(With this issue, the Understanding Magazine begins its twentieth year of publication. It seems an excellent time to restate the purpose for which it was founded. Hence the reprint of the editorial from Vol. 1, No. 1. It is just as true and just as timely as when it ms first printed twenty years ago.

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“The greatest wealth which may be acquired by man, is a complete understanding. "-A-Ian

Many articles are written, and many orations delivered each week, which have as their subject the present-day needs of this nation, and of the world. The needs listed are fully as numerous as those who list them, yet each writer, and each lecturer seems to feel that the needs which he points out are the critical needs. The needs upon which our civilization will stand or fall.

Concerning this country, many writers appear to believe that what we need most at the present time are more and better weapons: defensive weapons, to protect ourselves against attack, and offensive weapons to retaliate if attack should come. Unfortunately, under present conditions, there is a considerable amount of logic to be found in this argument, and there are several millions of persons in this country whose principal occupation is the filling of this need. However, this is not a basic need. It is what we might call a symptom of a greater need, which existed before it.

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With regard to the world at large, many authorities believe that the greatest need is to raise the production of all industries and farms to the point that hunger and want will vanish from the earth. This is indeed a consummation devoutly to be wished, but before there can be any possibility of its accomplishment, there is again a prior need which must be met.

I would like to point out that what the world needs most today, and what the world has always needed most, is simple understanding between man and man, between State and State, between nation and nation and between all men and God.

Our philosophers and spiritual leaders have often told us that we must love our fellow men, but we are not told how to go about it. Unfortunately, love is an emotion which is not subject to the will. No man can love anyone or anything simply because he is advised or commanded to do so. Understanding is an absolute prerequisite to love, and it has the further quality that hate and fear cannot exist in its presence. It inevitably brings to roan the realization that, "he best helps himself, who helps his neighbor."

It is because we feel that the lack of understanding is man's greatest poverty, that we have dedicated this new publication to the task of creating a greater degree of understanding between all the peoples of the earth, and of bringing to them some of the understanding of those beings who are not of earth.

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THE HOLY KORAN, THE UNIVERSE AND "LIFE ON OTHER PLANETS"

(We are pleased to offer our readers this dissertation by Marius L. Cybulski of Lubin, Poland.)

"Truth is One - Paths are Many"

The problems concerning the origin of the Earth and the Universe are frequently dealt with in the Holy Koran, but only now, after scientists shed some light upon mysteries of planets, stars and galaxies, can those passages be accordingly judged. Let us follow the infinite truth that each of them contains!

Is it the Earth that is the hub of the Universe? Certainly not. There are no end of worlds like our own, and all have been created by the same Almighty.

"He multiplieth in creation what He wills. Lo! Allah is able to do all things." (Holy Koran, Surah 35, Verse 1)

That is self-evident, for "is not He who created the Heavens and the earth, able to create like of them, Aye, That He is For He is the All Wise Creator." (S36, V81)

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1976 3

So, we are inhabitants of the Universe full of myriad stars and planets, and "every globule in the sky is a world with separate landscapes" as a 4th century poet said.

All the celestial bodies-"the seven heavens" as they are referred to in the Holy Koran are arranged in perfect order following physical and astronomical laws. This orderliness must impress everybody:

"It is not for the sun to overtake the moon, nor doth the night out-strip the day. As they float in an orbit." (S34 V40)

"He who created the seven starry heavens, one above the other, no want of proportion wilt thou see in the creation of God, Most Gracious. So turn thy vision again, and seest thou any flaw?" (S G7, VS)

But how does it happen that stars do not bump into one another, and everything is held in its place on the surface of the Earth, instead of floating? It is the force of gravity, discovered by Sir Isaac Newton not too long ago, which does all this. Was it known fourteen centuries ago when the Holy Koran was written? Yes, it certainly was:

"Lo, Allah graspeth the heavens and the earth that they deviate not, and if they were to deviate there is not one that could grasp them after Him. So! He is ever Clement, Forgiving." (S15, V41) Until the times of the great astronomer, Nicolaus Copernicus, scientists had claimed that the Earth was a fixed, flat island, floating on a big ocean. Copernicus, my compatriot, said to the whole world for the first time that they were all completely wrong. It is also the Holy Koran which tells us the same:

"It is not permitted to the sun to catch up the moon, nor can the night out-strip the day. Each just swims along in its own orbit, according to Law." (S36, V40)

And what about the sun and the moon? Do they both give light? Only recently have astronomers discovered that this is not the case for the moon, which merely reflects the sun's rays. Let's back up and look in the Holy Koran now. It is right as usual:

"He it is Who appointed the sun a splendor and the moon a light, and measured forever stages, that ye might know the number of years, and the reckoning. Allah created not (all) that save in truth. He detaileth the revelations for people who have knowledge." (S10, V5)

It has also been held as a result of the latest research that our solar system used to be one large sphere which finally separated into many. "Have not those who disbelieve known that the heavens and the earth were of one piece, then We divided it into separate pieces?" (S31, V30)

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Then, hot, smoking spheres started revolving around in their orbits, getting gradually cooled and forming what is today; our planetary system was moulded out of molten masses of gas and dust, according to scientists and the Holy Koran:

"Then turned He to the heaven when it was smoke, and said unto it and unto the earth: Come both of you, willingly or loth. They said: We come obedient." (S41, V11)

When favorable conditions were met-temperature not too high and water appeared-life became possible on our globe. The Holy Koran says: "We made every living being from water," (S21, V3s, V30) and is right once more, for according to the latest research, it is water that living organisms contain in a large measure, indeed up to 70 per-cent and more in the case of some plants.

Anyway, are we alone in the Universe? Certainly not. Otherwise it would be against common sense, logic and the theory of probability. There are our fellow-beings on other planets!

"And among HIS.Signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth, and the LIVING CREATURES that HE scattered THROUGH THEM (heaven and earth)." (S46, V29)

"The Seven Heavens and earth and all their beings declare His Glory." (17, V44)

Verily the Holy Koran is All-Wise, All-Knowing and Ever-Right!

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THE UNTROUBLED MIND

The untroubled mind is not an empty or a passive mind. It is not a mind free of conflict or problems, it is a mind that has discovered the secret of living victoriously in the midst of problems, difficulties, and temptations. The victory comes from the soundness of the life within.

To have an untroubled mind means to have perspective. It means to see beyond the present hour, to see more than the past and to look into the future unafraid, to have a direction for one's life and not to be too disturbed when the road gets rocky and the going gets rugged.

It means to have serenity of outlook in the midst of trouble, to know that nothing coming from without can ever destroy the things that give life its real meaning-love, honor, integrity, and character. These things are not at the whim of the things that matter least, such as fame, riches, position and power. These latter pass away, but the things of the spirit are abiding and bring the untroubled mind.

It means to have a personal faith in God. Only through our faith in God can we find that peace of mind which the world cannot take

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away.

Life is not easy for anybody. We all have our problems. Yours are not mine, and mine are not yours perhaps, but we all have our difficulties. The spirit in which we face them and the attitude with which we approach life will determine whether we are defeated or whether we become the victors.

If we are to have an untroubled mind, we must be free from the sense of guilt. There must be a willingness to forgive other people, to forgive ourselves, and to admit that God has made this universe so that a man can begin again by forgetting everything that is past, a man can press on to a goal that is out in front of him. All of us make mistakes. No one is perfect. No human being ever has been, only the man of Nazareth who gave Himself completely to the finding and doing the will of the Father, only He was without guilt.

The rest of us have fallen far short. If we only remember that about ourselves as well as others. We know that other people make mistakes, therefore we ought to expect that we too will have short-comings and be willing to forgive ourselves.

We can't change a past record-it is written and it stays. But we can change the future.

The untroubled mind is not one free from all conflict, nor one that has all the answers to all the problems and difficulties of life, not one that is never disappointed. But it is one that is never permanently defeated by anything outside the individual. A man can never be defeated until he gives away within. So long as we control our conduct from within, so long as we are living in daily fellowship with a God who is like Christ, nothing on the outside can ever defeat us.

Daily fellowship with God will give us power to be victorious and bestow upon us the untroubled mind. "My peace I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid."

-ALMA FLOYD

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FACTS AND FIGURES

Distances of stellar magnitude, measured in "light years" are difficult to comprehend. So, "imagine that the thickness of this page rep-resents the distance from earth to sun (93,000,000 miles, or about 8 light minutes). Then the distance to the nearest star (4-1/3 light years) is a 71 foot high sheaf of papers. And the diameter of our own galaxy (100,000 light years) is a 310 mile high stack of paper, while the edge of the known universe is not reached until the pile of paper is 31 million miles high-a third of the way to the sun."

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Sun Energy-Each second the sun converts 564 million tons of Hydrogen into 560 million tons of Helium; the remaining 4 million tons eventually radiate away as heat and light.

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This year the world reached four billion population, a one-third increase in 15 years. We will add our fifth billion in about eleven years, our sixth in eight more. The number of births per day, on the planet, is 213,000 more than the number of deaths per day.

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If we looked at today's world with only 100 people: there would be 70 who would be able to read, one who would have a college education, 50 who would be suffering from malnutrition, and 80 would be living in what we call sub-standard housing. If we also looked at this global village of 100 people, we would find that 6 would be Americans who have half the village's entire income and 94 would exist on the other half.

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Today in our world we are witnessing a great transformation in the field of knowledge. For example, in astronautic progress the point has been reached at which man is regularly flying to the moon, traveling into space, sending satellites to planets, putting space stations around the earth and becoming acquainted to some extent with the secrets of the universe.

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As of December 1973, United Bible Societies reported that since the invention of the printing press, at least one of the Bible's 66 books has been published in 1,526 languages and dialects. The entire Bible has been published in 255 languages and the New Testament in 359 more. In 1973 the list added 23 more languages.

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Each year, people in this country throw away 30 million tons of paper; 76 billion metal containers, 38 billion glass containers, one billion tons of mining waste, 200 million tires, one billion tons of manure and thousands of abandoned cars.

A steady downward trend has been established by one of the economy's more esoteric indicators: garbage collections. Consumers buying fewer goods have less to throw out; sluggish industrial activity is reflected in less waste.

In the first three months of 1975, Chicago sanitation workers picked up 200,000 fewer tons than in the first quarter of 1974. (200, 000 tons is 4,000 freight car loads, or a decrease greater than 45 car loads per day. Ed.) Conspicuously absent are the usual numbers of discarded major appliances such as stoves, washing machines and refrigerators.

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JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1976 7

New York City's household and construction wastes dwindled by nearly one million tons in 1974 (i.e., 20,000 freight car loads, 60 cars per day), and continues to diminish in 1975. Pickings are slimmer in Atlanta area, too. In Fulton County, GA. because of factory shutdowns, refuse production has slipped 80% in the past eight months.

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The extreme difficulty of financing a new home is especially painful to Americans, because so many of them have made frequent moves a way of life. Some 40 million Americans change their address every year; during his lifetime the average American moves about 14 times.

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7,900 New Rules and Laws-The Environmental Protection Agency orders a reduction in parking places in Boston and Los Angeles. The Civil Aeronautics Board says the cost of an airline ticket to Miami can be increased. A boatyard owner is forced to install a safety ladder leading out of water three feet deep. A child's toy is declared unsafe. The regulations were drawn up to implement broad mandates of Congress given at the time of passage of laws; for example, to clean up pollution, regulate airlines, and to assure safety of workers.

These are some of the rules and regulations drawn by the staffs of sixty-seven agencies. Last year, the agencies drew up 7,496 fresh regulations while Congress was enacting 404 laws.

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WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

THE WORLD-MIRROR OF YOUR SOUL

(July 1975, TELESCOPE, P.O. Box 25302, Houston, TX. 77005)

We quote Russ Michael of Washington, D.C.:

"Your world is quite literally your soul made flesh. The fleshy body that you manifest faithfully reproduces, atom for atom, your inner self. You reflect you at every level of your being. You find yourself physically, emotionally, or mentally an equivalent reflection of nature, in the three dimensional world that we share.

"The time has come for you and me to stop blaming the world, the other person, the employer, the employee, the politician, the businessman, the social worker, and so on endlessly for our problems! Every crisis that we face, moment to moment, day to day has sprung up before us because it is a true reflection of our soul.

"The world is your mirror of your soul. Every thought and feeling that flows through you shapes and aligns the direction of the most minute particle of your being. The very place that you sit at this

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moment, absorbing the content of these words, reflects your soul. The entire world mirrors you. Your general or specific mood, your dreams and visions, or lack of them, your apathy or consciously directed motion, form the very roads beneath your feet, the skies overhead.

"You are not only a certain nationality, a certain racial type, a male or female, but you are on this planet Earth, not Venus, Saturn, Jupiter, and so on, because "Earth consciousness" reflects you better than any other. You are on this Earth in this solar system, in this galaxy, in this three dimensional Universe (at a personality level) be-cause these "special points" reflect you more perfectly than the solar system of Sirius, or the Andromeda Galaxy, or some timeless, space-less universe where more advanced souls than you or I are developing ... at this "moment point" in time.

"If you and I are genuinely interested in knowing what kind of souls that we are, that can be determined accurately with a few moments' reflection. '

"Open your eyes, right now, to the world at your immediate fingertips. . . . Are you in attractive surroundings, or otherwise? Are you healthy and in good shape physically? Are the clothes you wear clean and pleasant for others to look at? What kind of fulfilling work do you do? What do you do with your leisure time? What do you think about most of the time? What is your general mood or "feeling tone" most of the day? What do you think of your friends? What do you think of the world in general? Do you have all the friends that you want, all the tools, money, energy to be as creative as you de-sire? What do you live for, day to day, moment to moment, week after week? These are all pertinent questions if you truly wish to know your own soul. The answer to these questions hold the secret of your soul . . . but the secret is out! Look about you, the answer is obvious.

"Your world, the point in space that you occupy NOW is your world, and it mirrors your own soul exactly! It can be no other way. Form must conform to consciousness, for consciousness is the essence of every soul. The form that a soul "wears" at any level of existence in our world, physically, emotionally, or mentally, must be, is an identical duplicate of its soul at that level. You and I are mirrored in every world of reality that we find our existence within.

"The world is a mirror of your soul, so if you do not like what the world reflects back to you at any given moment, change your image NOW ... start smiling instead of frowning, think, feel, and act "higher" instead of "lower." Turn each crisis, or existing problem into a

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1976 9

"creative challenge." Change your consciousness! Let the golden, radiant light of your divine soul reflect through you every day in

every way... and the world at your fingertips will change......

For information on books by Russ Michael such as Finding Your Soulmate; The Howend Why of Meditation; The White Brotherhood. . . Masters & Adepts of Planet Earth; Sex and the Disciple; or any other books by other New Age authors as well, write to: Millennium Publishing House, 3333 Connecticut N.W., Washington, D.C. 20008.

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GRAND OPENING AT TONOPAH

October 24-27th will long be remembered by those who came to share their enthusiasm, their questions and their love with all others in attendance at the Grand Opening of the new Center of Understanding at Tonopah, AZ.

One hundred and forty people were in attendance and the weather was perfect for them; balmy days, just barely cool nights.

The speakers were inspiring, exciting and stimulating. Letters have been pouring in ever since telling us of the great good that came from their being here.

The new mobile-home unit arrived just in time to house convention guests. It is situated next to the Library.

A solar Hot Dog oven seemed to capture the interest of the majority. President Daniel Fry was snapped in the act of preparing hot dogs at the snack bar from mid-morning to late after-noon. Without lighting a match, turning a switch or even emitting a smidgen of smoke to pollute the air, he cooked and served hot-dogs to all the hungry.

The cook for the evening meal, Cale Morgan prepared great meals in spite of equipment limitations. Sadly we admit that some did not get all the food they could have eaten-but we asked that reservations be in by Oct. 15th. There were 53 in at that date and so we generously (we thought) prepared for a hundred hungry souls and almost twice that many came.

And one of the hoped for, prayed for and most needed people to come to Tonopah may just do that. She is Mrs. Bernard Thomsen

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who wants to be our loving librarian. We hope to have pictures of her and her husband soon; and the announcement that the library is now functioning as it should. Much work has gone into arranging books but complete cataloguing is yet to be done.

Poet’s corner

LIVING THOUGHTS

Time is a wandering river,

Bankstrewn with ageless clay,

From untold beginnings end strivings

And endings, along the way.

Night is a velvet curtain,

Blanketing these hours of sloop

With dreams of other dimensions,

Of half-worlds and vibrations deep.

The sun is a daylight giver,

Whose rays stream throughout space

At speeds of light, half witnessing

Evolutions of soul and race.

Space is forever expanding

While all creation sings

The praises of its Creator,

And even thoughts are things.

This world that we call reality,

Putting iceberg-tip senses to,

In an effort to clasp it and hold it.

Is no more than a point of view.

As real as this flesh and blood body

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And yon seagull on soaring wings.

We are but the sum of our thinking,

For all our thoughts are things.

Reverie is conscious dreaming,

But who is to say what is real,

And what is fantasy? Daydream?

Vision? Mortar? Wood? Fabric? Steel?

For what is the dream that the dreamer

Sees it first in the mind, then brings

It to life? For we are Thought Incarnate,

And all our thoughts are things.

-BRUCE KINGERY

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UFO Diseases

(Los Angeles Sunday Times, June 1, 1975)

PASADENA, CA. –The ad read "Anyone knowing any information or research about flying saucer disease, please contact Rev. Bailey. This disease is when someone has been close to UFO and as a result becomes ill."

The telephone rang repeatedly during a visit to Rev. Bailey's apartment. "My purpose is to get people who have had this experience together so we can share information," he explained.

Mr. Bailey, Associated Minister of the New Salem Missionary Baptist Church, wants to get some kind of scientific evidence to prove there is this kind of illness; which has plagued him the past 24 years. He said, "Nobody wants to be the first to come forward. I think it is time it came out." He does not mind if he is laughed at.

"I was walking on a road from Chicago to St. Louis," Rev. Bailey recalled. "It was about 8 in the morning. The sun was shining. I saw what at first looked like a balloon ... It landed in a field behind me . . . I turned around to look at it. It looked like a flying ship then . . . the door opened and there were several people with goggles on . . . They asked me where I was going and what I was doing. I didn't answer. I just hurried along on the road and they didn't follow me. It was later I realized it must have been a flying saucer."

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He said an odd feeling as though his whole body had been shocked by static electricity came over him. He became ill two weeks later. Doctor after doctor has examined him and say his body is deteriorating rapidly. Even though Rev. Bailey does not drink; most diagnoses say he is a real heavy drinker.

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Man, UFO Both Disappear

(Medford (OR.) Mail Tribune, Nov. 9, 1975)

SHOW LOW, ARIZ. (UPI)- Six men, who told the Navajo County sheriff's office a companion disappeared after encountering an unidentified flying object, are to undergo polygraph examinations this week.

Sheriff Marlin Gillespie said the men volunteered to undergo the i.e. detector tests.

Meanwhile, search continues for the missing man, Travis Walton, 2, of Snowflake.

The six men said they and Walton were returning from cutting wood in the Apache-Sitgreaves National Forest near Heber Wednesday light when they saw a lighted object hovering above the ground. hey said Walton got out of their truck, ran toward the object and as struck by a ray of blue light. The men said they were frightened and fled. When they returned about 15 minutes later, they said the object and Walton had vanished.

Gillespie said he found no discrepancies in the men's story and, "I m not a total disbeliever."

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UFO in Ohio

(Youngstown (OH.) Vindicator, Oct. 27, 1975)

Sighting an "unidentified flying object" by several northeast side city residents and two patrolmen Sunday night is being investigated. Patrolmen Fred Green and Robert Wayland reported several persons told them the UFO had "pulsating red, green and blue lights and as hovering at about 5,000 feet."

Wayland and Green also reported seeing the object.

A man with a portable two-way radio said he was following the object on the ground when suddenly "a door opened and a bright earn of white light shone down," illuminating the man's head and radio. "I ran," the man told police.

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JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1976 13

UFO in Arizona

(The Dallas times Herald (TX.), Nov. 16, 1975)

Five of six Arizona men; who say they saw a companion, Travis Walton, felled by a blue bolt of lightning as he approached a saucer-shaped UFO; have passed lie tests on the matter.

But, are they telling the truth? Draw your own conclusions. During the test, the men were asked; "Did you tell the truth about actually seeing a UFO last Wednesday when Travis Walton disappeared?" The answer was conclusively positive for five of the men. However, Police Sgt. Allen Schmidt of the Arizona Department of Public Safety points out, "The test results indicated that these per-sons were telling the truth. They saw something which they believed to be a UFO. But, of course, that does not mean they actually saw a UFO-only that they believe they did."

The man hit by the blue bolt, Travis Walton-who like the others is a forestry worker-was missing five days before turning up in a telephone booth in Heber, AZ., about 12 miles from where the seven told of seeing the UFO.

When Walton reappeared he told a wild story of being spirited off in a UFO and examined by weird, hairless beings in a white room.

He volunteered to take a lie test-but hadn't been tested at press time.

Sgt. Schmidt said that even if Travis were to take such a test and pass, of course, it would not mean that he was actually aboard a UFO; as he claims, only that he believes he was.

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Gasoline/Water Do Mix

(The Houston Post (TX.), May 23, 1975)

DETROIT- When Alfred Globus discovered a new way to clean up offshore oil spills in the mid-1960s, that was something.

Globus, president of United International Research Inc., was in Detroit this week to talk about "HydroFuel," a mixture consisting of 87 per cent low-octane gasoline, 10 per cent water and-here's the key-three per cent Hydrelate.

Globus refused to be specific about what Hydrelate is or how it works. He would say only that it is a non-petroleum-based chemical that not only acts as a catalyst in the blending of gasoline and water, but raises octane levels as well.

Fuel economy for the mixture was "virtually the same" as the 14.3 miles per gallon the vehicle gets using regular gas, he said. Ac-cording to Globus, about five gallons of regular gasoline were saved

4 UNDERSTANDING

using the mixture, while total fuel costs fell about five per cent. Globus said he starts with 72-octane unleaded fuel, and that the edition of Hydrelate and water boosts the octane level to about 91 roughly the same as today's low-lead fuels.

In two years of laboratory and field testing, there has been no evidence that engines are harmed by HydroFuel, Globus said.

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Lasers Look For Civilization

(South Middlesex Sunday News, Framingham, MA., May 4, 1975)

WASHINGTON (UPI) - Scientists are using an orbiting observatory to scan three Sun-like stars for possible laser signals from other civilizations.

The space agency's Orbiting Astronomical Observatory, known as Copernicus, has already searched the star Epsilon Eridani and will scan Tau Ceti and Epsilon Indi this summer and fall. The three stars resembling our Sun are about 11 light years from Earth.

It is the world's first intragalactic laser communications experiment.

Herbert F. Wischnia, president of Sonitrol-Worcester Corp., Worcester, Mass., is carrying it out on the premise that lasers using ultra violet light would be a logical way extraterrestrial beings on planets circling other suns would announce their presence to us.

Astronomers and biologists have long believed there may be life elsewhere in the universe and American and Russian scientists have used powerful radio telescopes to listen for radio signals from other civilizations.

The stellar eavesdropping so far has been unsuccessful. One of the difficulties is that astronomers do not know what frequency to use. Wischnia says ultraviolet laser search experiments avoid this problem.

"Lasers in the vacuum ultraviolet part of the optical spectrum rep-resent an efficient and logical electromagnetic radiation source which could be used by an extraterrestrial community," he said. "Ultra-violet laser beacons offer the potential of high power combined with' high efficiency."

"Further, stars with a temperature near that of our own Sun radiate very little energy in the vacuum ultraviolet, so that the telescope receivers are not blinded by natural stellar radiation. These reasons make the ultraviolet lasers rational candidates for intragalactic beacons."

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JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1976 11

Watches Work Again

[Medford (Ore.) Mail Tribune, Aug. 28.1975]

BOGOTA, Colombia-(UPI) l -Israeli telepathy specialist Uri Geller went on television and told viewers with broken watches to clasp them in their hands, stroke them gently and say "work, work, work."

Sure enough, calls poured into the television station from people who claimed stopped watches had started ticking again.

Geller's appearance Wednesday night was part of the World Congress of Sorcery. Geller, 29, the main attraction at the congress, shrugged off his accomplishments in an interview for the TV cameras.

"I'm not the only one who has these powers," he said. "My energy didn't fix all those watches. Many people have the power. All I did was awaken it in them. I challenged that power to come out. "There is inexhaustible energy in the minds of people."

One of the watches apparently fixed Wednesday night belonged to the wife of UPI newsman Pieter Van Bennekom.

Lina Van Bennekom watched Geller's 45-minute Colombian TV show at home with a broken watch clasped in her hands.

She had taken it to two different repair shops in New York City, but was told on both occasions that it was beyond repair. As she watched Geller, it suddenly started ticking after being wound.

Geller attributes his powers to a god or supreme being although he says he is not religious.

"I only feel sorry for the watch repairmen," Geller said. EXAMINE ALL THINGS

ECKANKAR, the Ancient Science of Soul Travel, is simply the art of shifting one's attention away from the material world into the worlds of true beingness beyond time, space, matter and energy. Soul, the inner consciousness, travels through the lower states of the physical, astral, causal, mental and etheric planes until It ascends into the highest worlds and attains Self Realization, which is achieved through a series of spiritual exercises known only to the followers of this science.

ECK is the Audible Light Stream, or Visible Sound Wave, which is the all-creative Word, the Voice of God, the Comforter, the Holy Spirit. By making contact with the Sound and the Light, the life cur-rent which flows outward and downward from God and back again, Soul travels above all time changes, possesses all, and drops the mind as It knows all things by direct perception.

ECKANKAR is therefore a teaching which gives knowledge of

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both the Light and the Sound, which, according to all sacred scriptures, contains the total sum of all teachings emanating from God, the SUGMAD. Called the most ancient religious teaching known to man, it is not a yoga, philosophy, metaphysical system or occult science, yet it claims to be the fountainhead of all these things.

Paul Twitchell reintroduced the science of Soul Travel in 1965 by means of books, tapes and lectures. In 1971 he translated (died) and the Rod of ECK Power was passed on to his successor Darwin Gross, the present leader of the ECKANKAR international movement. He is known as the "Living ECK Master" and the "MAHANTA." Darji, as he is called by ECKists, is said to have the ability to be with all his students in the spiritual body at all times, offering them guidance and protection on all planes.

The MAHANTA is the highest of all states of consciousness designated in religions, states the literature. The Living ECK Master is the ECK personified, the Word made flesh, whose duty it is not to save the world or to reform it, but to guide the individual out of the worlds of duality and back into Its true home. All Living ECK Masters have descended from the first ECK Master, Gakko, who came into this world six million years ago, and whereas some have been married, and others single, they have all served the ECK faithfully, giving their lives to it.

The ECKist who has mastered Soul Travel operates in an atmosphere of inner confidence, inner peace, serenity and harmony with all things, and achieves total awareness, total liberation and total freedom. Each night while in the dream state, the student is taken out of body to a Temple of Golden Wisdom on one of the many planes traveled by Soul in Its ascent into God Realization. The ECK teachings come from the spiritual discourses given in these temples by various Masters who include: Rama, who founded the Magi cult and Hindu religions; Gopal Das, who founded the cult of Osiris and Isis; Shamus-i-Tabriz, a great Persian poet and Master of Rumi; Lai Tsi, a famous Chinese philosopher, and others known and not so well-known to man. ECKists state that they meet many of these Masters during their spiritual unfoldment while becoming a co-worker with the SUGMAD (God). Many of the revered saints and saviors of history, they claim, are not as spiritual as believed by the populace, for, although numerous miracles have been attributed to them, miracles are merely psychic phenomena and not necessarily a sign of spirituality.

After two years of study in ECKANKAR, the student may receive his second Initiation and, unless wishing to, will not have to reincarnate onto this physical plane again. Paul Twitchell wrote that the

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1976 17

religions of both the West and the East, having lost the true meaning of the "Word," are misleading their followers into believing that they

offer spiritual salvation. Man is older than religions, but not older than ECK, for IT predates all life on Earth. Without actual participation in the ECK life stream, no one can ever escape the web of karma and reincarnation or ever become free and truly happy.

-LOWELL KEITH MC GEE

For more information write: ECKANKAR, P.O. Box 3100, Menlo Park, CA. 94025.

♦ ♦ ♦

LETTERS TO EDITOR

Dr. Daniel W. Fry: October 1975

I will write you again after very long time, now. You may know that I and Mr. Thoma translated your contact story To Men of Earth into Japanese and printed by hand-printing machine for Japanese G.A.P. (it began from G. Adamski) members.

I received many letters for your contact story from people in Japan.

Thank you for your kindness to send me Understanding, but I received them just now, because I have worked and study how to live around Japan, and I cannot go "Universe Publishing Co." I will send some foreign exchange within this letter. Please send me Understanding continuously, when necessary, please write so.

Now, I think to get some books (if any) of Elisabeth Clara (contactee in South Africa), if you know, please give me information Elisabeth and any other contactee in your country.

Mr. Thoma will read your Understanding and translate some into Japanese for many people to understanding. About information for UFO, we will give "Universe Publishing Co." as information from "Understanding, Inc."

I will write again M. Yasuda

Very truly yours, (written by H.T. for M.Y.)

BOOK REVIEWS

THE GOLD OF THE GOD

(The Gold of the Gods by Erich von Daniken. Published by Bantam Books. Paperback $1.75.)

Today's most controversial author believes that the Earth was visited in ancient times by people from other solar systems. In this

18 UNDERSTANDING

book, which forms a trilogy with his Chariots of the Gods, and Gods from Outer Space, the author presents astonishing new proof that there was once an "era of the gods" on earth.

First we explore a vast, mysterious underworld of caves, extending for hundreds of miles under Ecuador, which are filled extensively with gold. Found in these caves were writings on solid gold that tell of a lost civilization and a synopsis of the history of humanity and an account of the origin of mankind on earth.

Through the pages of this fascinating book, Mr. von Daniken tells about his experiences in visiting and investigating many fascinating oddities around the world. In the chapter, "The War of the Gods," the author states that many ancient documents of mankind mention war and battles in heaven. The theory is raised that if there were wars in the universe, then the defeated ones would have had to flee their own planet and take refuge somewhere else in the universe. Perhaps our planet was the recipient of groups of losers of a cosmic battle. These remnants could have brought their advanced knowledge and created the artifacts and unsolved mysteries that have baffled our modern scientists.

Another chapter is entitled "Traces of the Gods in China, Too." The author tells about his trip to Taipah and his investigation into

the granite plates which are 2 centimeters thick, with a hole exactly in the center from which a double-tracked grooved script runs out spirally to the edge of the plate, much like our long-playing records. When these plates; first discovered in 1938, were finally deciphered in 1962, it was found that they told the story of an alien people who, 12,000 years ago, landed on planet Earth.

From China, the author jumps into the Caroline Islands in Micronesia. In the chapter "Temuen, the Island they call Nan Madol," he tells about this island, Temuen, which is the site of the mighty ruins of Nan Madol. These ruins occupy nearly the whole of the island and date back to the unknown, remote past.

This fascinating book carries on and explores other unusual artifacts on our planet and presents reasonable and interesting theories that would point to the possibility that our planet has been visited by space people in our past. Perhaps even our history and civilizations are a result of these visits and of the aliens who migrated to our planet. Could be we are still being visited and maybe many unknown and unexplainable events are still taking place?

A very interesting book, presenting more theories toward the idea that gods once walked our planet and left their mark in our history.

-FLO BOHNERT (Unit #1)

♦ ♦ ♦

JANUARY-FEBRUARY 1976 19

BULLETIN BOARD

Election of National Officers

Congratulations to all Officers and Directors chosen at the October 1975 Annual Business Meeting of Understanding, Inc.!

President: Dr. Daniel W. Fry; Executive Vice-President: Grace Graham; Vice-Presidents: Dr. Olin Byerly and Margaret Little; Re-cording Secretary: Florence D. Fry; Corresponding Secretary: Brent Thompson; Treasurer: Mary Ellen Curtis; Subscriptions: Margaret Little; Membership and Organization: Florence D. Fry; Geographic Files: Esther Ellsworth; and Friendship by Mail: Melva Campbell.

Honorary International Directors: Mr. Per Axel Atterbom, Sweden; Mr. Anthony Brooke, England; Miss Edith Nicolaisen, Sweden; and Mr. Herbert Clark, Canada.

National Directors: Dr. Daniel W. Fry; Mrs. Angela Kilsby; Mrs. Tahahlita Fry; Mr. Lee Yates; Mrs. Hazel Walton; Mr. Don Bohnert; Mr. Norm Weis; and Mr. Jeffry Perry.

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End-Don

Once more Mrs. Angela Kilsby of San Francisco has made a gift to Understanding, Inc. of a limited number of copies of EN-DON, The Ageless Wisdom by the late Arthur J. Burks. These spiritual books are offered to our readers on a donation basis-the list price is $3.25.

If you already have a copy perhaps you'd like to send a gift copy to a dear friend. Please send orders to Star Rte. #588F, Tonopah, AZ. 85354. Thanks so much.

♦ ♦ ♦

20 UNDERSTANDING

Unit #15-Pyramid Energy

Bill Kerrell and Kathy Goggin of "Pyramid Power V, Inc." presented the new Danish film "Tour of the Great Pyramid" at a recent meeting of Understanding Unit 15 of Inglewood, Calif. This film shows areas of the Great Pyramid never before seen by the public. It gives promise of locating the hidden chamber.

Bill and Kathy met in 1971 and formed the corporation. Their ongoing research led them to author The Guide to Pyramid Energy; a large softbound volume which discusses how to prove and use pyramid energy and a variety of related topics.

♦ ♦ ♦

CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT

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

A gift of cheer that lasts all year. LIFE IS AS YOU GIVE IT by Louis Conde-Lahissa, an uplifting self-betterment book of universal appeal. SUITABLE GIFT FOR ANYONE. 155 pages hardbound, bright aqua jacket, $3.50 postpaid. Ellen Gibbs, 2803 No. Victoria, Peoria, Ill. 61604.

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OCCULT HISTORY of Earth and Mankind, the Future, UFO's, Meditation Techniques, Buddhism, Esoteric Christianity, Worldwide Ecumenical Movement, Socionomy-New Social Order, Religious Psychology, Healing, Enlightenment, Tibetan Astrology, Secrets of the Tibetan Masters, Magickal Development, Book of T. Books, courses, minicourses, brochures, many containing NEW INFORMATION that could only be released in the last quarter of the 20th Century! Send now for free literature, stating your major areas of interest, to: Pansophic Institute World Headquarters, P.O. Box 2.971, Reno, Nevada 89505, U.S.A.

♦ ♦ ♦

U.F.O. "Coverup" scandal. From Pres. Harry Truman thru Gerald Ford, Advisors, Cabinet Members. 28 years Presidential "silence." Exposed, refuted in "U.F.O. MANUAL." $1.00 U.S., $1.25 Cda. ppd. GUARANTEE. Michael J. Campione, 2202 New Albany, Cinnamin-son, J. J. 08077.

♦ ♦ ♦

TRANSLATIONS-Danish - German - French - Norwegian - Swedish P. A. ATTERBOM, Box 206, S-434 01 Kungsbacka, Sweden.

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OAHSPE

At last the Great Creator has given us OAHSPE, the Space Age Bible, containing 800 pages of advanced knowledge about HIS EVER PRESENCE, the Father's Kingdom, the Father's voice, Spirit worlds, brotherhood of men and angels, true goal of life, grades of men, diet, war, rulers, and much, much more that we need to know and put into practice now, if we are to keep up with the Divine Plan. Order your copy today. 10 day money back guarantee.

OAHSPE Regular Edition $7.50 Larger Delux Edition $12.50

all Postpaid

Ken Emmons 1720 So. King Ave. Lakeland, FL. 33803

BOOKS BOOKS

Once-in-a-Lifetime

by EUGENE E. WHITWORTH

NINE FACES OF CHRIST-Inspired book of a Messiah crucified 57 years B.C. Search for The Meaning of Life in ancient and Sacred Mysteries. Explains deeper meanings of the Bible, Yoga, Metaphysics and Mysticism.

(290 pp. $10.50)

SONG OF GOD-Poetic setting of 4,500 year-old Hindu Sacred Book Bhagavad Oita for Modern Americans. Mystic teachings of ancient Yogis. In free-verse, poetry and sonnets. For readers with Christian background.

(108 pp. $4.00)

DIARY INTO THE UNKNOWN-ESP experiments of Great Western University. Transmental adventure from tamper-proof diaries. Subjective conclusions.

(170 pp. $5.00)

PRICELESS INGREDIENT - Psychology of human control, man's relationship to man. Guide to leadership, personality and spiritual development.

(50 pp. $2.00)

TECHNIQUE OF EFFECTIVE PRAYER - Prayer technique and philosophy on which one dares risk life itself. Guide to man's relationship to God.

(50 pp. $2.00)

TO: WHITWORTH BOOKS

P.O. BOX 3601, RINCON ANNEX

SAN FRANCISCO, CALIF. 94119

Enclosed is $20.00 for ALL FIVE BOOKS.

Name:

Address:

"The REASON for LIFE

- now –

VISIT VENUS"

by John Langdon Watts. .

Learn why we are here! There is a purpose for Life. This book is for the curious mind, for the advanced student that wants facts not guesses. Next learn of our outer space friends with a trip to Venus. Send $3.75 + .25c Post & Hand.

Dixie Venus Books, Inc.

P. 0. Box 275

Port Orange, Florida 32019

A Book with Outstanding Reviews