Monday, February 13th | 6:30 pm | GCCR Lounge | Free
GCCR is forming a new Inspirational/Spiritual Book Discussion Group! Our hope for this book group is to provide each person with an atmosphere that will give us an opportunity to encourage and experience personal growth through the reading and discussion of inspirational/spiritual books. To start off 2012 the Group will be reading and discussing “The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom” by Don Miguel Ruiz.
Each group will have a leader and will consist of thought provoking questions which will be discussed during each group. This is a safe group, encouraging open sharing and listening respectfully of one another. Confidentiality will be part of the group requirements.
The group will meet every other Monday for 6 weeks beginning February 13th. The group will meet on from 6:30-8:00PM in the GCCR Lounge. The group is free and open to all – men, women, the religious as well as non-believers.
We encourage people to sign up for this group so that communications via email are able to take place after each session. The questions for the next week’s group will be sent out a week prior to the group. This gives each member time to really think and study the questions and then to journal any thoughts they might have before the next group meets.
To register for the Book Group please email Stephanie Smith at stephanie.smith@lgbtrichmond.net by Feb 6th, 2012 to ensure a spot. Seating is limited, so if you’re interested register early!
If you don’t have a copy of the book already, most bookstores carry this book as well as you can order a copy on-line at Amazon by going to this link
http://www.amazon.com/Four-Agreements-Practical-Personal-Freedom/dp/1878424319
(please read below for in-depth info on the Book and Author)
“The Four Agreements: A Practical Guide to Personal Freedom” by Don Miguel Ruiz
Don Miguel Ruiz’s book, The Four Agreements was published in 1997. For many, The Four Agreements is a life-changing book, whose ideas come from the ancient Toltec wisdom of the native people of Southern Mexico. The Toltec were ‘people of knowledge’ – scientists and artists who created a society to explore and conserve the traditional spiritual knowledge and practices of their ancestors. The Toltec viewed science and spirit as part of the same entity, believing that all energy – material or ethereal – is derived from and governed by the universe.
Don Miguel Ruiz, born and raised in rural Mexico, was brought up to follow his family’s Toltec ways by his mother, a Toltec faith healer, and grandfather, a Toltec ‘nagual’, a shaman. Despite this, Don Miguel decided to pursue a conventional education, which led him to qualify and practice for several years as a surgeon. Following a car crash, Don Miguel Ruiz reverted to his Toltec roots during the late 1970′s, first studying and learning in depth the Toltec ways, and then healing, teaching, lecturing and writing during the 1980′s and 90′s, when he wrote The Four Agreements (published in 1997), The Mastery of Love (1999), The Four Agreements Companion Book (2000), and Prayers (2001).
Don Miguel Ruiz survived a serious heart attack 2002, since when his teachings have been largely channeled through seminars and classes run by his followers, notably his sons Don Jose Luis and Don Miguel Ruiz Junior. Like many gurus and philosophical pioneers, Ruiz has to an extent packaged, promoted and commercialized his work, nevertheless the simplicity and elegance of his thinking remains a source of great enlightenment and aspiration. The simple ideas of The Four Agreements provide an inspirational code for life; a personal development model, and a template for personal development, behavior, communications and relationships. Here is how Don Miguel Ruiz summarizes ‘The Four Agreements’:
The Four Agreements – Don Miguel Ruiz’s code for life:
Agreement 1:
Be impeccable with your word – Speak with integrity. Say only what you mean. Avoid using the word to speak against yourself or to gossip about others. Use the power of your word in the direction of truth and love.
Agreement 2:
Don’t take anything personally – Nothing others do is because of you. What others say and do is a projection of their own reality, their own dream. When you are immune to the opinions and actions of others, you won’t be the victim of needless suffering.
Agreement 3:
Don’t make assumptions – Find the courage to ask questions and to express what you really want. Communicate with others as clearly as you can to avoid misunderstandings, sadness and drama. With just this one agreement, you can completely transform your life.
Agreement 4:
Always do your best – Your best is going to change from moment to moment; it will be different when you are healthy as opposed to sick. Under any circumstance, simply do your best, and you will avoid self-judgment, self-abuse and regret.
