One of our most important activities in this world is our communication with others. And we get it wrong so often. The Toltecs are an ancient Mexican civilization that studied what is needed to lead a good and happy life based on our interaction with others. Don Manuel Ruiz summarized the Toltec wisdom into 4 agreements of which the first is the most important.

The Invited Philosopher Pao Menu Dinner: Miso soy glazed cod fish with basmati rice and zucchini Dessert: Ghirardelli Dark Chocolate Drinks: 19 Crimes 2019 Red Blend The Philosophy The book “The 4 Agreements” shares some ancient wisdom by the Toltecs, a pre-Columbian Mesoamerican culture from Mexico (ca. 900–1521 AD). Toltec knowledge is most accurately described as a way of life, distinguished by the ready accessibility of happiness and love. The first Agreement is said to be the most important: “Be impeccable with your word”. Words have great power and we

should use them carefully. Impeccable comes from the Latin pecatus, which means "sin." The im in impeccable means "without," so impeccable means "without sin." The Summary The Toltec believed that life is a dream and that we are always dreaming, even when awake. Using a modern-day analogy, the Toltec concept of a dream is similar to starring in our own movie, following a script we write ourselves. All those around us are starring in their own movie based on their realities and concepts of the world. The script is written with…

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Throughout the ages philosophers have questioned reality, with realists (Plato, Aristotle) arguing that things exist regardless of human perception, idealists (Barkley, Hagel) arguing that only what can be perceived exists or is real. Kant argues that there are aspects of our reality that we cannot know by reason alone. In our dinner we consider whether that applies to the non-physical reality of human personality and relationships.

The Invited Philosopher Nadine This is the second virtual dinner/lunch. Nadine had dinner in Duesseldorf, Germany, while I had lunch in Miami, Florida, USA. 2 Menus Nadine’s dinner: Chickpeas, portobello mushrooms, paprika in a pumpkin curry coconut milk sauce, with turmeric rice Paty’s lunch: Sofrito of mixed vegetables, grilled portobello mushrooms with wild rice Nadine’s Wine: Rose wine Nadine’s dessert: German Oblaten-Lebkuchen Paty’s dessert: Papaya and dark chocolate *Art: Courtesy of https://www.gallerynadine.com The Philosophy Immanuel Kant’s Transcendental Idealism is well explained in this Youtube video. Kant argued that our minds

process the information received from the world, and out of that a concept of objects arises, that may or may not be what is out there. Those objects are constructed by the mind but because the world is giving us the information, we construct only that which our mind can construct. And if we know the structure of the mind, we can know something about the objects we will see, that is what is called “a priori knowledge”, we know something of the objects before we experience them, before we…

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