The Mastery of Love (book review).

A review of The Mastery of Love: A Practical Guide to the Art of Relationships by Don Miguel Ruiz. (1999). Amber-Allen Publishing: San Rafael, California.

Last week, I purchased The Mastery of Love by Don Miguel Ruiz for only $1.00 from a used book sale. Plus, the dollar will be going to a charity to provide newspapers for children for local schools.

I got this book because it has a focus on healing. I’m a self-acclaimed “teacher/healer.”

There are so many powerful lessons hidden this book. I would put this in my top 20 favorite books. It is in the top 5,000 best-selling books on Amazon.Com (as of today) and it has been out for a decade (since 1999).

There are so many portions of the book that I would just like to share here. Naturally, I recommend for you to get this book to discover the wisdom hidden in it for yourself.

This book would be great for people who work with others, people who’ve suffered bad relationships, or people who just want to have better relationships with everyone in life.

As many of you already know, I provide recreational therapy services for children who’ve been abused. There is a lot of wisdom in this book that could help these children because they’ve suffered from having poor relationships.

Much of the wisdom shared in this book is very similar to “The Secret” documentary DVD on the Law of Attraction. If you enjoyed The Secret, then I think you’ll definitely enjoy this book. Ruiz based his book on the wisdom from the Toltec. They were a group of people who lived in current day Mexico during the era before Columbus.

Ruiz talks about personal responsibility in his book. Each of us is responsible for our own individual happiness. People can’t depend on other people to take care of their own happiness. You can’t depend on your significant other, best friend, family, or others to be responsible for your happiness. Neither can you be responsible for their happiness. That is their job.

I’ll share a few brief quotes here:

“We’re all masters because we have the power to create and to rule our own lives (p.7).”

As a recreational therapist, I’d like to point out three quotes on recreation and play:

“Running and playing is an expression of love (p. 29).”
“Keep being happy and keep playing (p. 87).”

“In a relationship, as in a game, it’s not about winning or losing. You are playing because you want to have fun (quote found in chapter 4).”


Here is how to break a relationship: “selfishness, control, and fear.”

Here is how to help a relationship grow:
“generosity, freedom and love.”

Chapter 5 is on The Perfect Relationship.

Ruiz suggests for the person to have no expectations of others. Allow other people to be free because people don’t like to be controlled. Ruiz also suggests to accept people for who they are and to just be you. So what if someone does not like you. That isn’t anything against you. Be you. Ruiz had used the analogy that a dog is a dog and it can only be a dog. If a person wants a cat, a dog just won’t do. A dog can’t pretend to be a cat. It isn’t anything against you if they’re a cat person and you’re a dog. Don’t try to change to become a cat. Ruiz had said somewhere in the book that being you requires no extra energy.

Here is a final quote that I'd like to share from Ruiz:

“You are what you believe you are. Humans are powerful magicians (p. 194).”

I really like that quote. You can make up your mind to be just about anything.

Improve your life with the lessons on love from this book.