The Ancient Wisdom of The Toltec

Saturday Stories

December 8, 2018

I

The British philantropist John Templeton once said: "It is nice to be important, but it is more important to be nice." I love that quote so much that it is now a personal mantra. One of the most significant lessons I learned is that our words and actions can affect others, often in ways we may not even realize. I have known it as a concept, but last week when I read "The Four Agreements" by the shaman Don Miguel Ruiz, my life flashed before me – and I saw the things I have said and done from a larger perspective. Don Miguel shares the ancient wisdom of the Toltec, a civilization that flourished from the tenth to the twelfth century in what is now Mexico. Toltec shamans have been masters of the mystic arts even before aliens showed themselves to the Mayans and the Aztecs.

II

I now understand that who and what I am is the sum of all my beliefs – or, more precisely, of all the things I have chosen to believe. Don Miguel says: "Whenever we hear an opinion and believe it, we make an agreement, and it becomes part of our belief system." When I was a child, my grandmother taught me that if I can't say anything good about a person, then it's better not to say anything at all. Now I'm a grown-up now, I have literally lost count of the times I stopped myself from saying something unkind, even when it seemed that common courtesy is not common anymore. I have taken that lesson to heart, and it has been with me ever since.

III

But I lost it – in a major way. Twice. In 1995 I tagged along with a friend who went to Cavite to collect payments for their product. Then one of the customers refused to pay and called him names. It was one of the few times when I felt really mad. I told her I hope her house burns as I led my friend away. The next day, his colleagues came there to collect, and they saw the house had burned. When I heard it, I said it was just coincidence. Then, in 1999 when I put a curse on a man who insulted me in public and he got beaten by muggers that same night, I said that lighting strikes the same spot. But I never did that again.

IV

And, of course, it bounced back. Everything does. During that time, I was living in Quiapo, in downtown Manila. One night, our boardinghouse was plunged in complete darkness. "Fire!" a neighbor shouted, and screams began. I remember it all in sharp detail because it was one of my many confirmations that I wasn't normal – the more the people around me panicked, the more I felt calm. There was no fire, really, just sparks from the electric fuse that blew up. I mention all these to illustrate the power of words – and how everything we say and do will always come back to us. What we say can hurt or heal, bring pain or bring comfort. My life changed for the better because of the times when somebody said the right thing at the right time. "Speak with integrity," says Don Miguel. "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."

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