The Mastery of Life

1. Recognize the power of words and agreements in shaping your reality

"Words are powerful tools."

Words create reality. In the Toltec tradition, words are seen as the brushes we use to paint the masterpieces of our lives. They have the power to shift perspectives, create clarity, and reveal opportunities. However, they can also spread anger, fear, or hate. The agreements we make with ourselves and others, formed through words, become our beliefs and influence our actions.

Agreements shape perception. These agreements, often formed unconsciously, color our perceptions in every aspect of our day-to-day living. They can work to inform, influence, and sometimes even control us without our awareness. Many of our agreements are the result of intellectual seeds planted inside us by others during our formative years.

Challenge limiting agreements. Learning to recognize these agreements, discern whether they are helpful or unhelpful, and then changing or dismissing them if necessary is a major endeavor on the journey to personal freedom. By becoming aware of the power of words and agreements, we can begin to reshape our reality and create a life aligned with our true selves.

2. Identify and release unhelpful domestications and limiting beliefs

"Domestication becomes self-domestication."

Understand domestication. Domestication is the process by which we acquire beliefs and behaviors that we grow to think of as our "self." It begins with our parents or caregivers teaching us the knowledge they believe we need to survive and fit into society. While this process is unavoidable, it can have negative consequences when it becomes muddled with the emotional wounds of others.

Recognize self-domestication. As we grow older, we internalize these external voices and begin to reinforce our own domestication. This self-domestication can lead to limiting beliefs and unhelpful agreements that hold us back from realizing our full potential.

Release limiting beliefs. To achieve personal freedom, it's crucial to identify and release these unhelpful domestications and limiting beliefs. This involves:

• Examining our thoughts and behaviors
• Questioning the origin of our beliefs
• Challenging agreements that no longer serve us
• Consciously choosing new beliefs and agreements that align with our true selves

3. Master awareness to transform your perception and experience

"The goal of the warrior's path is to recognize and break free from fear-based agreements and unhelpful beliefs and fully realize themselves as spiritual beings alive right now."

Practice awareness. Mastering awareness involves expanding your perceptive capacities and using this expanded input to understand your mind in a different way. This practice helps you recognize that your judgments and stories about reality are not always true, as you create them through the filter of your mind.

Levels of awareness:

1. Physical sensations
2. Thoughts and emotions
3. Reactions and stories
4. Unique perspective

Transform perception. By developing these levels of awareness, you can begin to see through the stories and domestications that have shaped your perception of reality. This allows you to challenge and change habitual reactions and the stories that keep you small, opening up a wide new world of perspective, understanding, and knowledge.

4. Embrace emotions as a pathway to healing and personal growth

"Your emotions are real, but they are not who you are."

Understand emotional intelligence. The Toltec tradition associates water with emotions and the emotional body. Emotions hold powerful healing potential for the body and mind, but they can also be manipulated by the judge and victim within us to control our behavior.

Allow emotional flow. The goal is not to eliminate negative emotions, but to let emotions flow through you in a healthy and useful way. This involves:

• Recognizing when emotions come from domesticated beliefs or stories
• Investigating the source of your emotions
• Allowing emotions to pass through without clinging to them
• Using awareness to prevent emotions from controlling you

Practice emotional purification. Purification in this context means releasing emotional blocks and allowing for the natural flow of emotions through your body, heart, and mind. This process involves applying unconditional love to remove blocks and create space for emotional healing and growth.

5. Tap into your intuition and silent knowledge for clarity and inspiration

"Intuition is perception that is uncorrupted by the story of the parasite."

Cultivate silent knowledge. The Toltecs call intuition "silent knowledge," a type of knowing that doesn't come from the logical, rational mind. This intuitive wisdom is always available to us, but we may not be able to hear it due to the noise of our domestications and limiting beliefs.

Trust your intuition. Learning to listen to and connect with the silent knowledge beyond your thinking mind is a key aspect of life mastery. As you release unhelpful domestications and free up emotional blocks, your connection to intuition naturally improves.

Practice intuitive decision-making. Strengthen your intuitive skills by:

• Paying attention to subtle "nudges" throughout your day
• Following your body's intuitive desires during walks or routine activities
• Trusting your gut feelings in minor decisions
• Creating intuitive art or journaling
• Practicing meditation to quiet the mind and enhance intuitive awareness

6. Balance passion and desire with discipline for personal freedom

"Fire is directly connected to the breath. Like the nagual, air is necessary for our bodies to thrive."

Embrace desire. In the Toltec tradition, desire is seen as fundamentally good, as it is the spark that motivates all movement, innovation, and creation. Without desire, there would only be stagnation.

Avoid obsession. However, when passion and desire move from a well-tended fire to a raging inferno, they can lead to obsession. Obsession is an expression of conditional love and can twist your desires and dreams into destructive forces.

Find balance. The key is to learn the art of balance:

• Honor your desires and passions
• Temper them with discipline
• Avoid attaching your identity to your desires
• Practice unconditional love as a motivating force
• Celebrate the success of others as much as your own
• Focus on joy rather than ego-driven pursuits

7. Accept the impermanence of the physical body while embracing your eternal essence

"I am not my body."

Understand the tonal and nagual. In the Toltec tradition, all physical matter is called the tonal, while the nagual represents the energetic, moving fire of being. Our bodies are part of the tonal, but they are animated by the nagual.

Recognize your true nature. One of the biggest lessons on the path to mastery is realizing that you are not your body. Your true essence, the nagual, continues on even after the physical body dies.

Embrace impermanence. By accepting the impermanence of your physical body, you can:

• Live more fully in the present moment
• Release attachments to physical appearance or capabilities
• Appreciate your body as a gift for this lifetime
• Connect with the eternal essence within you and all living beings

8. Practice unconditional love and gratitude to transform fear and cultivate joy

"Unconditional love recognizes that the nagual—the divine nature and the energy of life itself—flows through all living beings and is therefore present in every person you meet."

Cultivate unconditional love. Unlike conditional love, which is based on domesticated ideas and agreements, unconditional love flows directly from the nagual through our hearts and out into the world. It recognizes the divine nature in all beings, regardless of who they are or whether we agree with them.

Transform fear through love. Most psychological fears can be traced back to a lack of love or acceptance. By practicing unconditional love, you can:

• Release the need for control
• Accept yourself and others as they are
• Transform fear-based reactions into loving responses
• See the divine nature in all beings and situations

Practice gratitude. Developing gratitude for everything, including challenges and losses, can help you:

• See infinite possibilities in the present moment
• Transform fear by reconnecting it to its roots in love
• Cultivate joy and appreciation for life's experiences
• Align yourself with the flow of life

9. Embrace death awareness as a tool for living fully in the present moment

"Masters live each day in utter awareness that it may be their last, yet are also aware that today we are the youngest we will ever be."

Understand death awareness. In the Toltec tradition, the angel of death walks with each of us at all times. This is not meant to be scary or threatening, but rather a reminder that our physical bodies and possessions are temporary.

Use death as a teacher. By embracing death awareness, you can:

• Deepen your mindfulness of the present moment
• Increase your appreciation for life
• Make conscious choices about how to spend your time
• Release attachments to material possessions and ego-driven pursuits

Live fully now. Ask yourself: What would you be doing today if you knew tomorrow was your last day? The master answers: "I would do exactly what I am doing right now." This attitude allows you to accept each moment as it is, without clinging to it or running from it.

10. Recognize your divinity and connection to all life as expressions of the nagual

"You are not your body, not your thoughts, not your emotions; but you are the nagual that created the whole thing."

Embrace your divine nature. The journey to mastery culminates in recognizing the divinity within yourself and your connection to all life. This understanding transcends the limitations of your physical body and individual identity.

Experience oneness. As you release your attachments to your limited human scope, you begin to understand your greater place in the universe. This realization includes:

• Recognizing that you are an expression of the nagual, the life force itself
• Understanding your connection to all other beings as fellow expressions of the nagual
• Experiencing the truth that you create everything you know

Live from this understanding. By recognizing your divine nature and connection to all life, you can:

• Live with greater compassion and empathy for all beings
• Release the need for external validation or guidance
• Trust in your own inner wisdom and power
• Create your life as a masterpiece, expressing your unique essence in the world

Last updated: May 5, 2025