Does Respect Mean

The Circle of Fire

In The Circle of Fire, bestselling author, don Miguel Ruiz, inspires us to enter into a new and loving relationship with ourselves, with our fellow humans, and with all of creation. Through a selection of beautiful essays, prayers, and guided meditations, Ruiz prepares our minds for a new way of seeing life, and opens our hearts to find our way back to our birthright: heaven on earth. The result is a life lived in joy, harmony, and contentment. In my teachings, “The Circle of Fire” ceremony celebrates the most important day of our lives: the day when we merge with the fire of our spirit, and return to our own divinity. This is the day when we recover the awareness of what we really are, and make the choice to live in communion with that force of creation we call “Life” or “God.” From that day forward, we live with unconditional love in our hearts for ourselves, for life, for everything in creation. This book, first published in 2001 as “Prayers: A Communion with Our Creator,” will remind you of what you really are. It has always been my favorite book, and now in honor of my favorite prayer, it has been appropriately renamed “The Circle of Fire.” — don Miguel Ruiz

In the first part of my book, I examined men and women's perception of every essential aspect of a relationship and how they deal with it in an attempt to open a forum of discussion between the two genders. It was clear that women have been trying extremely hard to accommodate their self-absorbed men. Men on the other hand, have been conditioned to behave in a shameful manner toward their ladies. I do believe that both men and women must work together to acquire the courage to break all the walls of suspicion and mistrust that they have been building for generations. In the second part of my book, I am sharing my experience in China. During my stay in China, I was awed as well as bewildered by the aspects of the daily life. I discovered that the land of my dream is a harmonious blend of positive and negative elements. I attempted to be objective and, out of character for a writer, honest in stating my views aspiring that my observations may help my hosts, the Chinese to see themselves through the eyes of an admiring foreigner.

Possibility of Interreligious Dialogue

Is dialogue between the major religions of the world possible? If it is possible, under what conditions? In this book, Michael H. Mitias argues that it is possible provided various conditions are met. These conditions include mutual respect, mutual understanding, and God-centeredness. First, how can a religion that is unusually complex—composed of a doctrine founded in a unique divine revelation, a leadership class of theologians, teachers, clergy, and administrators, and a community across global cultures—show uniform respect to another religion? How can a complex institution like a religion truly understand another religion? Third, can the different religions worship the same God if their conceptions of God are based on their unique doctrines? Mitias addresses these questions and argues that it is possible for religions to respect and understand one another. Further, he argues that the different conceptions of God are necessarily founded in a belief in the existence of a transcendent, infinite, and wise being.