As little children we know how to live in the moment and be completely authentic. But then something damaging happens to us, according to author Don Miguel Ruiz: we are given "knowledge" about how to live in the world. Parents tell us how to behave in order to be a "good" boy or girl. Teachers tell us what it takes to be a "winner" or a "successful" adult. This collective "voice of knowledge" is not only false--it is often poisonous, explains Ruiz, bestselling author of The Four Agreements. It makes us believe that "I am not the way I should be; it is not okay to be me." Drawing upon the story of Adam and Eve, Ruiz refers to the forbidden tree of knowledge and likens the abandonment of the true self to the fall from heaven. What Ruiz calls "the voice of knowledge" others spiritual teachers might call ego--the hidden and carefully defended belief system that prevents us from living and expressing who we really are. "The structure of our knowledge makes us feel safe….When we discover that we are not what we believe we are, the foundation of our entire reality begins to collapse." In the Toltec tradition, Ruiz says every human is an artist, "and the supreme art is the expression of the beauty of our spirit." He explains that there are two kinds of artists: "the ones who create their story without awareness, and the ones who recover awareness and create their story with truth and love." The recovering of awareness is what this fourth book in the Toltec Wisdom series is all about. This makes for a good bedside spiritual growth book. Each chapter closes with "Points to Ponder"--summary thoughts to sleep upon as you create the more authentic story of your life. --Gail Hudson


From Publishers Weekly
With more than 2.7 million copies of his The Four Agreements sold, Ruiz returns to readers with a new volume that presents his latest thoughts on the ways and means of inner knowledge and healing. Written in the first person with frequent apostrophic addresses ("You need to challenge every belief that you use to judge yourself, to reject yourself, to make yourself little"), the book moves gracefully and anecdotally from "Adam and Eve: The Story from a Different Point of View" to "The Tree of Life: The Story Comes Full Circle," with 10 chapters in between, including "The Lie of Our Imperfection," a chapter that covers "emotional pain as a symptom of abuse" and one on "Writing Our Story with Love," with frequent stops for "Points to Ponder." For Ruiz, life can be a matter of storytelling, to ourselves and to others. His reflections on the process of how people tell these stories, and how they can change their narratives, draw on the lore of his native Mexico and feel both centered and earned. Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.


Book Description
The Voice of Knowledge is the fourth book in the Toltec Wisdom series by the best-selling author of The Four Agreements. Don Miguel Ruiz explores the concept of "impeccability of the word" as a simple yet potent prescription for countering the judgmental inner "voice of knowledge." Adhering to "the word" - saying only what you mean, refusing to speak against you - allows anyone to transform those inner tyrannical thoughts into a voice of self-trust and integrity. Knowledge then becomes an ally, and life becomes an expression of the authentic self.


From the Author
Miguel Ruiz and Janet Mills

FROM THE PUBLISHER