CONTENTS

For November, 1964

NEWS?   …………..             2

THE MESSAGE   ………             3

OUTER SPACE   ………             4

UNDERSTANDING SYMPOSIUM   ……….             6

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING   ……………             7

World report   …………..             8

MYSTIQUE IS EDEN’S APPLE   ……………             11

THE RISSLER-VERSTEIN OBSERVATORIES   ….             12

Poet’s corner   ………….             13

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR   ……             14

book reviews   ……             15

bulletin board   ………..             17

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THE STAFF

EDITOR ……  Dr. DANIEL W. FRY

asst. editor …………….  Kerttu campbell

circulation manager ……..  edna basmajian

staff artist …………..  gus tanasale

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UNDERSTANDING

VOLUME IX                                 NOVEMBER, 1964                                   NUMBER 11

Dedicated to the propagation of a better understanding among all the peoples of the earth, and of those who are not of earth.

NEWS?

During the next twelve months, the simple understanding of world events and situations will probably become more vitally important and more difficult to obtain, than at any other time in our history. Events of great significance have occurred, are occurring and will continue to occur at a rate that would make it exceedingly difficult for the average citizen to maintain a reasonably clear picture of the world situation even if there were any major news dissemination agencies which could be depended upon to give a clear and unbiased account of world events. With virtually all of world news now being detoured through government, military or economic filter centers, it is a rare fact that can emerge from the vortex of planned confusion still bearing any resemblance to its original self.

Since the Cuban crisis, during which the office of the Presidency of the United States admitted openly and without apology that it had deliberately lied to the people, and that it proposed to continue to lie whenever it appeared to be expedient, announcements from the highest office in the land have met with extreme skepticism or complete indifference on the part of many people.

Recent investigations of news monitoring and control by government

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agencies have proven, beyond any reasonable doubt, that our vaunted “Freedom of the Press” is little more than a nostalgic memory.

It becomes important therefore that those small publications which are not dominated by vested interests or dependent upon government subsidy, redouble their efforts to bring to their readers simple facts without bias, without sophistry and without apology.

Paring the last few weeks. three events have occurred which require editorial comment. These are the Warren Report, the fall of Khruschev, and the Red Chinese acquisition of nuclear weapons. There are important factors in all of these events which have not yet been covered nor even approached by the general press. These factors are now under investigation and will be discussed in coming issues of Understanding.

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THE MESSAGE

(Though the presentation is unique, the message is timely. -Ed)

Fellow Citizens, no longer able to reach your ears I ask now that you open your hearts instead to my message.

Again you must choose a leader, a man to plan for you, decide for you, and to represent you to the rest of the world. It may seem difficult to find such a man, yet, if you consider well, there are many with the proper qualifications. Your need is to find one who is honest ,of heart, simple in thought, and one who places the welfare of his ‘country and countrymen above his own. He should believe in the rights of all mankind and be guided by the Good Lord. In this assignment be ruled by your hearts, not by headlines; be guided by your own common sense, not by bigots. These are not normal times in which you live, so be cautious, be just and above all, be wise.

A new generation has arisen; the old one has died, carrying with it the memories civilization is endeavoring to forget. Is it not time for all nations and their leaders to reach a proper solution? Surely there is room enough on our planet for all men of all nations to live in peace, helping one another. If you cannot live together, you will surely die together. How can your youth plan for tomorrow when there is no today? The Veteran’s Hospitals are filled with forgotten

NOVEMBER, 1964                    3

wounded soldiers; and the widows of the last war may become the Gold Star Mothers of the next one..

New countries are forming, and with them new hope. Let the older ones set an example for the now., You have the United Nations-good and well-but now unite the nations. Men of science have failed you, men of religion have misguided you, men of politics have betrayed you, now let men of wisdom save you.

In dying I may have accomplished what I could not in my life-time. As the world paid tribute to the leader of the country of good will, men of all nations, of all faiths, of all creeds, cast aside their prejudices, hates and differences, and grieved together. Their tears were alike, their sobs were common, their heartbreak was similar. In the procession were kings, statesmen, leaders of all nations, of all colors, of all beliefs, come to say farewell not to me, but to a dream, a dream of a better world, mutual understanding, and common interests.

During my short term in office, I tried in many ways to warn you of an enemy in your midst. You have created him, and be is waiting to destroy you. Unless you can come to an agreement, he will definitely succeed. If he does, there will be no processions, no parades, none to mourn, for there will be none left to do so. Your end could be one of devastation by fire, poison, chaos and catastrophe.

My son spent his birthday attending his father’s funeral. Your sons may be unable to do that if there be none left to do the burying, My wife lighted an eternal flame in my memory, and if the flame does not guide you towards the path of peace, the clay will come when that, flame will be the only light left on earth.

As Bishop Hannon said in his tribute-To everything there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven. So I say to you, there is no other time than the present. This is the time to solve your problems. If you cannot do so now, you will not have a time to live, nor a time to love, nor a time to be born, only a time to die. Do not build me shrines, nor monuments, rather make resolutions and determinations of good will, of equality, of peace, and of better understanding.

May your tears turn to smiles, may your burdens be lifted, and may your fears disappear. May the Good Ford send His blessings upon you.

—Joseph Eisenberg

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4                                                    UNDERSTANDING

OUTER SPACE

Three Russian Cosmonauts recently completed sixteen orbits about earth, ostensibly to study conditions in outer space and man’s adaptations to new environmental factors. It seems pertinent, therefore, to present what science has already discovered by its researches, using both manned and unmanned satellites.

In the August, 1961, issue of the Reader’s Digest is found an article: What It’s Like In Outer Space. The author, Ira Wolfert, in a most interesting presentation offers not only the nature of outer space as we now know it, but also describes the methods of satellite communications from which this information has been derived. This review will present only the spatial environment information.

Mr. Wolfert writes, “Solar winds race, cosmic dust blows; the dust is, some inexplicable matter that appears under the electronic microscope to be `an infinitesimal woolly substance.’  Space is not empty. It is dense … Rays, waves, disengaged protons and electrons, the naked nuclei of atoms, specks of matter before it has become material or perhaps after it has ceased to be that, all eddying and streaming in vast, endless currents, dotting the expanse with mysterious flickers and flares, below the level of human visibility.. .

“The satellites are buffeted by meteorites, pushed off course by ,the, pelting force of sunlight. Photons in the light pushed Echo’s nearly circular orbit into an ellipse, now are battering the ends to make it a circle again. . .

“Already-the reports from the satellites are stimulating dramatic new conceptions and changing old ones, giving earth a new shape, space new properties and characteristics. One sample: meteorites striking the earth’s atmosphere amount to an influx of from 1000 to 10,000 tons of material daily… But they are not the bullet-like projectiles our schoolbooks told us they were. The satellites describe them as more like snowflakes with grains of dirt embedded in them…

“The satellites are in a region of eternal day where the sun never sets. Yet the day is blacker than our night … The stars shine around the clock, unwinking as spotlights against a background of bottomless black sky … There is no daylight, for what we call by that name on earth is composed of reflections from the atmosphere and the myriad objects around us. In space, until something gets in

NOVEMBER, 1964                    5

the way to reflect it, daylight is in its pre-form, hurrying down from the sun and other stars to be somewhere else.

“Thus the blackness of space is a blackness we could read by, and every object in it is visible . . . bathed in a `heavenly light,’ clearer than any on earth and softer because there’s no glitter in it, only radiance.

“Everything in space seems to be pre-world, pre-life, pre-cognition by human senses . . . in space itself there are no sounds, only presounds undetectable by the most sensitive instruments. Even the enormous, endless explosions on the sun come into space silently.

“The reason is that, out there, sound has no carry. On earth, molecules do the carrying… in space, the satellites report, molecules are on an average of 30,000 miles apart and lose their ring before they can meet another . . .

“Even temperature is pre-hot, pre-cold. Two hundred miles away from earth, the temperatures of the molecules rise fantastically, to between 2000 to 3000 degrees. Yet you couldn’t, roast a potato in space … individual molecules are that hot, yes, but there just aren’t enough of them in any one place to deliver enough heat… .

In addition to discovering that the earth is pear shaped, scientists learned that the earth’s atmosphere bulges up and down regularly – every 27 days, of significance to earth’s weather patterns.

“But possibly the most important discovery has been the Van Allen radiation belts. The belts, which consist of charged particles, move through the ocean of space in two separate, doughnut-shaped currents, each several times the volume of the earth itself. Carriers of energy, they are trapped and guided by the earth’s magnetic lines of force, and their role is to transfer energy from the sun to the earth. Since they are the raw material not only of weather but of the processes of life and growth some scientists hail their discovery as equivalent in potential significance to the discovery of a new continent. At the same time, the radiation in the belts is deadly, a fact that any space craft headed beyond them must take into consideration.”

These facts are but the beginnings of man’s research of outer space. Each scientific package, each manned .spaceship brings new details of the heavens above that man may one day travel among the stars!

(Courtesy, Reader’s Digest Assn.)

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UNDERSTANDING SYMPOSIUM

On Saturday morning, October 3rd, directors, officers and delegates of Understanding, Inc., convened in Monterey, California, for their Annual Meeting.

The first order of business is traditionally a meeting of the directors. While they were conducting their meeting the remaining officers and delegates gathered in round table discussion to exchange ideas about the purpose and meaning of Understanding and how we can best share our ideas with others. We regret that all members of the organization could not be present to participate in discussion, but we can pass on to you something of what was said.

The thought most frequently expressed was the joy and inner peace and satisfaction which comes with understanding.

The first step, perhaps, is to learn to cultivate imperturbability .and achieve harmony within our immediate environment. We must learn tolerance and then convert more tolerance to appreciation. Then we can learn to love. As someone pointed out, when we learn to love we stop comparing.

With the development and expansion of these qualities within the individual, there grows ever stronger the desire to share these concepts with others. To each one the steps by which he attained his present degree of understanding is in one way or another unique. It is an individual experience. Therefore, how to pass it on to another is not a simple thing.

Sometimes we encounter others who are ready and searching. In conversation with them we can learn to touch on ideas which should evoke an indicative response. We can quickly determine whether or not they would be receptive to our kind of thinking.

But what of the ones who evince no interest or express open opposition? We cannot force others to accept our way, of thinking, but we can plant the seed, stimulate curiosity, open the door. Perhaps they will not pass through the door or it may take a long time for the seed to germinate. We may never know the outcome, but this should not discourage us.

It is important to recognize the rather unique nature of an organization like Understanding. Most organizations are formed for the accomplishment of a specific goal. They have an easily defined objective

NOVEMBER, 1964                    7

and the measurement of progress in attaining that goal can be simply measured objectively. It is possible to focus on the objective and see where they have arrived.

If we in Understanding have difficulty in defining our purpose, pin pointing our objectives and measuring our progress, we must realize that our point of reference is quite different. Instead of standing in a circle focusing on an objective, we are in the center and must turn outward toward all 360 degrees of the circle, Our efforts must radiate from the individual and expand outward in ever increasing circles. When we open the door for another, we may never know how far the outbound path may lead him. Our service is to open the door and give what encouragement we can. We must not focus on any one point but develop breadth of vision and urge others to this concept.

Even though we cannot easily measure our progress, our efforts should be always greater, for in caring deeply- we can find a happy thing. The projection of love and understanding will return to us in, increasing abundance.

From time to time we must re-examine our position. We need the dedicated efforts of all members, financial assistance and readiness, to serve to the best of our ability.

-Lyle Westergren

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WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

(From the Christian Science Sentinel, Feb. 8, 1964. These excerpts are from an article: A College Student Writes by Paul A. Robinson)

“Today the challenge of materiality meets one on every side Matter is presented as good and useful, the natural sciences have made contributions to the betterment of mankind and, mortal thought would reason, matter has accomplished strange and wonderful things. These natural sciences seem to bring with them a great wealth and satisfaction.

On the other hand, religion may be satisfying but often it denies the findings of the natural sciences, and the reasoning of common religious thought. may appear shallow. .

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“. . . The great thinkers of all ages have had to reject the surface meanings of things and probe deeper to gain new understanding. They have had to become dissatisfied with worn-out beliefs before they could accept new and better ones. And once they had glimpsed a new and higher idea, they have been satisfied. The Bible is full of accounts of those who, having reached out to catch a glimpse of the truth, have been elevated to the apprehension of it …

“What, then, is the relation of natural science to religion? Are They identical? Obviously not. The premise of Christian Science is that God, Mind, good, is All, while physical science assumes the reality of matter …

“Today Christian Scientists in the field of natural sciences may find the freedom and peace they need to solve the human problems which face them by basing their actions and thoughts on Mind instead of matter. Advances in even material science have sometimes come through the coincidence of reason and intuition that amounts to revelation. The Christianly scientific researcher will base his actions and thinking on Mind instead of on matter, and he will gain spiritual intuition and draw correct conclusions.

“Realizing this, the Christian Scientist can enter a scientific field with complete confidence that he can easily accomplish what is required of him. By demonstrating Love’s control, the writer has been able to utilize the power of Mind in understanding and applying physical concepts and mathematical reasoning correctly and easily. The freedom and clarity of thought that accompany the spiritually scientific thinker are the direct results of his acknowledgment of the one infinite Mind, God, and of man as his infinite expression.

“Man, the expression of Mind, knows no limitation, lack, intellectual frustration, nor fear. These qualities are not derived from Mind and hence have no real source. Man, the image and likeness of God, can express only peace, understanding, intelligence, spontaneity, inspiration, action, and other Godlike qualities.

“Relying on the infinite resources of one infinite Mind, we can experience no lack of ideas nor inspiration…”

NOVEMBER, 1964                    9

World report

Machine Main

(By Joseph L. Myler, Medford Mail Tribune, July 27, 1964)

WASHINGTON (UPI) – Dr. Toby Freedman has little sympathy with those who would like to remodel space age man. Freedman believes that man and his parts, as designed by nature, are good enough and adaptable enough to meet the requirements of space exploration

The doctor is director of the Life Sciences Department of North American Aviation’s Space and Information Systems Division. North American is making the Apollo spacecraft which will carry three astronauts from earth into orbit around the moon.

Recent advances in medicine, Freedman said a while back, “have revived an age-old fantasy; The redesign of human beings.” Surgeons nowadays “seem to be overhauling people the way the corner garage rebuilds a wreck.” And “in the immediate future is the prospect. of artificial organs made of plastic and operated by miniaturized power cells.”

The techniques which produced the communications satellite “and the self-puncturing beer can” may be applied in a few decades “to update and remodel this somewhat antiquated mechanism we call man.”

There is talk, said Freedman, of “an indestructible polyethylene heart, kidneys exchangeable every 50,000 miles, cavity-proof ceramic teeth, and nylon hair that you comb only once in a lifetime.”

As a physician, however, Freedman feels little rapture for this “new, improved, late-model version of man.” He has yet to see “a machine like the human heart that can pump for 75 years without a breakdown, while its container is running to catch a bus, skin-diving, or climbing the Matterhorn.”

Man can be made to perform better than most. men do, but not by “fitting him with a lot of internal gadgets.”

The Eskimo and the

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Bedouin live “at temperatures well outside the range of survival for most of us.”

In the Andes and the Himalayas people flourish and do their chores at altitudes where they get only 60 per cent of the oxygen most others require. Tibetan Lamas are said to maintain normal skin temperatures in sub-zero weather. Yogis bury themselves and live.

If science can find out how these people do it, then it will be possible for astronauts and other ordinary mortals also to develop the power “to survive under fiercely adverse conditions.”

In other words, Freedman said, “man can he improved not by making him a machine, but more of a man.”

Venus Sluggish

(By Joseph L. Myler, Medford Mail Tribune, Aug. 31, 1964)

WASHINGTON (UPI)-In the interests of truth it has to be said: Venus, the loveliest of planets, named after the loveliest and sprightliest of the Roman godesses, is sluggish and retarded. Because Venus perpetually hides her real self under a shining and gossamer cloak of clouds, astronomers have been itching for centuries to learn more about her.

At long last, thanks to radar, they have been able to satisfy their curiosity about some secret aspects of Venus which could not be observed by optical telescopes, no matter how keen their vision.

Venus in size is almost the Earth’s twin. She is a bit closer to the sun and a lot more mysterious. The earth is a fairly open and aboveboard planet. Everybody knows it turns over once every 24 hours and manages to pirouette around the sun once every 365 days.

But, because of those clouds, there was no telling what Venus was up to. Did she rotate at all? If she did, how often? In recent years both U.S. and Soviet radar scientists have been trying to solve what the astronomers call this “classical problem.”

The Russians a while back bounced radar pulses off Venus and concluded that she whirled on her axis once every 10 to 14 days. American scientists at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in. California couldn’t see this.

Their radar plumbing of Venus’ nimbus indicated ‘a considerably

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less likely behavior. As far as they could tell, it took Venus nearly an earth year to make one turn.

When the Space Agency’s Mariner probe whizzed past Venus in December, 1962, it sent back word that the dazzling planet seemed to be rotating slowly in a direction opposite to earth’s.

Now the world’s largest radar-radio telescope, the 1,000-foot dish scooped out of a mountain bowl in the Puerto Rican “lost world” near Arecibo, has taken a long look at Venus and spilled the unglamorous facts about this most radiant of evening or morning “star.”

Once every 253 days, as measured on earth, Venus moves around on her own axis. And her motion is retrograde-that is, opposite to that of earth and most of the outer planets.

Tides in Crust

(By George Getze, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 31, 1964)

Tides raised in the plastic crust of the earth by the gravitational pull of the moon are making our days longer, according to a UCLA geophysicist.

G. J. F. MacDonald reports that the raising of the tides, both in “solid” earth and in the seas, is slowing the earth’s rotation and changing the tilt of its axis.

The latter effect may cause the gradual extension of the subtropical regions of the world, and eventually cause a warm climate to prevail over most of the planet.

MacDonald’s theory was published in “Science,” the publication of the Association for the Advancement of Science.

He said the tides in the crust and oceans cause a friction which in turn creates “torque,” or a twist, in the crust. The torque acts as a brake on the rotation.

The day now lasts about 24 hours, but MacDonald said there is evidence in certain prehistoric corals that the day was only about 21½ hours long 350 million years ago in the Devonian Period.

The angle of the axis is now 23½ deg. to the plane in which the earth orbits the sun. This angle is the reason for the seasonal changes of weather on earth.

MacDonald suggested that in the distant past the angle was less

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than it is now, and that there was then much less difference between seasons and between the climate of the polls and the equator.

His theory would explain why Arctic and Antarctic regions once were tropical or subtropical.

If the suggested change in the angle of the axis should continue, a subtropical climate will be worldwide when the angle reaches 35 deg., MacDonald believes.

A Biblical Nest

(The Charlotte Observer, N.C., 7/10/64)

A fine-feathered prophet, has the East Park Avenue neighborhood all a flutter.

He (or she) left behind a nest made of leaves, twigs, grass, a dollar bill and a page from a tiny book of scriptural verse.

It’s the combination of the last two that has given Mrs. George C. Canipe an eerie feeling.

The two verses from the Bible warn against enslavement to wealth: . . . a man’s life cousisteth not in the abundance of the things which he possesseth. (Luke 12:15) and For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?. (Mark 8:36).

Mrs. Canipe, who operates the Dilworth Nursery and Kindergarten at 410 E. Park Ave., said her husband had seen the nest many times while mowing the lawn but had not looked closely at it.

But while clipping the hedge Thursday morning Mrs. Canipe saw what appeared to be remnants of a dollar bill intertwined in the nest’s structure.

“It really gave me a strange feeling when I read those Bible verses, too ,” she said.

Obviously nobody placed the bill and verses in the nest. Obviously, too, they had been there a long time.

Where had the bird found the dollar? And, of all pieces of paper it might have used, why the Bible verse and where had it come from? “I know one thing,” said Mrs. Canipe with a not-too-hardy laugh. “I’m going to do a little reviewing to make sure I’m living right.”

NOVEMBER, 1964                    13

MYSTIQUE IS EDEN’S APPLE

Many magazines dedicated to the modern woman are cutting into the feminine soul until they find what Betty Friedan calls the “Feminine Mystique.” It is surrounded by a cancer of dissatisfaction with life, a boredom, a nose worn smooth on the grindstone of home and family. It is a blindness, a deafness, a tastelessness, a crippling of mind and body, a giant frustration begging for relief.

Not as much has been written about a “Masculine Mystique,” but it exists, pressured by the demands of a job, family and financial responsibilities.

If we are to believe what is written, most of us are buried under the sludge of life, panting for emancipation. Our life is not as satisfying as we desire, and the “emancipated life” is pictured as being filled with glamour and intrigue. A woman who can free herself from the full-time tedium of home can expect to lose ten pounds, raise her I.Q., expand her outlook, flash sexy glances and new feminine appeal.

Let us not choke on a grain of truth.

In Genesis we read that God made a beautiful garden and filled it with every need of man. Only one restraint was demanded of him that he could eat of every tree except one. But surrounded with every beauty and little responsibility he nevertheless could not resist tasting of the only forbidden fruit. Humanity has been choking on that, fruit ever since, and it always will.

The soul of every man contains a “Garden of Eden” filled with everything beautiful, needful and good. But in the center always stands one core of restlessness and striving. No matter what avenue life takes, it is always there to frustrate and confuse.

Man can choose to tie himself to this core and remain forever dissatisfied and unfulfilled or he can direct his energies and senses toward the expansions of life that must have discipline to be enjoyed.

The God who could only create in the perfection of love knew that man was only as perfect as the discipline with which he could master life and its problems.

We cannot escape by running in another direction. Life should change direction and take on new dimensions as responsibilities

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shift and fate speaks. But before man changes direction he should take a careful look and not confuse sophistication and false stimulation of the senses with the steadied sensibility of God-centered discipline.

-Catherine E. Sprenger

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THE RISSLER-VERSTEIN OBSERVATORIES

One of the visits to be made by Daniel W. Fry on his present cross-country lecture tour will be to the Philadelphia Rissler-Vertstein Observatories. These are not ordinary observatories for they are staffed by a group of Northeast High School Students!

Like the shepherds of old these young people have been interested in the skies for several years now. Their prime interest is to sight a UFO.

The leaders of this active group of fifteen young people are Norman Schreibstein and Erwin Vertlieb. Their two observatories contain thick files of letters and articles on space and related subjects, as well as correspondence on the “unidentified flying objects” with such prominent men as Major Donald Keyhoe, John Kennedy, Lyndon Johnson and John McNamara, to name but a few. Not all sighting reports are accepted unconditionally but an effort is made to investigate and verify the facts by the membership.

According to a recent report in a Philadelphia news medium Night sky watches are conducted two or three times a week by the Northeast boys and others in various sections of Philadelphia. They are in constant. contact and each group watches a different segment of the sky for UFO’s. If a sighting is made, everything possible is done to validate it with the proper authorities. The local boys have been in touch with military authorities . . .”

The group seeks to pursue their investigations and observations by intelligent discussions of sighting reports throughout the country. Two of the boys have actually sighted a UFO on one of their night watches.

Their future plans include an increased membership and a new telescope. We wish them well.

NOVEMBER, 1964                    15

Poet’s corner

New Ideas

From out the infinite storehouse
Of the great eternal Mind

Some new ideas were sent to earth,
All seeking a home to find.

They were sent with an Angel escort
To take them around the earth,

To introduce them properly
And prove them of royal birth.

They knocked on many mental doors
Where vacancy signs did appear,

But owners came to the doors and said,
“No children are wanted here!”

They were beautiful, new-thought children
Clad in bright garments of light

And they carried with them credentials
That proved their most regal right.

But the minds of earth preferred to sleep
The better part of each day

And then to revel and dance all night
And keep in their same old way.

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So the New Ones found all minds locked fast
As they went from door to door;

Then the beautiful, New Ideas
Went back to heaven once more.

-Esther Collins

Open Heart

Lock not your heart:

Keep love of rainbow and the glistening rain,

Thrill to the sunset and the old refrain.

Lock not your heart from view of loving eyes,

Bolt not the door on Earth’s sweet paradise.

O, live not selfishly in cell of pride,

Let others see your warmth of heart inside.

Latch not the gate on life or destiny …

Locks fasten tight … and you might lose the key!

-Stella C. Tremble

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Editor of “Understanding”

An idea which people seem so very reluctant to relinquish is that earth mankind is “tops” in creation. A few centuries ago people thought that the sun, the moon and the stars were merely adornments in the sky for mankind to admire gratefully, in fact, if anyone presumed to say otherwise he ran an excellent chance of being burned alive by Church authority. Still, today it is amazing how people resent and fear the new knowledge that humanity may extend to other worlds, and that there may be people who, as the late Professor Jeans said, are “as far above us in intelligence as we are above the ants.”

Surely our grandchildren, if not our children, will contact scientifically these beings and learn much that the present generation does not even contemplate, even as our grandparents little dreamed of flying to the moon.

It seems a pity in the case of this increasing knowledge, this vast extension of our mental horizons, that the stories of interplanetary adventures, science-fiction on television and on the screen, usually

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present the inhabitants of these other planets as monsters, giant grasshoppers, viruses or some other horror. Is, it not possible to think of beauty in the other worlds, of splendid people who are not only more intelligent technologically than ourselves but also more truly civilized, having more understanding, love and knowledge of the truth concerning the cosmos and its Creator? It would seem only logical that older worlds would have older and better, civilizations, since the motion of Nature is evolutionary. Why do not the ingenious writers of such television scripts as “Outer Limits” and “One Step Beyond,” excellent programs in some ways, add a little idealism to their imagination and portray something pleasant for a change? Is this too much to expect?

-Raquel de s. Marshall

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book reviews

The Phenomenon of Man

by Fr. Pierre Teilhard de Chardin

Contained within the contents of The Phenomenon of Man is the magnificent presentation of the many levels and phases of Man’s evolutionary journey. Of greatest import in this work, Teilhard de Chardin, a French Jesuit, has in a historically clear way, presented our modern age with a synthesizing bridge between Man’s physical evolvement and the spiritual within, Man’s evolving consciousness. Teilhard has unfolded before the reader the majesty of evolution in action, as it has transpired on our planet. The evolutionary spirals, physical and the consciousness within the physical, is brilliantly

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merged together in a profound display of intellectual and spiritual genius. Woven throughout and neatly brought together are many, many facets and aspects which have governed and which have been. a part of the evolutionary structure of the multifarious life forms on earth.

In the climactic ending of this great. work, the mystical giant, Teilhard, foretells in an out picturing way, Man’s next great level of achievement in his ascent of ever evolving consciousness. He has very tangibly and in a most unusual explanatory manner, shed an illuminating light upon the darkness of our present era and the position evolution-wise that it fulfills. Truly, Teilhard’s memorable work, The Phenomenon of Man, is a remarkable contribution to mankind and a tremendous tribute to the Catholic Church under whose auspices he labored and was greatly misunderstood.

Surprisingly, completely absent throughout, no doctrinal or religious forms of terminology are to be found. In the writer’s opinion, The Phenomenon of Man is the fruitful results of a true mystic seeking to bring a message to mankind of all that. is-is truly and wholly One. Also sprinkled throughout in a finely presented fashion, are immutable Universal Laws that the seeker with an eye to see will readily recognize.

Not yet ten years since his passing in 1955, Teilhard’s The Phenomenon of Man is being hailed and studied as one of the greatest contributions ever given to mankind towards linking together the fields of Science and Spirit for, in essence, the immeasurable depth and clarity it contains broadens the consciousness in building a better understanding of evolution as well as producing a deeper. appreciation of life in all its manifest forms. The work is available in most Catholic book stores.

— Donald Knight.

CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT

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INVITATION TO WRITERS. Offering a complete Plan for the Promotion, Production, Reproduction and Distribution of your Book. Immediate acknowledgment of your manuscript or copy, prompt reading and comprehensive report within two weeks. CREATIVE PUBLICATIONS, 14856. Rossmoyne Dr., San Jose, Calif. 95124.

NOVEMBER, 1964                    19

bulletin board

Annual Meeting

The Annual Understanding, Inc., Meeting was held on the weekend of October 3 and 4 at Monterrey, California. Short and long term goals for the organization were considered and the following officers were elected for the coming year: President, Daniel W. Pry; Corresponding Secretary, Margaret E. Ham; Recording Secretary, Lyle Westergren; Treasurer, Ronald R. Hansen; and Membership Chairman, Florence Twitchell. The Directors chosen will serve as Area Coordinators. Elected were Steele Goodman, Arthur J. Burks, Harry E. May, Angela Kilsby, Esther Stilgebouer, Bertha Mantzurani, Richard Dachner and Gary Shearman.

Harmony Grove Convention

Robert Crichton of the Vista Unit #4 announces another Understandorama at Harmony Grove, Escondido, California, on Nov. 14th and 15th. Titles of lectures to be given include: Power of Words and Speech; Harmony Grove Rock Writings; Gateway to Your Spiritual Heritage; The First Man to Walk in Outer Space; Cosmic Consciousness; The Secret of the Third Eye; Demonstrations of Psychometry and Let’s Sweep Out Our Minds. The speakers include Esther Stilgebouer, Gayne Myers, Dr. F. A.. Bode, Dr. Maria Elloit, Lloyd Flowers, Gabriel Green, Hal Wilcox, Arthur J. Burks, Rev. John Josef and Merle Gould. For further details check with R. A. Crichton, 2256 Pine Crest Drive, Altadena, California.

20                                                  UNDERSTANDING

Unit Briefs

Unit #11 of San Francisco has recently sponsored a lecture by Riley Crabb on “Problems of Space Travel.” Their October lecture was given by Fred Kimball who “Tunes in on Animals,” and the November meeting will feature Col. Arthur .h. Burks.

Unit #15 of Inglewood presented Capt. E. L. Huffine in October, speaking on “Phenomena in the Sky and will present Dr. Frank Stranges in November with his full length movie, “Strange Sightings.”‘

Unit #61 of Yucaipa announces the start of an Understanding Library for their unit and asks for donations of New Age literature. Address your packages to Mrs. Sue Lytle, 1054 E. Lugonia Ave., Redlands, Calif. 92373. Thank you.

Dan Fry’s Eastern Lecture Tour includes speaking engagements with the following Understanding Groups–Unit #28, Detroit; #37. Buffalo; #41, St. Paul; #44, Oklahoma City; and #45, Toledo.

Magazine Subscriptions

To further disseminate the principles of Understanding we encourage all Units to place the Understanding magazine in their local library at the special Christmas rate of Two Dollars for the year. We now have the magazine in 27 libraries but it should be in many more!