Almost all wage and price escalation clauses in labor contracts and sales agreements are based upon an arbitrary set of figures known as "The Cost of Living Index." This index is compiled periodically by comparing the changing prices of a standard set of items of food, rent and other costs of normal living. While the resulting figures do give a reasonably good indication of the current purchasing power of the U.S. dollar, they actually have very little significance in determining the true cost of living, because they completely ignore its largest and most rapidly growing factor, the cost of government.

To the individual in the upper tax brackets, whose income is decimated each year by the Federal and State income taxes, the cost of government is always painfully apparent. To the ordinary wage earner, whose contribution is extracted from his paychecks before he gets them, the tax bite is not quite so obvious or so painful, even though it does lop off from 20 to 30% of his total income. However, the visible taxes, including federal and state incomes taxes, county and city property taxes, sales and excise taxes, use taxes, etc., are only the portion of the iceberg that shows above the surface. The taxes concealed within the cost of any purchased item comprise the great bulk of the tax load, and it is the constant increase in both the size and number of these

2 UNDERSTANDING

taxes that brings about inevitable and uncontrolled inflation. The sales price of even the simplest item of food or merchandise has included within it an endless number of taxes, applied at every step of its production, distribution and sale. Suppose we visit our local food market and purchase a can of beans at a cost of 20 cents. (By the time this editorial appears in print, the cost of the same can will be 25 cents, price controls notwithstanding.) If we now attempt to determine the percentage of the cost which resulted from taxes, we will have set ourselves an endless task.

First we must realize that every employee of the store which sold us the beans pays income taxes, and a host of others, all of which must be added to his wages and therefore to the cost of the goods sold by the store. Also the store pays property taxes, income taxes. license fees, etc., which must be added to the price of the goods. The can of beans was trucked to the store by a shipping firm which pays very high motor vehicle taxes, fuel taxes, property taxes, license fees, etc., as well as the income and property taxes charged to its employees, all of which must be added to the cost of the goods transported. The can of beans was produced by a cannery which paid, and its employees paid, the same multitude of taxes which are charged to everyone. The empty can was produced by a can factory from which the same taxes were extracted. The steel for the can came from a steel mill; the ore and coal for the steel production came from mines, and was shipped on rail-roads or boats, all of which paid taxes and added them to the final cost of the product. The beans, of course, were grown on farms by employees or owners who paid the same host of taxes; the farm machinery, seed, fertilizer and other materials used in the growing of the beans, were produced by other concerns, all of which paid taxes and added them to their costs. Etc., etc., etc.

To count the total number of taxes incorporated in an ordinary can of beans would be as difficult as counting the number of grains of sand on a mile of ocean beach. Obviously, no such study has ever been undertaken. The best of computers would soon be hopelessly bogged down in an overwhelming mass of detail, and, of course, all taxing agencies carefully and resolutely avoid the subject. Those who strongly oppose the `Value Added Tax' suggested by the present administration apparently fail to realize that we have, in fact, been laboring under exactly the same system of taxation for decades and, since all taxes

APRIL, 1972 3

tend to increase in size and number with each passing year, it is not surprising that the cost of living (which is actually the cost of government) continues to rise in spite of any action government is willing to take. The truly amazing thing is that such a system can continue to function at all! It has been truly said that, "Money is a commodity created and distributed by the government, and permitted to rest, very briefly, in the hands of the public on its way back to the government!"

——— ♦ ———

SOME THOUGHTS ON REINCARNATION

It certainly is true that an earthly identity is unique and not repeat-able and cannot be transferred to any other individual or from one incarnation to another. This must be true also regarding the soul, if we with that word understand the awareness, limited by our physical senses, which represents the personality during one earthly incarnation. According to this definition, the Soul is a part of the physical body. We must, however, not neglect the higher consciousness and the permanent personality represented by what we call the Spirit. The Spirit is not a part of the Soul, neither of the physical body, but is, however, present in both of them, surviving both of them. The Spirit is one and the same through all incarnations but will be influenced by the experiences during all the incarnations.

Each incarnation cycle should be looked upon as a process of development, or a spiritual evolution or, if we prefer to call it so, a school. In this school, the classes are represented by incarnations. The hereditary factors, the environment influences and, in short, all the events and happenings and experiences which the body and soul is exposed to during the earthly incarnations can be good teachers and bad teachers, as there are good school mates and bad school mates. The parents, sisters and brothers, friends and teachers, indeed all the individuals which we meet during our journey through life, all have an influence and a significance in respect of our spiritual evolution. The soul is the computer which registers all our experiences, changes, and events how we meet them, to store them and to transfer them to a higher central, the Spirit. The parable is, of course, inadequate and incomplete, as the soul acts under the influence of a free will, alive within the soul itself, which a computer does not, and as the body acts, under the influence of something which we call the subconscious mind, probably- a heritage

4 UNDERSTANDING

from the animal kingdom, and a manifestation of the earthly material in our cells.

The spiritual evolution could be based on an infinite number of in-carnations, amounting to millions of years counted by our earthly measure of time. Science presently believes that the human race has put its footprints on this earth for about 200,000 years which against a cosmic background is less than a second, only one beat of the cosmic pulse. It does make sense to believe that in the universe and in the great creation there are an infinite number of similar or different "schools." How much time, or, in other words, how many incarnations we have to spend on the earth, we do not know. We do not know when the next school starts and when we are through. The earth represents a sphere of spiritual awareness, apart from the temporary physical awareness, and it is logical to believe the spiritual evolution is aimed at a constant raising of the spiritual awareness, and if we make that aim ourselves, during each incarnation and each year, each clay and each minute of each incarnation, our earthly life stands out in a different light and we can better understand the great meaning and the great significance of every moment. That will help us to understand better how we should use the infinitely short time given to our disposal during each incarnation.

-Per-Axel Atterbom, Kingsbacka, Sweden

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BANG! YOU'RE DEAD!

When he's a child with keen observation, profound imagination, willingness to compromise, almost limitless bending flexibility: "Bang, you're dead!" is a game. But when he's a man with rigid convictions, dwindling imagination, unwillingness to compromise, "Bang, ,you're dead!" is Death! If he shoots his little sister, his best friend, his Mom, Bang, Bang! It's fun and games. But when he's a man, and shoots another, it's murder.

A replica of every type of gun that may come to mind is now lying on a toy stand in the name of fun. Since the gun has but one purpose-Have you ever wondered why we have made a toy of it?

A favorite game of children is Cowboys and Indians. The main purpose of the game is to kill, or be killed. If, unknowingly, one child clutched a real gun, where would play end and realization begin?

APRIL, 1972 5

It is noted by experts in their field; that we develop approximately 50 per cent of our general intelligence between conception and age four, and 30 per cent between ages four and eight. In addition to this astonishing fact, as compared on a relative scale, they concluded that 50 per cent of the aggressiveness as shown in males at age 18 is already present at age three, and 50 per cent of the passivity that females exhibit at 18 is already with them at age four.

We teach our children, as they grow, to lean toward the religion of our choice, plus common human courtesy. More often than not, in one respect or another, these teachings are very influential, to say the least. Why then should the effect of gun play be expected to vanish without blemish'?

Each of us would like to think that our child has been taught the value of things. And he has. Everything that is except a HUMAN LIFE. Just how much respect can one have for something he is making a game of taking?

Conclusion: A child's work is his play. His mind is stimulated and enriched by the games he plays. His imagination is one of his most magnificent assets. These are his most susceptible years of learning. So, why not encourage him to use these years in a constructive manner? Perhaps we could replace the Gun Game with one such as Save A Life, using the replica of a doctor's kit for a gun.

Why not invent toys and games that create an insight into his fellow beings? What of games based on Patience, Observation, Understanding and Respect? Rather than pointing a finger and yelling "Bang" and expecting the victim to fall, should not a child learn to reach out with his hand to help those who have fallen?

Such games should keep alive imagination and creativity, and the lessons learned should become part of the child throughout his life. There is another advantage to these games, also. They can be played with any number of people. But better still, they lead up to a Master Game that could and should be played throughout the earth by all man-kind, from crying infant to bending old man.

The Master Game? LOVE THY NEIGHBOR AS THY SELF! even though he may be of an incomprehensible form from the most distant. corner of the universe.

-Rose Lee Boles

8 UNDERSTANDING

THE WORLD WITHIN

It makes no difference what the particle of matter is, its parts will eventually separate and make new combinations. More than this, what is one kind will become another kind in time. Enough has been learned of this changing of matter to prove that there is but one kind of original atom.

It is the way that the atoms combine that produces gold, rock, or other substances. Gold is ever-corroding, although very slowly. Its tarnish is the breaking down of its atoms from their gold formation into free parts ready to take up new combinations, some of which will some day enter into human bodies, or plants, or other things.

Some day- the thought of man will convert one substance into another. Gold and jewels will be produced by human activities. This is the coming wonder of the nearby age of today, as the voice of the phonograph, now forgotten as a marvel, was once regarded as an impossibility!

The mind and thought of man must take advantage of the fact that all substances are giving up their atoms into new combinations, and that change is constant.

When attracted by other matter, free atoms will enter into the pleasing work of making living masses, such as animals, plants, or human beings. We can not catch one of these atoms, but we can look upon their work in the form of the first combinations that make living masses. These are called life-cells. All over the earth, free atoms are seeking such a partnership. The life-cell begins each living mass.

If the purpose of the combination is an oak tree, the first cell will set .about producing the oak where attested. Combinations mean growth, and growth means every manner of form that matter can enter into, either in the inanimate or animate world. Geology shows proof of this in the past, and the earth is frightened with proof of it today. This is chaos of growth. The diversity of shape is unlimited everywhere. But, out of chaos comes order. Combination solves all problems in nature.

While one life-cell holds one tiny thought-form, a complexity of life-cells, called an organism, holds a complex thought form; this is the beginning of mind. The rest depends on increased combinations. This is magnetism.

Combination is the rule of progress. It is also the cause of progress.

APRIL, 1972 7

At the start it became the first step in creation when some portion of

universal thought was condensed into light. We call the law of attraction, magnetism, or gravity, a most beneficent idea; but, attraction compels combination, and combination compels progress.

In every material form, thought is in the material part of it, and yet thought, not matter, but as itself, combines itself into mind. This occurs in the animal kingdom. In the plant world. thought goes no further than to dwell in the life-cells; but, in the animal kingdom, thought combines, and what was plant now becomes animal; it contains a governing thought-center, a bran.

The brain of any form of plant life is in each cell, and the brain of any form of animal life is in its mass of gray matter, centered mostly in the head. Yet the latter is a combination of the life-cells of the vegetable kingdom; actually identical in kind, and also a part of the vegetable kingdom; animal life eats only vegetable cells, even when they have passed though other animal life.

This earth was once nothing but matter, which was a form of thought. It developed the plant world by the process which brought forms of thought to dwell in matter as cells. It next developed the animal kingdom by combining these thought forms into brain-centers. Lastly, it made a brain-center that was capable of holding a mind; the mind of the universe: "The universal magnetism of the intelligence, of the all-knowing God."

- Rev. Joseph Russell

——— ♦ ———

ON BEING AWARE

Part 7-Conclusion

In summary, know thyself-from inside and out. Call your own game when it hurts you to play it: don't overeat if you know you'll feel guilty, but if you like yourself, occasionally binge and enjoy it! At first it might be difficult for you not only to spot the games but to admit them-to sell' and to others, whoever else is involved. Be as softly honest as you can. The truth can hurt, but when you're hurting-STOP! If possible, it also helps to allow someone else to "nag" you about the hang-up.

Remember that each emotion has two extremes and a vast number

9 UNDERSTANDING

of choices in between. Each time you make a decision give yourself as much choice as possible, if you've been the kind of person who has been too impulsive; if you've been too indecisive, don't give yourself so many choices that you can't make the decision. And when in doubt, trust your intuition as to when you should postpone a decision.

As to the other person involved in the outcome of your decisions, anticipate his responses to as great a degree as possible. Think of the most positive and most negative reactions he can have plus the many responses in between these extremes. Make the choice as wisely as you can, but do not expect the other person to behave as you hope. The only expectation should be for the unexpected, and this often is delightfully ironic. Learn to see humor, even if sad, in what you may once have considered painful experiences.

Think into the future to a certain degree, but do not live in it. Broaden your knowledge by asking opinions of persons you trust, but the decision as to your action is yours and yours alone. Move away as much as you can from right/wrong black, white thinking, and remember that each emotion has its positive and negative extreme. Find the balance that suits you. You do not have to continually inflict pain on yourself to grow but you constantly have to face new challenges as you .evolve. Look inward and trust. Become more comfortable with your-self, and it will follow that you become more comfortable with others. Feel less hurt and more at home in yourself as you do the best you can for that moment and enjoy living it.

Each morning remind yourself that you are going to be as aware as possible. Watch how hang-ups slip in. See how adroitly your unconscious sets traps for you to fall into. Recognize them. Look for the triggering agent, which, soon, you'll be able to foresee after you become aware of what negative games you have been playing.

Each evening, review the day, noting when you successfully and un-successfully passed your self test toward maturity. Be aware of when you liked yourself, and then sometime transfer this feeling to a time when you do not like yourself. And do not expect the same tactics to work the next time. Each moment expand your thinking so that the positive, aware side of you has your mental, physical, emotional and spiritual essences on your side. Take better care of yourself. Aid in

APRIL. 1972 9

your own survival. Increase your awareness and use more of your brain power. There are no ends in sight except the limitations that you apply.

-Janice Aurah Kramer

(This series of articles has been offered with the special permission of Janice Aurah Kramer. The full text may be had from Miss Kramer, p.0. Box 26515, Edendale St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90026. A donation to cover printing and postage would be appreciated.)

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WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

You Are Important

A chance word from a complete stranger can be remembered for years, and with the memory comes a return of the original emotion of the incident. This lingering effect of even a casual remark proves the intense and far-reaching importance of our individual words and attitudes.

Most people vastly underestimate their own influence. Many of our mistakes in human relationships come from the low valuation we place upon our own powers. Yet all of us, with our conversation and our conduct, surround ourselves with an aura which is of both immediate and continuing significance. Friends, family and associates of our inner circle are profoundly affected by our very presence, and from there the influence spreads in a widening series of circles to immeasurable dimensions.

The optimistic person is an asset to any environment. The happy person spreads joy. The hopeful person, by his attitude, sustains hope in many hearts beside his own. Your cheerfulness, your shining faith, can affect a multitude.

The person who lives in the light of spiritual understanding is truly the light of the world. To seek truth, to speak it, to live it, and to radiate it, is the highest way of life, not only for one's own soul-growth, but from the standpoint of service to others. As we expand in love and understanding of the Truth teaching, let us realize that our inner light does not stop with us, but illumines an unboundable area around us. As a growing channel for the Light, you are more important, by far, than you know.

-Elena Goforth Whitehead, Unity Weekly, 6/1/69

10 UNDERSTANDING

world report

Acupuncture

New York Times, August 22, 1971

A View From Shanghai, by James Reston

... My wife and I spent four hours yesterday at the Hun Shan Hospital in the middle of Shanghai. This was formerly the Chinese Red Cross Hospital and is now the center of experimentation with acupuncture in Chinese brain surgery. We were properly sterilized and not only allowed into the operating theater, but urged to talk to two of the patients while they were undergoing surgery for the removal of tumors of the brain. They were anesthetized merely by the insertion of very thin three-inch stainless steel needles into the body-usually with one needle inserted into the web of flesh-or, as the Chinese surgeon called it, "the joined valley" between the thumb and forefinger-and they were not only perfectly conscious while their skulls were laid open before us but remarkably alert within half an hour after the operations.

... In some ways, the operation on Chen Chien seemed even more astonishing than the brain surgery. His only anesthetic was a single needle inserted in his right shoulder at an acupuncture point identified by the surgeon as Pi Ju. He lay on his stomach with a vast gaping hole in his back through which you could see the gasping of the remaining lung, but was wholly conscious through the ordeal, talked quietly and coherently in answer to questions and, like the epileptic patient, ate fruit while receiving blood transfusions.

. . . . The old traditional Chinese medical theory is that there is a "channel" in the body and that the critical acupuncture points are fixed by this channel. The modern Chinese doctors, who approached this whole subject with considerable skepticism, reject the traditional channel theory and are more inclined to believe in the theory that there are certain nerve centers that govern feeling and can be affected by needle penetration. The interesting thing, here, however, is that, while they cannot agree on the theory of how the needle anesthesia works, they are increasingly convinced that it does work, and they are operating on the pragmatic evidence and not waiting for theoretical justifications.

APRIL, 1972 11

Meditation On Health

Signature Magazine, July, 1971

Medicine on the Move, by Ben Patrusky

Harvard researchers think there may be some important medical uses for a technique called Transcendental Meditation. Adapted from an ancient Indian practice, the mental exercise is said to produce feelings of tranquility and relieve anxiety. But does it really' The Harvard men, Drs. Herbert Benson and Robert K. Wallace, have come up with chemical evidence to support these contentions. In studies on eight TM practitioners, they found markedly decreased levels in a blood substance called lactate during and after the practice. Excessive levels of blood lactate have been linked to stressful episodes suffered by patients with .anxiety neurosis (excessive apprehension, psychic tension, uncertainty and fear.)

Population Clock Ticks

Milwaukee (Wise) Journal, Feb. 19, 1972

Most of us shy from thinking much about gloomy predictions that man will overpopulate and over pollute his way to global catastrophe. Like staring at the sun, the possibility of such disaster can be contemplated, it seems, only for brief intervals.

Yet the population bomb keeps ticking. An international group of scientists will soon publish a book, "The Limits of Growth," which uses computer technology to predict that the earth's inter-locking resources -the system that permits life-probably cannot support present rates of economic and population growth beyond the year 2100. It argues that man, in the meantime, must impose limits on himself and his production to achieve worldwide balance between population and consumption of resources.

Many people are skeptical of such warnings, or are inclined to believe that somehow the genius of man will intervene with plenty of time to spare. Others, however, make note of the symptomatic significance of a recent African conference on population control. During the 11 days of talking a population clock on display showed that about 3.8 million babies were born, increasing net population by more than 200,000 per clay, or 74 million per year.

Popular Occult Course

National Enquirer, Nov. 10, 1971

The immense popularity of a course in the occult--given by a woman

12 UNDERSTANDING

who discovered suddenly that she was psychic is surprising officials of Oglethorpe College, Atlanta, Ga.

The evening course, taught by Mrs. Anita Josey, started with 27 students last spring term. It now has 190 students in five classes, with 500 on the waiting list for the next session.

Douglas Alexander, director of development at the college, said that over 600 inquiries were received about the course in the first two days after a news story appeared about it.

"Mrs. Josey was set up for only one class with just a few students," he said. "That quickly changed to four or five classes of almost 200 students."

The course takes six weeks, one night a week, she explained, covering astrology, numerology, tarot cards, clairvoyance, telepathy, astral projection, trances, reincarnation, dreams and vibrations.

Mrs. Josey, 28, discovered her own psychic powers suddenly about four years ago, she said.

"Since then I've learned more and more about the psychic and then decided I wanted to teach it. The classes at Oglethorpe are just a drop in the bucket compared to what is going to happen all across the country. This is just the beginning."

-Thomas Porter

Soviets Heal With Sound

Universal Science News, The Cincinnati Enquirer, Dec. 29, 1971

Doctors in Russia announce they have been able to "sing" broken bones back together with ultra-high frequency sound.

The technique welds bones together in such a way that new, natural bone grows into the gaps and holes to form a solid bony union, according to Dr. V. Poliakov of Moscow's Central Institute of Traumatology and Orthopedics.

"We call it ultrasonic bone welding to emphasize the fact that it is completely different from conventional glueing," he says.

The method is particularly suited to healing jagged or unclean breaks where chips and small pieces of human bone from bone banks are used. For instance, where a hole has been left in a bone from a tumor or accident, the liquid solder is applied and the hole packed with chips and powered bone. More solder is applied, then an ultrasonic probe welds it all together with high speed vibrations.

The key to success is the liquid solder, according to the Russians. "Although the weld provided by the solder is strong, in the long run,

APRIL, 1972 13

nothing can replace a true bony union. The weld gradually loses its mechanical strength," the Russians say. But it will hold long enough for natural and grafted bone to grow together.

No harmful effects have been reported, Poliakov says.

Message On Pioneer 10

The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio,), February 25, 1972

CAPE KENNEDY, Fla. (AP)-On the remote chance that intelligent creatures might one day find it wandering' in space, a spacecraft scheduled for launch Sunday will carry a plaque that tells in scientific symbols where and when it was launched and by what kind of beings.

In order to get the message, members of another civilization would have to capture the payload.

Space Agency officials point out that Pioneer 10 is the first man-made object intended to escape our solar system and that it will travel through other galaxies for millions of years, perhaps for eternity. No one knows for certain if other civilizations thrive out there.

The main mission of Pioneer 10 is to be the first spacecraft to probe the planet Jupiter, the largest in the solar system.

After a 22-month outward trip, Pioneer is to pass within 87,000 miles of Jupiter in December 1973 and transmit pictures and scientific data. Then it will streak on into space until it leaves our solar system.

Project officials hope it continues to radio information on interstellar space for seven or eight years.

The idea of the communications plaque was suggested by two Cornell University astronomers.

Dr. Carl Sagon, director of Cornell's Laboratory for Planetary Studies, explained: "This is the first object to leave the solar system. It seems appropriate there should be something on it telling which star in the galaxy and which planet about that star it came from and when it was launched, using a sort of cosmic clock for the date."

——— ♦ ———

UFOS INTERNATIONAL

Sightings in Finland

(Vimana, Helsinki, Finland, 3, 71)

A woman from Jyvaskyla tells the following:

On March 7 at 2 A.M. I rose from bed, as usual, to limber my hurt leg. In our drawing room the whole wall to the west is a window, the view from it is wide, the woods do not start until about a kilometer

14 UNDERSTANDING

away. A light struck my eyes and from the window I saw on the right side, in the southwest above the woods a huge, oval fire-colored "object" which brightened up the whole surrounding-it seemed that its light came also from between the branches in the trees. After having watched it for about 15 minutes I saw how a fire-colored object, a little smaller than a football was approaching quickly and with an even pace. It flew close under the still standing oval object, then it stopped and its color changed to bright red. A little later it moved still closer to the oval object, then it flew back in the same direction from which it had come, and now its color was as before. The same movements were repeated several times: the small object flew to the right, came back under the bigger object, rose higher and returned to the right (I could not see where). A little later I saw a great light, and then an object moving from the left resembling the object from the right. The two now both met under the bigger object and then returned in their own directions. After this the object from the right was continuing its movements for about 2 hours. The big object remained visible for one hour more. At 5 o'clock it was still in the same place but now color had faded a lot and it seemed to be farther away.

In the morning I called a newspaper in Jyvaskyla about this but they showed no interest saying that. they had received many calls concerning UFO-sights.

UFO in Vehmaa?

This took place on the night between July 15-16, 1971. Pekka Siitoin tells the following: I slept with my wife in one room while my three children were sleeping in the other room; outside was a balcony. I woke about 1-2 A.M. and heard voices talking hard; it seemed that some small quarrel was going on. The voices talked some foreign language which did not resemble any language I know. I thought that the children were talking in their sleep so I continued my sleep. After awhile I woke up again hearing the same voices. I went into the children's room and noticed that the voices came from the roof behind the balcony. I was very tired so I went back to sleep without finding out more. Then I woke a third time finding that the air was stuffy and that my 5 year-old son was vomiting. Also my wife woke feeling sick. In the morning all of my family was feeling sick. When I told my experience to people, many of them felt sure there had been UFOS on my roof or balcony.

APRIL, 1972 15

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

(We share with our readers this thought-provoking letter sent to our Friendship-By-Mail Chairman, Mrs. Aleta Johnson. Hopefully many of you will respond to Robert Salazar's request for mail.)

Dear Mrs. Johnson

I am writing this letter for two reasons. One, I would like to begin correspondence with someone in another land or with any one in the Understanding organization. Second, to express some feelings as a Prisoner. As you will see, what I have to say is quite interesting because it's not something you would normally expect to hear coming from a prisoner.

My purpose of writing this article is to point out that men or women in prisons are human beings despite what you hear on the news. Having mismanaged my life in the past and desiring to redirect myself, I have learned to depend on the inner power or faith in myself and each individual around me and the strength of the group as a whole.

I have been locked up nearly 27 months and this is what I have learned about life. God made every human being individual and unique, just as He made every snowflake individual and unique. You are not supposed to be like any other person, and no other person is supposed to be like you. Therefore, you will judge and measure yourself against your own "norm" not against some other individual's "norm."

I consider that all men are equal as to their individual thoughts. Feelings are the soil in which thoughts and ideas grow. Thoughts and feelings go together. Both behavior and feelings spring from belief. For every action there is a reaction. We do not react to the present moment and the present situation but to some similar event out of the past. The minute that we change our minds and stop giving power to the past, the past, with its mistakes, loses its power over us. Regard-less of the errors and failures of the past, a person has to start in the present to acquire some maturity so that the future may be better than the past. The present and the future depend on learning new habits and new ways of looking at old problems.

I live each day by these six objectives: 1) Just for today I will be courteous to every one. I will not criticize or find fault with anyone. I will do my best to see some good in everyone I meet-to look for the bright side of situations rather than the dark side. I know that my attitude can affect those with whom I come in contact. 2) Just for today I will try to strengthen my mind; I will study and learn something

16 UNDERSTANDING

useful. I will not be a mental loafer. I will only think of constructive things and will dismiss immediately all destructive thoughts. I can and do control my mind. 3) Just for today I will try to live through this day only and not tackle my whole life problem at once. I will be cheerful and optimistic because I know I can achieve my goals in life. 4) Just for today I will have a definite program for myself. I may not follow it exactly. but I will have a program. I will save myself from two pests-Hurry and Indecision. 5) Just for today I will do someone a good turn without being found out. If anyone becomes aware of it, it will not count. I will make an extra effort to give encouragement to someone less fortunate than myself. 6) Just for today I will be un-afraid. Especially I will not be afraid to enjoy what is beautiful and to believe that as I give to the world, so will the world give to me.

All this goes back to looking at my past life and understanding life as a whole. "If a child lives with tolerance, he learns to be patient. If a child lives with encouragement, he learns confidence. If a child lives with praise, he learns to appreciate. If a child lives with fairness, he learns justice. If a child lives with security, he learns to have faith. If a child lives with approval, he learns to like himself. If a child lives with acceptance and friendship, he learns to find love in the world."

In case you are wondering, Mrs. Johnson, I'm 23, soon to be 24, and due to be released from prison next Feb. 1. In closing, I'm dedicated to the propagation of a better understanding among all the peoples of the world so that they may live in harmony and be better prepared psychologically and sociologically for the future no matter if they are in prison or on the streets. It will be such a joy to be a member of the Understanding Family. I'll be sending my membership dues at the first of March.

From the Inside Looking Out In Peace and Love,

-Robert Salazar, B-26622, Box A-E, San Luis Obispo, Calif. 93401

——— ♦ ———

CONSIDER THE CONCEPT

All the wisdom of the ages is locked within your souls, my Blessed children! You are each a divine being within the mortal casement you chose to inhabit ... The amount of wisdom you are conscious of depends upon your spiritual awareness- But let it be remembered that all souls possess complete wisdom. That some beings are unaware of this is due to their fleshly egos that prevent the doors of wisdom to be unlocked.

New Age Teachings No. 40, April 1970

APRIL, 1972 17

Book reviews

OUR HAUNTED PLANET by John Keel, published by Fawcett Publications, Greenwich, Conn., $.75, Paperback.

Many of our subscribers are familiar with the writings of Mr. John Keel, and especially his book "Strange Creatures from Time and Space." In the Introduction to this new book of his, Mr. Keel writes: "This book is written in a style which discusses known facts with the popular and unpopular beliefs they have inspired. I am not supporting any of these beliefs. Parts of this book are so obviously tongue-in-cheek that it shouldn't be necessary to mention it ... I am attacking man's abysmal ignorance and his impassioned effort to hide that ignorance from himself. I have seen a large part of this world and its mysteries. Wonder and curiosity have always been an integral part of my life. I am only trying to share that wonder with the reader."

Some of the wonders that Mr. Keel discusses are the validity of the "Piri Re'is" maps of 1513; evidence of flying saucers as far back as 30,000 years ago; the story of Atlantis; the builders of the Egyptian pyramids and the English Stonehenge.

Mr. Keel also reviews the background and activities of the notorious Men in Black, who were introduced by Gray Barker in his book, "They Knew Too Much About Flying Saucers," written about fifteen years ago.

"Our Haunted Planet" is very exciting reading and contains facts and information which should be of much interest to the deep-core UFO reader.

As Mr. Keel states, his book "is a journey into man's past and the curious manifestations which have always surrounded him and which have directed the human race upwards from the caves to the moon itself. It is a Journey into a jungle of myth, legend and belief and,

18 UNDERSTANDING

hopefully, it is another small step toward the larger truth that man has always sought but never really found."

-Flo Bohnert

PASSPORT TO ETERNITY, by Laurence W. Foreman, published by author, 334-1/2 W. 33rd St., Los Angeles, Calif. 90007.

For over a period of ten years the author had a personal friendship with a "spaceman" whom he met in the desert of southern California. Mr. Foreman writes in a very quick reading, easy style and his experiences are very exciting. The information that is given to him is pertinent to the New Age that is upon us. Much of the information given has been channeled through many different sources, but as written in this book, it is easily understood and makes for fascinating reading.

This book is printed in an unusual style, with the print only on one page-the right hand side. The blank page on the left "helps the processes of your mind assimilate and assess what you have just read." This reviewer felt that the readability was heightened by this style of publishing and it was a pleasure to peruse this book.

We enthusiastically recommend this book, especially to newcomers to the "flying saucer field," as the history, background and descriptions in "Passport to Eternity" are vitally important to know and to realize if we are to succeed in spreading understanding throughout this beautiful planet Earth!

-Flo Bohnert

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Convention of Understanding

June 23-24-25 are the dates for the Third Convention of Understanding,

APRIL, 1972 19

which will be held in Merlin, Oregon, at the International Cultural Center of Understanding.

To date, the program includes the following: Rev. David Bleise, Mr. Pat Cody, Miss Jan Cuttler, Dr. Patricia Diegal, Mr. Charles and Dr. Irma Glen Sloan, Mr. Ivar Jones, Rev. George King, Dr. Joseph V. Russell, Mr. Jack Schwarz, Mr. Chan Thomas and, of course, Dr. Daniel W. Fry. Additional details of the program will be given in our flay issue.

Plan to Be With Us in June!

New Zealand UFO Conference

The first New Zealand UFO Conference will be held on April 22nd in Tauranga, at the Town Hall.

Mr. Harry Cooke, President of the Tauranga UFO Group, has sent invitations to other UFO organizations throughout New Zealand to participate in the convention.

Mr. Cooke announced that the program would provide for lectures and discussions on subjects such as general sightings, reporting methods, scientific research and findings, and ancient material on visitations by craft from space.

New Printing-New Format

We are pleased to announce that The Area of Mutual Agreement by Dr. Daniel W. Fry has now been printed in a more attractive and convenient format.

The Area of Mutual Agreement - A Practical Approach to Civilization’s Most Urgent Problem-is now available in an 8 page booklet (5-1/2 by 8-1/2) with colored cover.

To cover costs of printing and mailing a donation of 25 cents a copy would be appreciated, for orders of 10 or more, 20 cents a copy.

We urge our members and readers to give this proposal the widest distribution possible for the good of all mankind.

Linking of the Lights

Mark-Age, of Miami, Florida, has instituted a New Program the inter-dimensional and international coordinated network of the "Linking of the Lights."

Mark-Age is offering identical tapes to be used by individuals or groups for weekly meditations. The program is designed to have thousands joining weekly for the "same spiritual communion, sharing the same information, and working on the same spiritual projects."

20 UNDERSTANDING

If you or your group wish to participate in the Linking of the Lights. please write to Mark-Age, 327 N.E. 20th Terrace, Miami, Florida 33127, for details.

Continuity Of Life Course

The Rogue Community College of Grants Pass, Oregon, is offering a ten week course on "The Continuity of Life." The course will cover reincarnation and Karma, using as a text Edgar Cayce on Reincarnation.

The new semester commences on March 28th. Classes are for two hours weekly and carry credit for 2 units. Registration fee is $16.00 for the ten weeks.

Call the Rogue Community College-479-5541, Ext. 38-for additional information.

Eulogy at Camp Red Bird

We meet here this afternoon to bid farewell and Godspeed to our dear friend and fellow worker, Roy Thompson who labored faithfully and well on this plane, and having met the tests for promotion, has gone on to assume his further duties in a higher and brighter sphere.

We will not mourn, for we would only be mourning our own loss, and so would begrudge him his promotion. For the flesh cometh and goeth but the spirit stayeth on, conscious of its high intent, delving in experience, being both the conqueror and the conquered, for thus it is written that experience cometh. There must be neither tears nor shadows of tears in the way. of the spirit. All is light, all is joy, all is beauty- to those whose eyes have been opened to the radiance. When the failing flash has been exchanged for the perfect robe of immortality, why should joy bring even the fleeting semblance of pain? Therefore we rejoice with you, friend Roy, though we will miss you here and, though you walk no more among us, our hearts and our prayers will be with you always.

Written in honor of Roy C. Thompson, March 11th, 1972 by Dr. Daniel W. Fry.

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BOOKS WANTED: "Why We Are Here," by Gloria Lee; "Return of the Dove," by Margaret Storm; and "Other Tongues, Other Flesh," George Hunt Williamson. Please quote price. Mrs. C. Ledbetter, 2036 Dowell Rd.. Grants Pass, Ore. 97526.

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