much love, Alex
-
*** SPECIAL NOTE ***
I’ve written and recorded a Yoga Nidra meditation for each of The Four Agreements.
Experiencing the essence of each agreement with this practice allows it to become deeply engrained into your being and brings a unique type of bliss.
If you would like access to those meditations, follow the link below: