"The Circle of Life" presents, in written form, traditional oral Native American sacred teachings from the Iroquois, Lakota, and other traditions. The author, James David Audlin (Distant Eagle), has been receiving these teachings orally from elders since he was a youth. The wisdom includes Native American views on cosmology, ethics, epistemology, metaphysics, sociology, psychology, healing, dream interpretation, and vision quests. Audlin is not a spiritual teacher nor does he even consider himself an authority — he sees himself as a conduit through which the oral traditions handed down to him by elders from various tribes can be presented in a meaningful manner to peoples in today's modern world. He outlines universal principles common to all the Native peoples of “Turtle Island” – and, in fact, to many traditional peoples the world over. We are all a part of the Sacred Hoop, he explains, and the traditional ways of the Native Americans differ only in relatively less essential outer characteristics from the traditional ways of other peoples. The Red Road is available to everyone —regardless of religion or ethnicity — who is willing to follow its paths. These paths, however, are often not easy and require deep personal and spiritual commitment. “The Circle of Life” can be used as a guide on this journey. As Audlin says in his introduction, “If this book serves any purpose, let it be to help us bring the Sacred Hoop of All the Nations back together again, so we and all that lives may stand as one in silent awe before that Great Mystery.