Overview: The Voice of Knowledge is an excellent companion to The Four Agreements. In this book, Don Miguel Ruiz focuses on how our story, humanity’s story, has been constructed by lies. In essence, we are taught from a very young age that the ways in which we act and feel are “right” or “wrong” and justly deserve punishment and reward.
Based on this system, we learn that we are not perfect, and we seek to create a false image of ourselves that is perfection. This lie builds and builds and grows until the whole world, our entire dream is based on lies which we tell to ourselves and everyone around us to keep the whole act going.
However, the source of everything is perfection, and everything exists as perfection. Imperfection lies only within judgment itself. The original lie is that perfection does not exist. Yet, we are born perfect, we exist as perfection, and die so as well.
The underlying idea is that we come from a place of pure love, and pure love exists within and around us always. It is inescapable. This is perfection. The stories we tell, the defenses we take, the assumptions we make, all these things keep us from this love. The key is to look at our lives without judgment and compassionately.
From here, we can understand the main character who has evolved out of the story that is our life. We must journey within ourselves to see the constructs which have kept us from living from a place of authenticity and compassion. Once we learn to see our life and beliefs simply as part of an ongoing narrative of humanity, we can see others in the same light as well. We become secondary characters to their dream, and we no longer have to take offense to the beliefs that hold up the stages of others. Why should we?
Once we have returned to a place of pure love, where our story becomes that of an artist painting a delightful dream, why would we believe the lies of others? We can let them live their stories and love them unconditionally. When our lives become turbulent and difficult, we can see our emotions from the context of a character within a story. A character, that no matter how imperfect things seem, deserves the perfection of compassion and love.
Memorable Quotes:
“Grandfather went on to say, “Miguel, all of the drama you suffer in your personal life is the result of believing in lies, mainly about yourself. And the first lie you believe is you are not: You are not the way you should be, you are not good enough, you are not perfect. We are born perfect, we grow up perfect, and we will die perfect, because only perfection exists. But the big lie is that you are not perfect, that nobody is perfect. So you start to search for an image of perfection that you can never become. You will never reach perfection in that way because that image is false. It’s a lie, but you invest your faith in that lie, and then you build a whole structure of lies to support it.”
“Once I interpret, qualify, or judge what I perceive, it is no longer real; it is a virtual world. This is what the Totec call dreaming. [...] Then I remembered that the word Toltec means “artist of the spirit.” In the Toltec tradition, every human is an artist, and the supreme art is the expression of the beauty of our spirit.”
“Our main problem is with the main character of the story. If we don’t like our story, it’s because we don’t like what we believe about the main character. There is only one way to change our story, and that is by changing what we believe about ourselves.”
“I decided not to waste my time creating conflict, mainly with the people I love. I want to enjoy them, and I do that by loving them for who they are, not for what they believe. The story they create is not important. I don’t care if my mother’s story doesn’t agree with my story; I love her and I enjoy her presence. I know not to impose my story on her; I don’t impose my story on anybody. I respect her story, I listen to her story, and I don’t make it wrong.”
Strengths:
The Voice of Knowledge forces us to look deeply at ourselves in a way that can cause much discomfort, yet incredible freedom and growth
A review of the Four Agreements is given, which helps integrate these lessons into the perspectives of this book
Don Miguel encourages us to find the perfection and love that exists within, from both a practical as well as spiritual view
Further Discussion:
The running Adam and Eve metaphor may be uncomfortable to some, as well as overt references to a Creator.
The Bottom Line:
It is time to give up holding onto the lies that have ruled our lives for centuries. Returning to a place of love is truly possible! We all exist as an expression of the perfection of source. The return to unity is a journey worth taking, and a dream worth living! We encourage you to dive into The Voice of Knowledge today.
