The reviews in this section are intended to recommend books that we think you’ll find interesting and helpful in some way. They will relate to Energy Medicine, NLP, or spirituality in one way or another or otherwise provide information we think you’ll find useful, interesting, or challenging.

Harris, S. (2004). The End of Faith: Religion, Terror, and the Future of Reason. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.

Harris, S. (2006). Letter to a Christian Nation. New York: Alfred A. Knopf.

Those of you who have been wondering why people who hold different religious beliefs are so often at odds—and at war—with one another will very much appreciate Sam Harris’ The End of Faith, and its follow-up companion volume, Letter to a Christian Nation. Harris has studied Eastern and Western religious traditions and a variety of spiritual practices. He has a degree in philosophy from Stanford University, and is currently completing a doctorate in neuroscience, with an emphasis on the neural basis of belief, disbelief, and uncertainty.

Harris is obviously familiar with the fundamental tenets of Islam, Judaism, and Christianity, and his scholarship shows. He quotes chapter and verse from the Koran and both the Old and New Testaments. He clearly—and at length—illustrates the ways in which many fundamental religious tenets are at odds with reason and logic. Harris argues persuasively that the lack of reason and logic that form the core of religious beliefs are a principal cause of war and human misery.

These are not “comfortable” books for those of us who have been raised with traditional religious beliefs. Many of us, for example, were raised to believe in the truth and righteousness of the Ten Commandments and would be quick to agree that we would be better off if we all lived by them. Most of us, however, have conveniently forgotten that, according to the Commandments, the punishment for working on the Sabbath is death. Of course, many of us have “modernized” our beliefs by recognizing that times have changed and assuming that the Koran and Bible (Old and New Testaments) are metaphorical rather than literal. According to Harris, moderate (secular) Christians, Jews, and Muslims are as much a part of the problem as the fundamentalists, who believe that we need to return to “That Old Time Religion.”

Moderates are, of course, more tolerant of those whose religious beliefs differ from their own than fundamentalists are, but, because they, too, are believers, they support those who hold the most extreme fundamental views. As Harris points out, it would be extremely difficult for an atheist to be elected president of the U.S. He also points out the undue political influence of Christian fundamentalism in other ways, including its impact on school science curricula.

Harris asks us to apply the same standards of reason and logic to our religious beliefs that we apply to other aspects of life. If a belief can’t stand up to the light of reason, we should be willing to abandon it. Interestingly enough, the approach to the Divine that can stand up to scientific evaluation is the spirituality of mysticism. Those of you who have read much about or have had direct experience with mysticism already know that the visions of mystics transcend time and culture.

In brief, The End of Faith and Letter to a Christian Nation are well worth reading. He asks us to ask the two general Metamodel questions from NLP: “What do you Mean?” and “How do you know?” We need to have answers to both questions.

Milan, C. (2006). Cesar’s Way: The Natural, Everyday Guide to Understanding & Correcting Common Dog Problems. New York: Harmony Books

Cesar Millan, star of the TV show, “Dog Whisperer,” has written an excellent book about training dogs—and more.

Millan bases his recommendations about training dogs on his observations of dog behavior, including the ways in which dogs read energy. In terms of relationships, dogs are aware of energy first and scent second. They can, of course, be trained to respond to visual and auditory stimuli (anchors), but they are most comfortable in the presence of calm energy.

Dogs with strong, calm-assertive energy become pack leaders. Dogs with weaker, calm-submissive energy become followers. Dogs with unstable energy are typically weeded out from the pack. From a dog’s perspective, every pack needs a leader and a well-functioning pack has a hierarchy based on energy levels. Those who own and/or care for dogs, need to exude the energy of the pack leader. Too many dog owners abdicate their leadership role, which causes the dog’s attempt to become the leader of the pack, which is not good for either the dog or the humans with whom it lives.

Those who give affection at the wrong time and those who attempt to control their dogs by yelling, hitting, and otherwise punishing them are demonstrating that their energy is “unbalanced” and creating dogs with unbalanced energy as well. The lack of balance leads to unhappy dogs and unhappy dog owners.

What Millan says about calm-assertive and calm-submissive energy, both of which he calls “balanced” or “stable” energy, is also true of human relationships. The book is one of the two best books about dog training of which I (Joel) am aware (the other being Don’t Shoot the Dog, by Karen Pryor), but the metaphor of energy-based communication extends far beyond, not only to our relationships with other animals, but also to our relationships with family, friends, and business associates.

Cesar’s Way is well-worth reading.