The Voice of Knowledge Part 1 of 4: Original Sin
January 19, 2009 by dr. lam
I would like to thank Emina, emotional coach and hair transplant coordinator extraordinaire, for getting me to read The Voice of Knowledge, Ruiz’s “sequel” if you will to The Four Agreements. The information presented in this week’s blogs is not as structured as last week’s but should be thought of as important refinements in the thinking presented from understanding and implementing the four agreements into our life.
The title, The Voice of Knowledge, comes from the biblical tale of Adam and Eve, which opens the book. Without a detailed retelling of a well-known story, we can recount it in brief as an anchor for this blog. Adam and Eve were told by God not to eat from the tree of knowledge which contained the knowledge of good and evil. The fallen angel, Satan, in the guise of a serpent tempted humankind to partake of the forbidden fruit, which opened their eyes to their own faults and thereby unleashed a pandora’s box for the remainder of humanity.
Original sin, as Ruiz conceives of it, is not sex but our own self-directed lies about ourselves. We tell ourselves, “I am not worthy.”; “I am stupid.”; and “I will fail.” In short, we believe our own lies. The voice of knowledge is the voice of our own lies. Take it this way: when we were children and did not have the knowledge imparted to us of our own limitations, we did not know any better. We did not have knowledge of such things. We were invincible. Slowly, with the lies that we tell ourselves and the lies that others tell of us, we begin to gain knowledge that is in essence a lie. We begin to focus on our imperfections and we begin to subscribe to those limitations.
Ruiz’s grandfather, a Toltec shaman, instilled in Ruiz that he was perfect, as God created him to be. That the imperfections he saw in himself were a manifestation of lies that he told himself and that others told of him. Our gradual acceptance of these limitations begins to force us to view ourselves in this said manner and it clouds our ability to see clearly. The mitote, or fog, we talked about last week comes from a thousand voices telling us how we should behave or what they think of us. When all that really matters is getting to our true voice of how we should see ourselves. This week’s blogs will focus on getting us to see our real selves without the layers that we add through years of listening to the voice of knowledge. Tomorrow’s blog is on viewing ourselves as artists and how to tell our story.
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13 Responses to “The Voice of Knowledge Part 1 of 4: Original Sin”
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So resonant. Related to this, something Dr. L has addressed (prob. more than once) either in q/a’s or blog…when you ‘think’ you are being perceived a certain way–you may unwittingly ‘bring it’. Taking it further, the stuff we tell others about ourselves (maybe not even realizing it) e.g. “Oh, I’m such a ____” (where we insert self-diminishing comment)…may become how we’re perceived! And it was a ‘lie’ in the first place!
brilliant! yes. i think half of my day today was spent on psychology. i think i actually did do a little plastic surgery while i was at it. i can say it was such a deep honor to spend that time with my patients. i helped a patient of mine refocus her perceptions. i had another patient who came into me seeking correction of previous plastic surgery who really just needed to heal her heart and NOT get any surgery at least not for now. i saw a gentleman who is a loyal Botox patient of mine who had lost his job but had a beautiful spirit and I shared with him about my blogs and how it could help him frame his thinking. i talked with my hair transplant staff during my hair transplant this morning about this week’s blogs. unfortunately, i spilled the beans and already shared with them some of the highlights for the remainder of the week. sorry, you guys have to wait. when i came in this morning i saw darla sitting at my computer looking at my blog. marcy told me that my blogs have changed her perception of many things last week. i myself have become a better human being and a better CEO of all my businesses because I have listened to my true voice and ignored the thousand shouting voices that compete with my own. I no longer hear those voices. Also, I hear only my true voice not a lie that I tell myself about my own story. More about storytelling tomorrow!
Excellent point, Nord, about how others may perceive us based on our OWN comments! Being aware of our thoughts and our words applies to each and every moment and to each and every person towards whom they are directed – including ourselves.
i am constantly working on this and getting better.
me too!
I just remembered a passage I read in Tara Brach’s book “Radical acceptance” about the biblical story of Adam and Eve and original sin, and thought I’d share it here.
Quote:
“…our culture’s guiding myth is the story of Adam and Eve’s exile from the Garden of Eden. We may forget its power because it seems so worn and familiar, but this story shapes and reflects the deep psyche of the West. The message of “original sin” is unequivocal: Because of our basically flawed nature, we do not deserve to be happy, loved by others, at ease with life.”
“basically flawed nature” – no wonder so many people have issues with self-worth…
yes, i have also tried to eliminate my own saying, “i’m now perfect” because it conveys the wrong message. you may still hear me say it because i work at the 4 agreements every day but i dislike that expression now because i want to see the perfection in what i do and who i am rather than the imperfections. thanks again vancouver for the comments. i assume you are from vancouver? i assume you have heard of my uncle david lam? my mom just talked to him a couple of nights ago and told him to read my blogs especially december 9th’s (?) where i talk about his inspiration for my speaking and writing.
no way – THE David Lam, our former Lieutenant-Governor after whom the David Lam Library at UBC is named or the David See-Chai Lam Centre for International Communication at SFU or the David Lam Park in Vancouver’s Yale Town area?
Gee, there’s something to live up to – just kidding:) As you – accidentally, but (subconsciously?) correctly say in your last comment “i’m NOW perfect” – excellent typo!!!
PS: yes, I’m from Vancouver – well, sort of. I live here now, but was born and raised in Europe. I’ve only poked around your website recently, so didn’t know about your uncle David. Btw, is there an easy way to see all past blogs (like an index)?
yes, Sir David is my father’s brother. I stayed in Victoria at the Governor’s Mansion. I was also there for one of the dedications. I think the communication center. I will ask my webmaster about making an index. It is a great idea!
DAVID LAM: Canada’s first Chinese Lieutenant-Governor may not have invented tolerance and multiculturalism, but he became the embodiment to later generations of immigrants of what could be accomplished with hard work and kindness.
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I hadn’t looked it up–just did and this (above) is first thing I saw. Similarities!!
well Uncle David has accomplished a lot, but i appreciate any comparisons.
vancouver, your wishes are my command. i have now created a sitemap which you will find on the top of each blog so that you can easily access my past blogs.
oh, then I wish that you will come to Vancouver, so I can have a “real” consultation instead of the phone one I booked for March:)
Thanks for the “sitemap”! There just seems to be a teensy weensy issue. If you click on the Index by Category link on the top of the blog page, you’ll get to the first page of the “sitemap”, but the links to pages 2, 3, etc. aren’t working. On the other hand, I have discovered that there is an “archive” under each category on the right nav bar. Not sure if that was there before or not, but it is great! Kudos to your webmaster.
thanks for noticing that. i sent your comment to my webmaster. also, yes, the right nav bar has always been there. my webmaster is working this week on improving the functionality of this blog. he is very fast and diligent. thanks for your suggestions for making this site better!