Somewhere in the dusty archives of philosophy, there is an old but seldom told tale of a minister who had been appointed to a newly formed church. He came to the church with a glowing reputation for sound and appealing sermons, and his first one for the new congregation seemed to fulfill all expectations. A bit of wonder developed among the congregation, however, when, on the second Sunday, the Minister delivered exactly the same sermon as in the previous week. When the third Sunday came and he gave the same sermon for the third time, several members of the church complained to one of the Deacons. "It was a wonderful sermon the first time," they said, "and not too bad the second time, but the third time was just too much! Can it be that it is the only sermon he knows? If so we had better be looking for a new preacher!

When the Deacon reported the complaints to the minister, he replied, "Don't worry about it, I'll explain everything from the pulpit next Sunday." There was considerable curiosity among the Deacons as well as the church members as to what possible explanation the minister could have, and the coming Sunday was awaited with some impatience. When it arrived, the minister took the pulpit and explained in these words-"Friends and Church members, it has come to my attention that some of you have complained about my giving the same sermon three times. You

2 UNDERSTANDING

have said that you were tired of that sermon, and would like to go on to something else. Let me assure you, therefore, that I am just as tired of that sermon as you are, and I would very much like to go on to something else. Consequently, the very moment that I can see any evidence that you have taken the first sermon to heart and begun to practice it, I will be most happy to go on to the next. Unfortunately, I have not yet seen any such evidence and so, whether I like it or not, and whether you like it or not, I will have to continue with the first!" Whereupon he proceeded to deliver the same sermon for the fourth time.

The story does not say how long the persistent minister remained with his congregation, or whether its members ever began to practice the advice given in his sermon, but it does illustrate a point that is seldom fully grasped.

Upon several occasions, your editor has heard some otherwise knowledgeable person say that "Christianity Has Failed." Each time he hears this statement, he wonders how it can have failed when it has never been tried? It is true that millions of people throughout the world now pay lip service to the name of Christianity. Huge and ornate churches and cathedrals are built at tremendous cost in money and labor so that people can meet within their walls to worship the Christ and to listen to his advice; but how many, after leaving the church, even think of adopting the advice they have been given? "It is more blessed to give than to receive?" Perish the thought! The merchant must give as little as possible and get as much as possible if he is to be successful in business. "Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the Earth?" Among the millions of aggressive go-getters who are constantly grasping with both hands at everything not firmly nailed down, who really believes that the meek will ever inherit any earth except the six feet they get when they are buried?

"Love and forgive your enemies? Do good to those who attack you?" Any military man who followed this advice would certainly be tried for treason by a court-martial (as a number of P.O.Ws., lately returned from North Vietnam, can testify).

For 2,000 years Christianity has been worshipped as an ideal pattern of life, without any genuine and concerted attempt ever having been made to follow it. Perhaps in another 2,000 years, if civilization lasts that long, a small area of the Earth may be set aside as a testing ground for the basic principles of Christianity. An area where all of the advice and teachings of Jesus will be care-

SEPTEMBER 1973 3

fully followed to determine their ultimate effect upon man and his society.

Only after such a test will we really know the full potential of Christianity as a philosophy and as a pattern of life.

WORDS AND WINGS

Annual Amazement! Dry old seeds, seemingly dead and gone for months in the ground, suddenly reappear in green shoots. Spring and summer periods of the growth cycle bring me gifts in feelings about that spiral miracle, renewal. (Last year's squash seeds, long since composted, spring up unbidden in our vegetable garden, turning into a rich harvest.) I am surprised by fresh, new life! And I wonder at my own place within such hard-to-believe but pervasive miracles.

Life manifests in varying forms but seems connected by similarities. I feel that man, the seed, and the butterfly have much in common. They tell me that in each there is earthy Growth; Waiting; Change.

"Of the Earth, before returning to the sky?! Is this right?" we cry.

Look at the seed, the nut, the butterfly!

Into this life an awareness we bring

Within us are those sunrise wings! ...

Let us claim our winged heritage!

From our present dwelling-place, we cry out (a Latin root of 'claim') in spiritual hunger, reaching for our real home. Thus we reclaim or 'call back' this Kingdom, and awaken to it being within us.

Being humble and of the ground before returning skyward, man grows in awareness during physical life, the caterpillar crawls then changes within his earthy house, and the seed absorbs and grows underground. 'Humble' is by nature an earthy word, coming from the Latin 'humus' and Greek words for 'earth' and 'on the ground.' But 'ground' has a Greek root-'To touch slightly'-that tells the whole story. That is, we aren't bound to our present form or place, and the "end" of one form doesn't mean the end of the life that fills it. Growing and changing, we therefore sprout into new skins, yet always within our sky home. (It interested me that 'sky' is from the Latin word 'skin'-or, that which surrounds, protects, i.e., the place within us that we can turn to, and to which we are returning). Having come into this ground of experience, there is much to

4 UNDERSTANDING

absorb, i.e., water, minerals, etc., and these earthy periods of waiting involve activity of growing, inner changing. When I'm waiting I'm not static, I'm expecting; I'm learning-a word from the Latin root 'to furrow,' involving the earthy, productive work of tilling the ground. We gather strength, it seems, from this soil-experience to feed our inner shapes that will eventually support us: i.e., the plant's cellular material enabling it to grow skyward; the caterpillar’s inner resources changing the crawling form into a creature of the sky; man's growing and joyful awareness of Wholeness with himself, and all Life (i.e., God). These events have led me to feel that where there is the least movement evident, the most wondrous life-work is often taking place; even though the growth process can't be seen, it's cycling us toward our 'sky.'

Man has abilities of the sky as well as of the earth-and I think we're provided examples of this. Consider the butterfly's transforming cycle. And the samaras, those winged maple seeds that some of us probably played with as children. Did you ever see these flying seeds come spinning down in their spiral flight? They're also called 'Keys.'

Watching these 'Keys,' I feel that we, too, are samaras. We have wings to carry on our Life through changing forms. We grow within a tree; we develop those waiting wings; then the wind guides us to soil for further life-experience. To let go and trust Life (or God's guidance) is the Key to our next step-to fly, carrying and expanding the inner Life that we really are, to the next place on our journey home.

It has seemed to me that one of our "natural laws" is that the first step of departure is the first step of return. 'Depart' also contains the essence of 'return.' We can realize our quality of return, I think, when we remember that despite the apparent "always for-ward" motion of our lives and the idea that progress leads away from an original point, we're also taught that light travels in a circle; that everything, were it sent into space, would pass itself in returning to the place of origin. So as samaras, when we let go our tree we're not flying away from our source but toward it in spiraling patterns of growth.

When I let go of my tree, my will, I can become aware of Divine Guidance; of God's abundance and Love working in my Life; of His "kingdom within" or that sky which contains us. Thus I actually gain, with Divine timing, those things I let go, whether it be security, possessions, loved ones, or life itself. As I consider these samaras

SEPTEMBER 1973 5

flying into soil to grow and fly again, I find fresh meaning in the words of Jesus: "to lose (i.e., release) your life is to gain it," 'gain' in its French derivation meaning 'to till' or to work and learn in the earth.

After pondering these earth-sky thoughts, I came upon a verse I'd never seen before. It was exciting to read! To quote in part, " . . . the seed which you sow, is not quickened, except it die ... that which you sow is not that body that shall be, but the bare grain; it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body ... And as we have borne the image of the earthy we shall also bear the image of the heavenly ... Behold, I tell you a mystery; we shall not all die, but we shall all be changed." You can read the rest in 1 Corinthians, 35-38, 44, 51.

MARGOT STEVENS

REALITY

The altered consciousness as experienced under the influence of alcohol, marijuana, and LSD is a consciousness stripped of analytical judgment. If this is a break with reality, where does reality end and fantasy begin?

The experience of LSD is likened to the plastic world of the psychotic, but "psychotic" is just a name for minds that venture be-yond the limits of accepted consciousness. Thus, by conventional standards the strange marchers have drifted from reality.

Imagine an entire society of psychotics. The standards are lost when manmade rationale is twisted into madman irrational, when introspection is forgotten. When the "sane" judge the others "insane," they use standards of reasoning-from their own reason-able minds-to say that another human cannot function. Maybe we're all mad.

Sanity can be expressed only in degrees, because no one can live without relief from responsibility. Day-dreaming and rationalization, for example, are escapes. Sanity can't be defined as living in full accord with reality (an impossibility), but the ability and stability to mesh your desires and fantasies with the demands and restrictions of society.

Reality is grounded in the physical universe of three stable dimensions and scientific principles. But science can't explain phenomena like ESP, clairvoyance, telepathy, telekinesis, and other curiosities that seem to contradict natural law. Someday the existence of parapsychological powers may be proven-but in the meantime, do we

6 UNDERSTANDING

accept them as reality? They are neither factual nor fantastic.

If the phenomena are disproven, their existence is called unreal, and believers are called mad. But if the same phenomena later are concretely proven, the irrational, "mad," believers are once again declared sane; and the imaginary concept is proven fact. Buck Rogers had a science fiction dreamland of jet-propulsion belts and spacecrafts that are now common scientific actuality. Fantasy be-came reality.

Reality dwells on mathematical and scientific principles. It is based on fact. But what is fact? It's intangible, because often it's consumed in a cycle of hypothesis, revelation and proof, general acceptance, and disproof. Ptolemy's geocentric theory stood for 13 centuries until a 16th-century astronomer proposed the heliocentric theory. Was Copernicus mad for believing that 1300 years of mankind had been wrong? We can also question Columbus' sanity in defying what had been known by the entire flat world. In both cases, undisputed fact was later declared fictitious. Reality became fantasy.

To a blind man, reality is darkness; to a deaf man, silence; but both are fooled by imperception. We all may be deceived-led from full awareness-by decay or misuse of our powers, including perhaps the wisdom to understand terms like God, Life, and Reality. We can see only a small section of the light spectrum; similarly, we may perceive only a small portion of existence itself.

If reality is undifferentiated existence, why do some men find a world of joy while others rot in realities of despair and condemnation? No simple definition of reality grasps the meaning and meaninglessness of every man's world, with its confrontations, escapes, and fantasies.

Think of reality as a faceted, irregular object spinning on a thread. Each man finds or creates his own reality, viewing its asymmetric, changing form in his own way, finding it glassy and smooth or sharp and cutting, and interpreting and forming his own life in terms of himself.

JAMES STOUT

♦ ♦ ♦

Love serves, because It is the nature of Love to give, and It is not concerned with, nor does it expect, acknowledgment of Its gifts . . . Just try to become the Love that does not wish to possess, for then Love is truly divine.

Godfrey Ray King

SEPTEMBER 1973 7

$5000 PAY-OFF FOR UFO SIGHTING

(Edited from report in SALINA (Kansas) JOURNAL, May 13, 1973)

The National Enquirer offered $50,000 to the first person to prove a UFO came from outer space and was not a natural phenomenon. The paper assembled what it termed a Blue Ribbon panel to examine reports of UFO sightings. The panel agreed that none of the more than 1000 claims merited the $50,000 award, but 4 panel members voted for the payment of $5,000 to the Durel Johnson family for their report of the sighting near Delphos, Kansas, in November 1971.

It happened thus: Ronnie Johnson, 16, son of Mr. and Mrs. Durel Johnson, saw an object shaped like a toadstool which hovered near the barn. Mr. and Mrs. Johnson saw it from a greater distance. The object left behind a mysterious "glowing ring" in the soil, which ring has thus far defied explanation. The ring still glows faintly at times, and nothing will grow in the soil except toadstools.

The panel awarded the $5,000 because the case supplied "the most scientifically valuable evidence," even though it did not prove UFOs to be extra-terrestrial. Dr. J. Allen Hynek explained the award. "The panel chose the Johnson case because of the great number of individual items of 'strangeness' involved, which remain unexplained even after a long series of chemical, optical, electronic and other physical tests carried out by 11 university and private laboratories.

"Among the facts that make the case of great scientific interest are: the sighting of the luminous object itself," clearly observed by the Johnson family; and "the presence at the landing site of a ring of soil of altered chemical composition, extending more than a foot below the surface.

"This ring of soil and the bark of surrounding trees glowed brightly for several days. Also, the ring of soil differed markedly from its immediate surroundings, not only in chemical composition but in appearance.

"The soil was dried out and powdery. For more than a year after the sighting, this soil would not accept water, nor could any-thing be grown on it." Soil samples have stumped laboratory re-searchers, Dr. Hynek said. Tests are still being conducted.

The panel told the National Enquirer that it has carefully investigated the possibility of a hoax but the members are satisfied the Delphos sighting was real.

The Johnsons, naturally, were pleased with the award.

8 UNDERSTANDING

OUR FOURTH UNDERSTANDING CONVENTION

It was another Good Convention despite the fact that the wire services publicized it with ridicule and the program, as printed, in no way resembled the actual presentations. Those who have travelled across country each year to attend our gatherings assured us they would come again!

Even the weather cooperated. It had been a scorcher the day be-fore the Convention opened, but the three-day event was most comfortable under cloudy skies, with even a quick summer shower thrown in one day. Of course, our guests thus missed some of the beauty of this scenic valley under clear blue skies.

There was beauty within and without us. The Registration room was adorned with lovely water color paintings, the tables with flowers and smiling faces, naturally. Among the staff and guests were bright, beautiful long gowns, adding a special grace to the setting. There was also music, instrumental and vocal. Truly it was an atmosphere of Love and Light.

Though last minute cancellations by speakers made mock of the printed schedules, and the substitutions covered different areas of understanding than planned, still each was fed according to his needs - even physically one noontime at the organic food, wheat grass demonstration. We merely enjoyed the unplanned and unexpected.

The program, as it flowed from hour to hour, covered a wide spectrum of subjects in keeping with our purpose "To Examine All Things." There was science, mysticism, health, psychic phenomena, spiritual attainment guides, akashic record demonstrations, and much, much more. The sessions closed with the presentation of the movie, "Alan's Message to Men of Earth."

The services of our enlightened speakers-literature, readings, counseling, healing-were used by many for personal growth and understanding. There was also the informal communication between the teachers and "students."

Thanks are due to all who made our Fourth Annual Understanding Convention such a meaningful experience for so many. We invite you, now, to be with us at the next Convention to share this unique, uplighting fellowship.

He who learns and learns, and yet does not what he knows, is like the man who plows and plows yet never sows.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

SEPTEMBER 1973 9

AN UNKNOWN CORNER OF PARIS

My quarter is also Paris. Not the aristocratic district of the diplomats around Etoile, not the noisy Larin district filled with students, and neither the exciting district of the pseudo-artists and painters of St. Germain de Pres. Right up in the north of Paris, where workers and middle-class people live, I have erected my tent, near the famous cemetery Pere Lachaise.

Here no signs tell of famous names, only now and again a small plate, always decorated with flowers, reminding us the more vividly of the executions carried on by the German Gestapo, and giving us to understand those whom the French cannot forget, in the memories of the past.

From the terrace of my cafe I can see the old Fort Romainville, where, not so long ago, women were confined, and Drancy, where the Jews were brought to await deportation to concentration camps. This is also history, the living bitter history of my quarter.

Meagre grass grows on the old Glacis. Lovers have stretched themselves into the grass, looking dreamily into a grey sky. Over all women knitting and children enjoying their little freedom. The quietness and peace is sometimes interrupted by the noise of an aeroplane circling over the nearby town of Bourget.

Small pathways lead through meagre patches of dusty meadows. At the feet, arises quite unexpectedly, a large town with factories, gas tanks and high chimney stacks-the north of Paris with its industrial plants. Dark smoke clouds lie over the whole district and envelope the town in a dark haze. One feels the busy hurrying of thousands of industrious hands. In the distance the Cathedrale of St. Denis, the channel of Ourq, the new large churchyard of Pantin. On the horizon, the outline of Montmarte and Eiffelturm, appearing in a haze, giving an impression of deep sadness.

The landscape before the gates of Paris reveals small pathways of lilacs and low houses with small front gardens where still bloom wild roses and convoluvulos. On a small tree before the entrance to the Metro (underground) is the inscription "Tree of Freedom," and beside it a small basin in which small fishes are the delight of the City children.

Deep under the earth rushes the underground traffic through to the Centre of the mighty City, while here besides the Belleville and Menilmontant street, already part of the main City, on small streets and alleys people still dream about the past.

10 UNDERSTANDING

Also, this district, to which no tourist hurries, has its poetry. A golden sunbeam brightens dark buildings, there smiles a young girl with deep black hair, and over a glass of beer, an old man is dreaming of the days of his youth, when on Sunday he used to go fishing ...

RODOLFO CALTOFEN SEGURA

YOUTH PAGE

Young People:

We are hoping to hear more from you, and to communicate with you. Please write and send your thoughts, poems, ideas, or any-thing you would like to share with Understanding readers. We look forward to hearing from you.

The following are examples of some contributions we have received or written.

Meditation

There must be time

In each day

Where one can think

In a meditative way.

To get closer to one's self

And cool one's self out,

Meditation is the key

Without any doubt.

And one's mind of knowledge

Shall be a curse,

Put one's body at rest

To become one with the universe.

DIANA GRUBIN, age 16

Dawn

A glimmer of light

A rising sun

This is proof

That night is done.

The rooster crows

The darkness lifts

SEPTEMBER 1973 11

The sun shines bright

And in, fog drifts.

The people awaken

Life seems gay

The world is ready

For a brand new day.

PETER BOHNERT, age 13

I have some friends

So far away,

They can't come back

Until they know

That all humanity

Can learn to be

So simple

As to love you and me.

CHARLOTTE PROCTER, age 16

(Please send your contributions to Valorie and Pete Bohnert, c/o Understanding, Inc., P.O. Box #206, Merlin, Oregon 97532.)

UFOs INTERNATIONAL

(Through the kindness of Mr. Alfred Maske, a subscriber, we offer you these sighting translations from the German UFO NACHRICHTEN.)

Crews of Two Planes Watch Flying Disc

(From UFO Nachricten, February 1973, there translated from Il Tempo, Il Carriere del Pomeriggio, 9/25/72.)

During the night of September 23, 1972, the crew of an airplane en route from Guam to Hong Kong saw, over the China Sea, at 33,000 ft. altitude, a strange object moving at a tremendous speed. The mysterious object radiated a bluish-white light," brighter than the brightest planet." It was visible for about one minute, and was also seen by the crew of another airplane.

"It moved too fast for an airplane or satellite," said the commander of one crew.

Huge Flying Disc Over Italy

(Bulletino Alaya, 9/72. Translation in UFO Nachrichten, 2/73)

On Sunday, the 2nd of July 1972, around 11:00 P.M., many

12 UNDERSTANDING

people watched a "star" coming down to earth. It was near the coast street. During the approximately 15 minutes the object needed to approach the viewers, the "star" became a huge flying disc, with a dome on top and three spheres on the underside. Around the rim were searchlights, which went on and off, periodically, illuminating the area below.

The dark disc, approximately 330 feet in diameter, circled around the area, as if waiting for something. Suddenly, there were lights to see below the ocean surface and the disc dived into the ocean and disappeared right there. The distance from the coast line to the point where the disc dived into the water was about 650 feet.

Many people saw all of this and started a hot discussion at the scene. The newspapers were silent about the report, even though many witnesses turned in information.

Four Times the Size of the Moon

(Free Press, Buenos Aires, Jan. 8, 1973. Translation from UFO Nachrichten. )

In the vacation village of El Alto, in the mountains of the Catamanca Province, the people saw an UFO, approximately four times the size of the moon disc. The flying object had the shape of a saucer, the rim was glowing red, the inner part was illuminated with a bright white light. The observers noticed windows. The flying saucer hovered about half an hour over the village, and the people reported that the village was illuminated by the saucer's light as at full moon. It disappeared in the direction of the reservoir lake at Coyagasta.

♦ ♦ ♦

DON'T LOOK FOR CREDIT

A leader is best

When people barely know he exists.

Not so good

When people obey and acclaim him,

Worse when they despise him.

But of a good leader

Who talks little

When his work is done

His aim fulfilled

They will say

"We did it ourselves."

Lao-Tse (c. 565 B.C.)

SEPTEMBER 1973 13

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

Minister Talked With Martians

Religion Editor, George R. Plagenz, of the Cleveland Press, Ohio, on January 29, 1973, wrote a feature article on Rev. Victor Zarley, who says he has been in communication with Martians.

Zarley is presently a minister of the Unity Church, which he entered when the space people told him he would have to advance to a "higher vibration" of thinking before he could enter their "dimension of existence."

His story occurred 20 years ago in California. Zarley had attended a lecture on Zen Buddhism by a woman who said it was possible, by stilling the mind and centering the thoughts outside one's self (called extension of consciousness), to tune in on people and places thousands of miles away.

Zarley had become interested in accounts of unidentified flying objects, current in the 1950s, and after practicing "extension of consciousness" decided to concentrate on contacting a flying saucer. He was successful.

"I made conscious contact with a space ship off the coast of Rio de Janeiro. We communicated telepathically for several minutes," said Zarley. The messages came to him in English, though he acknowledges the space people weren't speaking English. "You know how it is when we talk with animals" he explained. "We translate what the animal is saying into our own language."

In doubts about his contact, he asked for proof. The Martians promised to fly up to California and asked him to look out of his window in 20 minutes. Twenty minutes later, looking out of his window, there was a brilliant streak of light in the southern sky, going first to the left, and then to the right, then left again, even as the Martians had promised.

Still doubtful, he asked the Martians to fly by his back window once again. This time he had six or eight friends with him to check the skies. The pilot repeated the pattern he used the first night and "we all saw the same thing," said Zarley.

Rev. Zarley, 47, says UFOs were sighted frequently in the '50s be-cause the space people were concerned about H-Bomb tests we were conducting at the time. He adds, "They are humanitarians. They came to protect us, or try to rescue us, in case our atomic testing split the earth's crust along one of the weak fault lines in its surface."

14 UNDERSTANDING

world report

The Role of Witch Doctors

(South African Digest, May 18, 1973)

The witchdoctor is the "psychiatrist" of tribal medicine and should be used to impart health education among Blacks, a symposium was told in Johannesburg. "He could be our greatest ally in preventive health efforts in this country," a medical officer told a meeting on health education in South Africa.

Earlier, Dr. J. C. Stoke, of the University of Rhodesia, had urged that health education be tackled on the basis of the "ripple effect." Efforts should be directed towards changing the health, habits and beliefs of influential people in a particular community who would, in turn, influence thousands of others.

Mr. L. L. M. Letlahaku, chief of demographic planning in the Bophuthatswana Government Service, told the meeting that the witchdoctor was for many years the only doctor his people knew. "I think that if we educate him in the principles of preventive medicine and regard him as one of the leaders of the community, he could become one of the key people in health education. He should not be driven underground," he added.

Another delegate said that a doctor at a mission hospital had told him that, after treatment, his patients went to a witchdoctor to apologies for accepting "White medicine," and to ask him to excise the evil spirit which caused the illness in the first place.

"If we pooh-pooh the skills of the witchdoctor we insult 17 million people in South Africa. We need his co-operation," he said. Preventive and promotive medicine is an important aspect of the Government's new comprehensive health service based on satellite rural clinics under the professional control of regional hospitals.

Pennsylvania Sightings Continue

(Eagle, Butler, Pa., March 29, 1973)

Several people in the Evans City area, including a local policeman,

SEPTEMBER 1973 15

have reported sighting unidentified objects in the skies for several hours on March 27th.

Eye-witness testimony by residents of May Lane, just south of Evans City Heights, is backed by Evans City Police. Sgt. Andrew Urnowsky described a triangular flying object, with flashing red and green lights. He said the object resembled an airplane but there was no engine noise-only a hissing sound.

William J. Rice of May Lane said the object came so close to him he could feel the suction. His mother-in-law was so frightened she ran into the house.

People in the area said the "sky was full" of flying objects-possibly a mother ship with her satellites.

Teletype reports from Warren on Monday told of several per-sons seeing unidentified flying objects moving in a southeasterly direction.

An Unnerving Experience

(Reading Times, Reading, Pa., March 30, 1973)

A 25-year-old carpet layer from Mohrsville, R. D. #1, spoke with a nervous stutter as he described what he saw in the sky above the Willow Creek area. "I don't believe in UFOs, but I know I saw something tonight and whatever it was, it was awful scary," he said.

Lash was laying carpet in a vacant office building, when at about 8:30 P.M. he decided to take a cigarette break outside. "I saw this bright light in the sky about 500 yards away and I assumed it was a plane. But it just hovered in one place, so I thought it was a helicopter, but it wasn't making a sound," he said.

"The bright light would, every once in a while, dim and then, a few seconds later, it would reappear." Lash could not determine its shape but noted it had red, green and white flashing lights.

"After about 10 minutes, another object appeared in the sky and it maneuvered itself to a point directly below the first one. It also began dimming its lights, and then, suddenly, I couldn't see it anymore. It just disappeared."

Lash waited about an hour before he notified the police. The township police officer was convinced that Lash had really seen something. "He was really shaken up by whatever he saw," said Sgt. Rismiller. "He was shaking and rubbing his hands together. There was no question that he was really scared."

16 UNDERSTANDING

Hundreds See UFO Over Chicago

(National Tattler, June 24, 1973, by Tom Valentine)

UFOs startled police and fire department officials in several Chicago suburbs, on the far northwest side of the metropolitan area near O'Hare International Airport, by flying low and slowly over the nation's second largest city.

On Thursday, May 10, 1973, between 10 P.M. and 1 A.M., an unexplained series of lights and large triangular UFO were spotted by hundreds of citizens and officials. Telephone calls swamped the dispatchers for the Illinois State Police, Cook County Sheriff's police and police departments of at least four suburban towns.

"We see thousands of aircraft a week in this area, and the thing we saw May 10th was NOT a normal aircraft," said Capt. John A. Mergens, of the Elk Grove village fire department. Hundreds of people observed the phenomenal lights as they hovered and moved in unusual patterns, but Sherril Eckersley (night dispatcher for the Elk Grove Fire Department) saw more than lights-she saw the un-usual triangle-shaped vehicle from a distance of two city blocks.

"It had one red, intense light which seemed to be the headlight, but it was bright red. The two points of the triangle at the rear were white oscillating lights. Between the three main lights were smaller lights in a row, more like dome lights than anything else," she said. Miss Eckersley said the UFO traveled very slowly-"about 30 miles per hour," and at one point, less than two blocks away, it halted and hovered silently in mid-air. "It didn't go up or down or backwards-it just stopped . . . Then it started moving slowly to the west again."

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Dr. Fry:

I've been reading a book written by you, the title, in Swedish, is Message from Space. I have a question to ask you: Is the book telling the truth or is it just a science fiction story? It is quite important for me to know.

I have several. times, both here in the north of Sweden and in Spain, seen things in the air that I cannot explain. For example, last year in June, while in Malaga, Spain, while out for fresh air on the terrace, I saw a "star" about five times as large as the evening star. It stood in the same position for some 30 minutes and then disappeared. The next evening, as I was very curious, I searched

SEPTEMBER 1973 17

for it. The same thing happened-suddenly it was there. But, this time a small part of it fell down through the air.

This evening I observed the "star" for 45 minutes after which it disappeared, and I never saw it again.

I was not the only one to witness the "star." The following day, three Germans, a Frenchman, a Dane and I discussed the sighting. They had seen it also.

While I believe that people "not of earth" exist, yet when I have told others of what I saw many just laugh. You feel very help-less when no one believes you, especially, when in fact you are telling the truth. But, never mind, I trust my own eyes, and I am sure that one day everyone on earth will face the truth ...

Can you tell me, am I the one that's crazy or do these things exist?

Sincerely yours,

Enid Stadin

Sundsvall, Sweden

(Miss Stadin would welcome letters confirming her sightings. You may write to Understanding for her address, if interested.)

book reviews

Getting Off the Wheel

(Getting Off the Wheel, by Louise F. Wyatt. Published by Vantage Press, $3.95.)

This is a 92-page book of short discourses and poems concerning a soul's evolutionary progress. Mrs. Wyatt shares her thoughts on reincarnation with us in a simple and direct manner. She urges us to "follow the Light and Trust in the Light" and goes on to explain that "the Light is a creation of and gift from God Consciousness. L-I-G-H-T: LIVING IN GOD'S HOLY THOUGHTS. When you live in His thoughts

18 UNDERSTANDING

and persevere to continuously function in His thoughts, you cannot do otherwise but grow."

One of our precepts in the Understanding organization is to "examine all things and cling to that which is true" for your own soul's development. This very interesting book follows this same line of reasoning for Mrs. Wyatt presents basic guidelines for the reader to follow, but at the same time, assures us that the decision to follow these guide-lines is entirely up to the individual.

The main portion of Getting Off the Wheel is devoted to brief pass-ages pertaining to the way we should conduct our mental and spiritual lives. In the discourse entitled "Freedom of Choice," Mrs. Wyatt writes: "Sometimes trying to understand others gives us the 'illusion' of butting our head against a brick wall. The wall still stands, but we walk away with quite a headache. We could avoid these 'headaches' if we could accept the fact that others must each walk their own path, pick their own flowers and mow their own lawns. If they choose to let their lawn become overgrown-that is their choice. If they wish to use an outdated mower, that, too, is their choice. Just send them the Light for their Highest Good."

In the discourse entitled "The Light and You," it says: "Know you are Love. Know that Love surrounds you. Our Soul are the essence of God and God is Love; therefore our Souls are Love . . . We call in the Light for help, and how it does help. Through the Holy Spirit we go from what we are to what we want to be .... The Light moves you to greater heights than you've known before; it sharpens your Spiritual Inner Awareness. It belongs to you, and you belong to the Light .... If we flow with the Light we will soon see what our proper direction Should be. Our life will take on purpose. We will gain understanding of ourselves and others."

The last part of this book is made up of delightful poetry, quickly read, but very meaningful and instructive.

Getting Off the Wheel is a very engrossing book which is difficult to put down until it is completed. However, it is the type of book that can be opened at random and read during brief moments. This book would make an excellent gift for the newcomer to metaphysics as well as the person who has studied many years.

This reviewer sincerely recommends this beautiful book, which is written in today's language with a balanced combination of seriousness and humor, to all who are on the Path.

Flo Bohnert Unit # 1

SEPTEMBER 1973 19

Bulletin board

Our Busy Buffalo Unit

Several letters from the Buffalo Unit tell of their busy program, business and social. In May the Unit held its Annual Banquet and Election of Officers. Their 1973-74 panel now includes: President, Marie Hale; Vice-President, Rose Shatzel; Treasurer, Casimer Nowak; Recording Secretary, Lois Dietrich; Corresponding Secretary, Eleanor Kazmierczak; Chaplain Robert Shatzel; UFO Chairman, Norman Weis; and Librarian, Raymond Hutchings.

In July, at the home of the Tony Prantners, the Unit shared a picnic and sing-a-long. August featured a special lecture meeting with Swami Amar Jyoti of Poona, India as the guest speaker.

Found-Some 1959 Yearbooks!

Some copies of our 1959 Understanding Yearbooks, long thought to be unavailable, turned up recently as we were reorganizing our storage materials. Ten copies are now on hand to complete your files, on a first-come basis.

They are offered at $1 a volume, plus 25c for postage and hand-ling. Do you need a copy? Write to our Merlin office now.

Prayer Chain International

We announce, with regret, that our Unit #80 of San Jose, California has become inactive for the present.

20 UNDERSTANDING

They have sent to us their files and forms on their Prayer Chain International activity asking that some other group or individual continue this much-needed and worthy service.

If you, or your Unit, are interested, a line to Merlin will provide the information needed. Many need your Help!

Buffalo Understanding Library

We remind our membership that many excellent UFO and New Age books are available by mail from the Buffalo Unit Library. Librarian, Ray Hutchings, announces that he is compiling an addition to the current booklist to include the many recent gifts.

Do write him at: 2046 Sherman Ave., New York, 14111, for the Booklist and start a new program of reading to expand your understanding.

Melita's Spiritual Diary

Plans do not always follow anticipations, so we ask your indulgence for a broken promise. In our May issue we offered a series of articles by Melita on her "Spiritual Diary." However, since the publication of Melita's book-The Secret of Eternal Youth-her mail and pressures for assistance have mounted, and writing time has become limited.

We still anticipate a continuation of the series sometime in the future. Wait with us.

♦ ♦ ♦

The Man who realizes his ignorance has taken the first step toward knowledge.

Max Heindel

CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT

6c per word per insertion; 3 or more insertions same copy, 5c per word.

THE LIFE SOURCE, Its very detail open to view in FUNDAMENTALS OF THOUGHT, by L. Ron Hubbard. Send $3.00 to: Book Store U, Founding Church of Scientology, 1812 19th St. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009.

The AQUARIAN ESP HERALD is a national, high-quality, spiritual newspaper with no advertising. Its purposes are to bring synthesis, abolish totalitarianism, spark action to improve the human condition, and to bring in the New Age. Retailers and individuals wishing to spread the Good News regularly may write us at 3859 Valley Creek Road, Newport, Minn. 55055.

YEAR BOOKS AVAILABLE

1968-1971

Understanding Magazines for

1968-1969-1970-1971

Are now available in convenient Yearbooks.

Price: $2.00 per volume, plus 25c for handling.

Issues 1958 through 1967 at $1.00 per volume, plus 25c handling.

Understanding, Inc.

P. O. Box 206

Merlin, Ore. 97532

FOURTH ANNUAL

UNDERSTANDING CONVENTION

June 22-23-24

International Cultural Center

Of Understanding

2200 Merlin Road

Send stamped self-addressed

envelope to Convention Program

Understanding, Inc.

P.O. Box 206

Merlin, Oregon

COMING

TO MEN OF EARTH

and

THE WHITE SANDS INCIDENT

(Two books in One)

A new printing of Alan's Message to the people of Earth. Additional information from Alan's Viewpoint of his space visitation.

If you have read THE WHITE SANDS INCIDENT this is a MUST for a better understanding of Alan's message and purpose.

Soft Bound $2.00

Hardbound $3.50

MERLIN PUBLISHING COMPANY

P.O. Box #105 Merlin, Ore. 97532

Memberships in Understanding

Understanding, Inc. is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the propagation of a better understanding among all the peoples of the earth so that they may live in harmony and be better prepared psychologically and sociologically for the space age.

Several types of membership are available to those who wish to support our endeavors either with dollars or with time and service, or both.

The Associate Membership is Two Dollars per year; the Contributing Membership, Ten Dollars per year, including the Understanding magazine; Sustaining Membership, Twenty-Five Dollars per year, including subscription; and Life Membership, Five Hundred Dollars, including subscription to Understanding magazine.

Welcome to the Understanding family!

UNDERSTANDING, INC.

P.O. Box 206, Merlin, Oregon 97532.