The Toltec Art of Life and Death

The Toltec Art of Life and Death
Barbara Emrys

Miguel Ruiz

Internationally bestselling author of The Four Agreements, Don Miguel Ruiz gives us a mystical tour of his life and calling as a “Nagual” in this gripping spiritual and autobiographical teaching novel.Internationally bestselling author Don Miguel Ruiz became a trusted and well-known teacher of spiritual wisdom through his popular works such as The Four Agreements, Mastery of Love, and The Voice of Knowledge. Now he is ready to take his students on a new journey, inviting us to confront and learn a deeper level of spiritual teaching and wisdom than he has attempted before.Using the occasion of his heart attack in 2002 and subsequent coma where it was not clear he would live, Ruiz and his cowriter Barbara Emrys have created an enchanting and mystical tale of the internal spiritual struggle Ruiz undergoes as his body lies unconscious. He must choose whether or not to come back to life. Re-experiencing the people, ideas, and encounters that have shaped him through his childhood and career, we encounter the challenges of “the way of the Nagual,”—a person who is called to teach and embody the deepest spiritual truths of the universe.In the tradition of Carlos Castaneda and other shamans who have come before him, Ruiz invites us to grapple with truths that are beyond what can be put into words but nonetheless promise to transform everything we know.

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Thorsons

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First published in the US by HarperElixir, an imprint of HarperCollins 2015

First published in the UK by Thorsons 2015

FIRST EDITION

© Miguel Ruiz and Barbara Emrys 2015

Designed by Ralph Fowler

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Miguel Ruiz and Barbara Emrys assert the moral right to be identified as the authors of this work

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Source ISBN: 9780008147969

Ebook Edition © September 2015 ISBN: 9780008147976

Version: 2015-09-25

I dedicate this book with all my love and gratitude to the young woman who left her physical body in the month of October 2010 and donated her heart to me. Thanks to her generosity and to the generosity of her family, I have been able to travel to cities around the world, bringing my message of love, awareness, and joy to many ­people. It is because of her that I was also able to create this book with Barbara Emrys, whose imagination and artistry bring the story of don Miguel Ruiz to life within these pages.

To all the hospital personnel who have treated me since my heart attack, during my subsequent heart transplant, and up to this date, I offer my deepest gratitude.

I also dedicate this wonderful story to my sons, my daughters-in-law, and my entire family, all of whom I love so much. This is also for my readers, whose growing awareness over the last fifteen years has encouraged me to deliver my message in inventive and exciting ways. It is clear to me that their love for this wisdom has made the world a happier place to live.

Contents

Cover (#ub5ed392d-b5d7-572b-a0da-e459f36d5493)

Title Page (#u05eadfef-ce34-5956-8dd1-f3e9d43692a2)

Copyright

Dedication (#u8a684d41-7948-50a6-8d25-aeba1fff1c3d)

Preface

Cast of Characters

Prologue

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

11

12

13

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15

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