i

Officers and Directors of Understanding, Inc.

Daniel W. Fry                               Founder and President Emeritus

Barbara L. Yates                         Executive Vice President

Jeffry Perry                                   President Pro-Tem

Clarence R. Gahlbeck                Treasurer

Rev. Marie Jean Cullen              Membership Chairman

Board of Directors

Dr. Daniel W. Fry                        Alamogordo, N. Mex.

Jeffrey Perry                                Woodland Hills, Ca.

John W. Boushka                        Dallas, Tex.

Hetty Miller                                   Phoenix, Az.

Dr. Robert Reid                           Coleharbor, N.D.

Rev. Ben T. Cullen                      Spring Valley, Ca.

Rev. Audrey Standefer               Santa Fe, N. Mex.

Virginia Perry                              Woodland Hills, Ca.

International Honorary Directors

Per Axel Atterbom                      Sweden

Herbert D. Clark                          Canada

Edith Nicolaisen                          Sweden

Legal Compliance

“Understanding,” began with nine members in El Monte, California in 1954. It was incorporated as a non-profit organization in March of 1955 in California. It is presently licensed and recognized as a non-profit corporation in Oregon and Arizona.

The purposes and goals of the organization are too lengthy to reproduce fully. They have been condensed for this purpose. The full content of them is to be found in the Articles of Incorporation. The By-laws of the organization delimit the activities, administrative responsibilities and guide lines for organization of individual units.

ii

Philosophy and Objectives

of

Understanding, Incorporated

The basic philosophy of Understanding, Inc. is best expressed in the belief that there are more areas of agreement between all men than of disagreement and that finding those areas will bring about under-standing, cooperation and peace to all inhabitants of this planet.

Objectives

1. To chart the areas of mutual agreement in the social science of today as postulates of behavior for man toward his fellow-man.

2. To chart in like manner the areas of worldwide agreement in the spiritual sciences by means of which rapid advance in the understanding of the true goal of life and in the practice of right relation-ships to the Creator of all men.

3. To engage in scientific and other research, study, analysis and investigation of any and all things which contribute toward the establishment of truth and the advancement of all mankind.

4. To acquire and hold such property, funds and facilities and to engage in any lawful business activity incidental to or necessary or desirable for, the accomplishment of the purposes set forth above.

5. To solicit the association, cooperation and assistance of individuals, organizations or corporate entities having similar aims and purposes.

6. To authorize, subject to the supervision of the directors of the corporation, units which shall function to carry out its purposes.

7. To operate exclusively for scientific, charitable, religious, literary or educational purposes.

3                                                    UNDERSTANDING

TABLE OF CONTENTS

COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS   ……..             3

NOAH’S FAUNA   …….             4

poet’s corner   ………….             6

UNDERSTANDING THE KEY TO CONTACT   …….             7

UFO DEPARTMENT   ………             9

THE BOOK-NOOK   …………             15

A PRAYER FOR “JUST ENOUGH”   …………….             16

HEALTH DEPARTMENT   ……….             16

BULLETIN BOARD   ………..             17

THE BEAUTY OF NAVAJO PHILOSOPHY   …………             18

——— ♦ ———

THE STAFF

EDITOR ……. Dr. DANIEL W. FRY

Associate editor ……..  florence D. Fry

 

SUBSCRIPTION RATES

 

One year, six issues, $4.00 (Foreign, $5.50) Published

by ‘Understanding’, a non-profit organization

Contributions are U.S. Income Tax Deductible.

Address all correspondence to: Understanding, Inc.

STAR ROUTE BOX 588F, TONOPAH, AZ. 85354

Tel. 602-386-3832

UNDERSTANDING                    4

 

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

COMING EVENTS CAST THEIR SHADOWS

Periods of world crisis and upheaval, whether in politics or in economics, do not come about suddenly or without considerable warning. Both develop slowly and with increasingly obvious symptoms. Too often however, the symptoms are ignored or explained away by the leaders of the nations involved. To admit the existence and the significance of the events and conditions which point to the approaching crisis, would be to admit their own errors and lack of foresight, and thereby weaken public confidence in their ability to deal with the problems.

Thus minor recessions grow into deep depressions while both economic and political leaders insist that all is well, that there is nothing to fear but fear itself, and that prosperity is just around the corner. Creeping inflation begins to walk, trot and finally gallop into monetary debacle while leaders confidently issue reports teeming with `Adjusted,’ figures showing that the situation is not at all bad, and may even be “Good for us.”

5                                                    UNDERSTANDING

International misunderstandings grow into world wars while national leaders quibble endlessly over points of minor consequence. Since it has always been thus, and since the situation is not likely to change in the near future, if the average citizen is to be prepared for the future, he must have clear understanding of the present, at all times.

Sometimes heavy storm clouds blow over without producing the deluge that they seem to promise. but it is wise to keep one’s umbrella handy just the same.

As this editorial is being written, there are many symptoms of world crisis, both in politics and economics. The political situation in Iran has degenerated into total chaos. It seems clear that Khomeini cannot really control the people any more than the Shaw or Bakhtiar could. Once an entire population has experienced the total breakdown of all authority both civil and military, together with weeks of constant rioting and bloodshed, the thin veneer of civilization develops cracks that are exceedingly difficult to mend The present state of utter chaos may simmer down during the next few weeks, and certainly the news media will devote less space to a story whose horror has palled upon the public eye and ear. It will be a long time, however, before any real state of stability can be achieved or before the economy can return to anything resembling normal. In the meantime the problems of Iran and its oil may become the problem of the world.

The invasion of Cambodia by Viet Nam has not received much notice in the U.S. because it did not seem to be any of our business, but the invasion of Viet Nam by China is another matter. Although, at the moment it is explained as a brief punitive gesture, these things have a way of getting out of hand, and the U.S., with its brand new recognition of China and its policy of friend­ship, is caught in the middle with Russia as the nether millstone. Although relatively few reports of upheavals in other parts of the world are being aired in our news media, it is seldom that so many trouble spots in the world are in eruption at the same time. Because of the endless number of friendship pacts, mutual defense

6

treaties, trade agreements and financial investments, any one of these minor eruptions could possibly grow into large scale holocaust. In any event, they inevitably raise the question as to whether man is indeed the intelligent species that he likes to consider himself.

In this country, inflation is again galloping at a rate considerably higher than the simple double digit figure that caused shudders of apprehension in the past, but now is largely taken for granted, since it is now realized that any action which might have any genuine effect in curbing inflation, would be too drastic and unpopular for any politician to dare undertake. Consequently, the dollar is likely to continue to lose value at an increasing rate in spite of any effort to shore it up by words or “adjusted figures.”

The next few months are ones in which everyone should watch closely, the events of the world, and interpret them according to their own intelligence, without leaning too heavily upon official figures or explanations.

7                                                    UNDERSTANDING

NOAH’S FAUNA

Juliana Lewis

When old timers get together on a Saturday after­noon, rare is the day that the weather fails to become a topic of conversation. On this particular one, the subject is broached with a seemingly unceasing number of complaints registered by a Mr. Henry Caleb.

“How we stand it, I don’t know. Mark my words, if a change isn’t wrought soon, the whole earth is liable to crack open, and when it does, it will swallow us all.”

“Umm,” agrees Sam, “it’s getting to where about all a fellow can expect is scrub brush. And why? Well, if you ask me, that blazing sun’s the culprit! Our salvation can come only with rain – rain for a month, six months, a year! “

“Now, just a minute,” interrupts Milton, who has been sitting there, quiet-like. “A year of rain is a lot of rain. I well remember when, back in the 1880’s or some­time thereabout, folks were having a similar problem. And did they complain! Why, they did nothing but complain, especially one fellow by the name of Noah Jones. He, too, made such a remark and before the day had passed people began to note a certain dampness penetrating the air, and dark clouds commenced moving across the mountains, colliding above them. Lightning struck, thunder rumbled, and rain began to fall faster and faster in drops of every imaginable size. When women couldn’t hear themselves talk for the number of croaking frogs ever increasing and algae started cropping out on the men’s dungarees, Noah concluded he’d better do something quick. You see, in a way he felt responsible but hadn’t yet reasoned out a solution.

“Then a friend by the name of Rudy MacPhearson came up with an idea. ‘Noah,’ he gasped, between spluttering and coughing, `I can tell from the way my boots are overflowing that the only answer is an ark.’

8

“And so it was that an ark was built – a huge one of tremendous proportions because, being good-hearted chaps, they had decided to take the animals instead of the people. Well, first to be let aboard were the guinea hens, which was a mistake. Anyone could see right off that their wet feathers were ruffled. In fact, so near hysteria were they that all began squawking at once, `Don’t let the rain come down! This ark has a leak and we might drown!’, which of course didn’t help the morale of the other passengers.

“Next came the elephants, and from the way they were bumping into everything, one would have thought they were exceedingly near-sighted, but actually it was only that their vision was blurred from so much water in the eye.

“Patagonian rabbits, wiggle-worms, beavers, weevils, woodpeckers, ibexes, gnus, box tortoises and llamas were following in close succession when all of a sudden the gorillas tried to push ahead of the gulls, creating a state of confusion and a number of unpleasant remarks which didn’t set well with Noah, as one could tell from the way he started issuing orders.

” `Alright!,’ he said, ‘Let’s have a little organ­ization here! Mososaurs, dinosaurs, plesiosaurs, pterosaurs and lizards form an orderly, I said orderly, line to my right! Toucans, pauxi, hokke fowls, quetzals, hoatzins and motmots board at the left!’

“This arrangement proved satisfactory for a while, but then Noah began to encounter difficulties in dis­tinguishing his phylum. Finding he’d sent a Barbary ape to the salamander section and quartered a chipmunk with brown Indian cobras, he remarked that he thought he heard a parrot calling him from the galley and asked Rudy if he would mind taking over. Now, Rudy hadn’t studied Zoology a day in his life, but wasn’t one to worry over details. He merely gave each boarder a hasty glance, and if it didn’t have bones or look like a worm, sent it along to the insects without further ado.

9                                                    UNDERSTANDING

“Eventually, however, everything from auk to zebra got settled aboard, and they set sail – for a month, two months, three, all the while the rain showing not the slightest sign of abating. Noah was kept pretty busy – a considerable portion of his time necessarily going to the nailing down of boards, especially over the leak which seemed to increase with every roll of the ark. He was so occupied one day when Rudy came by looking rather concerned. ‘Noah,’ he said, ‘about those Pata­gonian rabbits – there were two to come aboard and I just counted twelve, and we do have a food problem. The dogs have been at the dodo’s eggs again, and the termites had another go at your cabin. Then there’s still that problem with the gazelle – says the tigers and lions keep looking at her.’

“Well, that’s how it went for another month, and another and another. The boat kept rocking, the rain kept coming and Noah kept nailing down boards. After what seemed an eternity, he was figuring by means of a gadget he’d rigged together that they had been on that ark for twelve months – a year to the day – when Rudy again approached, appearing even more preoccupied. ‘Noah, I hate to keep mentioning it,’ he said, ‘however, those Patagonian rabbits, they-‘, but before he can finish his sentence is shocked by a sudden silence. The rain had ceased! However, it was still a matter of months before the water subsided sufficiently for them to get off the ark. And they say it was a matter of years before enough soggy surface was dug through to hit really dry land, but then I wouldn’t vouch for that.”

10

poet’s corner

THERE IS SOMETHING

Mary Elisabeth Lathers

There is something of mystery

In the mourning dove’s call.

And it’s gently reminding me,

“Now is not all.”

Oh, its plaintive voice captures me;

It holds me enthralled.

There’s a note of eternity

In the mourning dove’s call.

There is something of deep delight

In the rose’s sweet bloom.

And its aura of velvet light

Shines beyond June.

It foretells of far fairer sight

How distant? How soon? –

There are scents of a scene so bright

In the rose’s sweet bloom.

11                                                  UNDERSTANDING

There is something of haunting thrill

Where the sea greets the shore.

The calm and the awesome still

Whisper, “There’s more.”

The wind rages unfulfilled,

The waves warn and implore.

All sounds of a higher will

O’er the sea, o’er the shore.

There is something of majesty

In the mountains’ great peaks.

There is something that says to me,

“Upwardly seek.”

And the blue mist envelopes me,

And the mammoth crags speak

Of a future, a destiny,

Beyond the great peaks.

UNDERSTANDING THE KEY TO CONTACT

– IN THE YEAR OF THE CHILD

Richard Lawrence

The UFO Network (London)

Children may hold the key to open contact with extraterrestrials in their understanding and expression towards one another. By their understanding they may teach us how to communicate.

Communication is important. Whilst man has progressed scientifically his spiritual development remains stagnant. This spiritual development is vital for open contact. It begins at birth and it is in the years of childhood that it is accepted or rejected depending on the circumstances in which a child finds himself.

12

A child will reach out to other children for affection and for understanding of the affection he hopes to give, in recognition of a bond which ultimately lies between him and others and between them all and their creator. Whilst affection between male and female is generally accepted, affection between those of the same sex is rejected and considered wrong. This stamping out of affection goes on not only throughout childhood but throughout life. Later in life the understanding gained from affectionate expression in childhood will prove valuable to man’s further spiritual development and to world peace. But, no-one bothers to ask why the feelings which formulate the understanding resulting in the affectionate expression between children of the same sex exist. The expression is stamped out without question, no-one being able to find a purpose for it. Children are wrongly taught and advised. They have no hope of true freedom. To Man there is only one path, the one of those who have gone before. No questions asked, no answers given.

I often think of Man on Earth as watchdogs, gardeners, builders or keepers. We are supposed to be here to look after the world and not to destroy it and certainly not to kill the understanding shown by our little ones who may hold the key to contact with our brothers and sisters elsewhere in the Universe. The Universe will not change to meet Man’s require­ments. It is man that must change and his children could set the example.

It must be obvious to even the most skeptical that we do not exactly fit into the evolutionary pattern of Earth. Yet we look at things as though we do. We see the creatures and animals of the world in all their beauty thinking little of the harm they do to each other and the reason for their existence. It’s all evolution we say and God’s way. But is it? I wonder how many readers have come face to face with a lion in the African jungle, or a spitting cobra or trodden on a scorpion under the bath mat? Well, I have done all these things and I can tell you that you wouldn’t think all God’s creation so beautiful if you had.

 

13                                                  UNDERSTANDING

It is one thing to understand that the ways of the world are not the ways of the creator of the world and that understanding this opens the door to new possi­bilities, and another to accept without question, every­thing in God’s name without knowing what or who God is. The Earth’s creator may not have created this world with the idea that life forms should be constantly striving to destroy others to survive. It must be illogical to even the most skeptical of readers, that to create one thing and another from the same source with the aim that one thing fed upon the other, is somewhat extraordinary. Children are quick to notice this in their affection for animals. The mere idea of one animal killing another or being killed by man is repulsive to them. They are not taught that this is merely the way life is on Earth, but it is suggested that it is the nature of the Universe and God’s way and this is wrong. Why is it wrong? It’s wrong because the child KNOWS IT’S WRONG and children are much closer to their creator than any adult no matter how good his argument. The fact is that children sense that something is wrong. That’s what matters and that’s what we should be noticing because we have a lot to learn from children.

The UFO Network would like to hear from anyone interested in making a movie about children in which understanding and affection between children may be shown. It is hoped that from the proceeds centres can be established to which parents can send their children to develop spiritually and at which they will be allowed and encouraged to love one another. By such understanding between children we may in time to come consider ourselves ready for contact. Until then we may be wasting our time, if we have any idea at all that open contact will take place.

14

UFO DEPARTMENT

The number of U.F.O. reports in this country and in other countries of the world, instead of diminishing, as some U.F.O. buffs seem to think, is actually growing larger each month. The fact that relatively few of these reports are now carried by the day-to-day media, results simply from the fact that they have already carried so many stories of a similar nature that the subject has lost most of its news value. Except for governmental agencies, there is no longer any serious attempt to deny or bury the subject. It is now generally accepted that U.F.O., whatever they may be, do in fact, exist; that they have been around for a long time, and will probably be around in the future, no matter how much effort is made to dispose of them. Most of the significant questions concerning the U.F.O. still lack answers acceptable to science or to the general public however. The place of origin; the purpose; the technological nature; the extraordinary powers and abilities frequently demonstrated, have been explained in many different ways by many different researchers, and yet the same questions will be asked again and again by the interested by non-expert citizenry.

With all of the controversy that has erupted over the “Blue Book,” investigation; the “Condon Study,” etc., etc., the fact remains that there has never been any government sponsored study project on the subject of U.F.O. that made any scientific or other form of effort to answer any of the above questions. The entire thrust, and the obvious purpose of all such “Studies” has been simply to demonstrate the such phenomena could not possibly exist, and therefore no more time or effort should be wasted upon it.

15                                                  UNDERSTANDING

If this magazine were to attempt to publish all, (or half) of the U.F.O. data it receives each month, we would have to add at least another 50 pages to the magazine, and there would still be no room for any other type of news. We do, however, attempt to carry in each issue, a few of the most significant developments in the U.F.O. field, and we do continue to maintain a vast file of data on all phases of the U.F.O. subject.

Four Coast Guard Stations Report Sighting U.F.O.

(National Enquirer, Feb. 13, 1979)

“Four U.S. Coast Guard stations clearly and vividly spotted dazzling UFOs in recent months-as part of a rash of eerie aerial phenomena that have invaded the night skies around Lake Michigan.

“One Coast Guard spokesman said the sightings were ‘extraordinary.’ The Coast Guard rushed to report an October 2 sighting, and an earlier one in July, to both the Air Force and the North American Radar Defense Command (NORAD). One awed seaman distinctly described a UFO he said was bigger than a jet bomber.

” ‘There was no doubt in our minds that it was a UFO,’ declared Seaman Gary Randall of the extra­ordinary July 28 encounter. `Five of us saw it. We were positive then and we’re positive now.

” ‘It was a huge, cylinder-like object flashing very bright red lights,’ said Randall, who’s stationed at the Two Rivers Station in Wisconsin. ‘It was bigger than a B-52.

” `It had no wings, made no noise and was moving very fast at about a quarter of a mile altitude. It was moving up and down and from side to side while it moved ahead.’

“The object was first spotted that evening by a civilian, who called the St. Joseph, Mich., Coast Guard Station.

“The civilian described ‘a cylinder-shaped silver object about 2,000 yards in the air with bright red and white lights,’ declared Dave Laird of the Coast Guard public affairs district office in Cleveland.

16

‘ ` ‘The St. Joseph Station spotted it and radioed the Two Rivers Station (about 150 miles northwest). Two Rivers reported sighting the object approaching with red

and white bright lights flashing in an irregular manner. ” ‘Two Rivers reported it was moving in a northerly direction. Then the Green Bay Light Station (about 50 miles north of Two Rivers) reported it in sight.

” ‘It radioed that the object was moving in a westerly direction at a high rate of speed, and the lights were still flashing in an irregular manner.’

“And this was only the beginning for residents of the Lake Michigan area. Another sighting was made just a few hours later, this one confirmed by two Coast Guard stations.

“Then, on October 2, ‘Station Ludington (about 150 miles north of St. Joseph) received a call from the Oceana County Sheriff’s Office about three UFOs moving in a westerly direction,’ said Laird, reading from official Coast Guard radio reports.

‘The objects were generally holding position, but would frequently move back and forth erratically. All were described as saucer-shaped with a red light ontop,

several green lights on the base, and numerous white lights around the circumference of the ships.’

“Chief Petty Officer Joseph Amato of the Coast Guard Ninth District Headquarters in Cleveland de­scribed the sightings as so ‘extraordinary we radioed NORAD and the Air Force Air Rescue Coordination Center.’

“Incredibly, practically nothing was done about it. The Air Force passed the buck to NORAD, who merely checked to see if any orbiting space objects were re­entering the atmosphere at those times.

“They found none were, and shrugged the whole thing off.

” ‘As far as we can determine, both NORAD and the Air Force were not the least bit interested in the UFO aspect of this thing,’ noted Amato. ‘Once the deter­mined that it didn’t involve national defense, they did not want anything to do with it.’

17                                                  UNDERSTANDING

“But this brush-off can’t wipe away the testimony of dozens of people in the area who say they’ve spotted UFOs since July.

“Kathleen Joyner, deputy director for Juvenile Court Services in Berrien County, Mich., vividly recalls viewing a ‘disk-like, looming light’ outside her home last October 31. ‘I could see this white object diffusing a lot of light on the ground, and three lights above it flashing bright red, green and blue lights,’ she said.

“The white object ‘was about the size of a full moon,’ Joyner continued. ‘It was about a mile away, hanging so low I thought it was going to hit the ground.”

BORN AGAIN ….. and again ….. and again

by Russell J. Fornwalt

The beauty, appeal or validity of an idea or concept is often lost in the controversy surrounding that idea or concept. It’s the old story of not being able to see the woods for the trees.

A subject of much controversy and debate today is the concept of being “born again.” For millions of people throughout the world it is an essential part of the Christian experience. In fact, for many it is the experience. Countless others, however, both in and out of the church, view “being born again” with either doubt, derision or disdain, along with their confusion.

Ever since Jimmy Carter, an avowed “born again Christian,” commenced campaigning for the Presi­dency the concept has been much on the minds of many and in the news. You are aware, of course, of the efforts being made by Charles Colson, formerly an adviser to President Nixon, to win recruits, both in and out of prison, to the “born again” banner.

18

Without question the Colsons, the Carters, the Billy Grahams, the fundamentalists, and the other evangelists are working hard to convince people to be born again. according to their interpretation. Apologists for and supporters of the movement claim it is not only in­creasing church membership and attendance, but it is also improving the moral climate of the entire world. What’s been happening, however, is that the beauty of the born again concept is literally drowning in a sea of semantics. If we can mix the metaphors a bit, it’s like picking off the petals of a rose to see what makes it beautiful – only to destroy the beauty in the process. The fundamental truth, one which can not be denied, doubted or derided, is that we are born again….. and again ….. and again ….. and again.

We are born again every time we wake up in the morning. During the long, dark night we are dead for all intents and purposes, or we may think we are alive in the unreal world of dreams.

As the “born again sun” shines upon us shortly after the dawn, we, too, are given new opportunities to shine in the world of work, school, business, sports or whatever. Perhaps it would be well to begin every day with the words of the Psalmist (118.24) – “This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.”

Every new day offers us new challenges, new choices, and new chances for changing ourselves and our lives. The new day, which the Lord has so lovingly given us, is indeed a time for rejoicing and gladness. It is not intended to be wasted on interpretations of or speculations about what they mean by being born again. You are born again whenever you make an im­portant decision that drastically changes your lifestyle, moral code or philosophy. Of course, you can be reborn into a life of sin as well as into one of sanctity. You can choose vice or virtue. God made you a free agent. Hopefully, of course, as a Christian, you choose to be reborn on the side of integrity rather than infamy or on the side of decency rather than depravity. Once you

19                                                  UNDERSTANDING

have accepted Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour, you will have no trouble in making the right decisions in all areas of life. You will strive for pure motives and the kind of action that is to the glory of God and benefits all mankind.

Let’s forget the negative, then, and focus on rebirth in a positive or constructive context. Let us see being born again in terms of self-discovery, self-development, self-improvement and self-fulfillment.

You can be born again as far as your job or career is concerned. One young man that I know quit his dead-end job, so to speak, in an auto graveyard. The job paid well, but it was no source of satisfaction, and it provided the young man with no opportunity for self-realization. He went back to school to study fashion design and in time gave birth to the artist which was within him all the time.

Vocationally speaking, some people are not born again until they retire at the age of 60, 65 or later. This was true of Alfred Lewis who had to give up his position as superintendent of schools in a small town at the age of 62.

But Mr. Lewis did not retire to the rocking chair and a life of ease. He chose not to be bored but to be born again – occupationally. It was during World War II. Young social workers and other professionals were scarce because they were being drafted into the Army. Mr. Lewis convinced a social agency working with delinquent boys to hire him as a counselor. He per­formed well. In fact, he was able to give his “clients” a perspective and insights of which a young counselor might not be aware.

Socially, educationally and vocationally, Mr. Lewis had a rich and diversified background. He knew young people, and liked them. Of course, when he became 70, the boys’ organization “suggested” that he might want to retire.

Mr. Lewis did retire from boys’ work, but he was soon born again. He and a partner opened an employ­ment agency for teachers, librarians and school admin­istrators. It was a highly successful venture.

20

With every rebirth in the world of work, Mr. Lewis went from “glory to glory.” Life for him became every more challenging, exciting, thrilling and fulfilling. When the demands of running a teachers’ agency became too much for him, Mr. Lewis rounded out his life by writing articles for professional magazines. He had much to write about.

The experience of Mr. Lewis and that of many –    others like him show that we are and can be born again – and again, and again, and again. God makes it all possible as He provides us with new opportunities and new openings for our talents, time, training and temperament.

That one can be born over and over again is not an invention of man. It is a fact and feature of life ordained and maintained by God. Nor is it an experience intended only for man. Every leaf of a tree, every flower, every blade of grass, even every weed is born again in the spring.

The beauty of rebirth for man, however, is that he does not have to wait until spring or New Year’s Day for a new beginning or a new opportunity. You can be born again today, this very minute, as you decide to accept Christ as your personal Lord and Saviour and dedicate your life to serving Him.

Once you have accepted Christ everything else will fall into place. In time you will be born again in terms of worthwhile leisure activities and hobbies. You will be born again as far as a new lifestyle is concerned. In time you will live and move and have your being in Him. You will eliminate harmful habits and destructive diversions.

Of course, not everyone chooses to be born again by way of certain Christian dogma or doctrine. As we said earlier, everyone is a free agent with both rights and rites when it comes to religious worship and belief. But whether one subscribes to certain Christian doctrine or not, the beauty and efficacy of being born again in various ways still prevail. With the help of a spiritual counselor, a psychiatrist or some other thera­pist, you are born again as you emerge from the dark and dismal depths of depression, fear, anxiety, in­security or hostility.

21                                                  UNDERSTANDING

Of course the more advanced you are spiritually and the more you are in Christ, the less you will need or depend upon outside professional help. You will say with the Psalmist (46.10), “Be still, and know that I am God.” You will know “The Kingdom of God is within you.” (Luke 17.21)

“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.”

Philippians 4.13

When a woman gives birth to her first child, she is born again. She is reborn into the new and beautiful world of motherhood. The father, too, is born again as he dedicates himself to the health and happiness of the baby boy or girl. Together the parents are reborn into a new world of love, joys, hope, promise, responsibility and, or course, occasional sorrow.

There is no question about it. We are born again and again and again. It’s one of the most beautiful, important, sustaining and assuring facts of life. How intolerable human existence would be, if one could not be born again.

You are born again when you join a church and take certain vows. You are born again when you decide to eliminate a negative attitude or a false hope.

You are born again when you dedicate your time and talents to the service of mankind and to the glory of God. You are born again when you see fit to become involved in a worthwhile community project.

You are born again when you are able to say with Christ, “I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly.” (John 10.10).

How grateful we can all be that God has given us the capacity to be born again – born again into something better, more beautiful and more bountiful than we ever knew.

Let’s not make such a wondrous concept a subject for nit-picking or a political issue. Let’s not make it a limiting religious routine. Let’s not pull the rose apart to discover the secret of its beauty. Let’s just accept the fact that we can rise above any and all conditions and circumstances. For in the last analysis, that’s what being

22

born again and again and again is all about.

Concluding, we might paraphrase the Psalmist and say, “This is the day which the Lord has made for my rebirth. I will be reborn. I will be reborn with a newness of life and spirit. I will be reborn with new vigor and vitality, a new sense of dedication and more meaningful goals. I am grateful to God to be born again and again and again.”

THE BOOK-NOOK

The book review for this issue brings a great message for millions of Americans and for many of Understanding’s readers. The Book is, “The Death of Cancer” by Dr. Harold W. Manner and associates. Advanced Century Publishing Corporation, Chicago. The book is now in its third printing. The book is $10.95 including shipping costs. Address the publishing company at P.O. Box 1052, Evanston, IIl. 60204. It is a gold mine of hope for those who have found themselves a victim of cancer.

Dr. Manner is head of the biology department of Loyola University, Chicago. He has been working on laetrile research for several years and his work now conclusively proves the value of laetrile in combination with the treatment he prescribes for victims of breast cancer in particular and he has some reports from doctors throughout the country working with him that other forms of cancer have also responded to his regime.

Dr. Manner warns emphatically that his book and its contents should in no way be taken for use by the patient without the direction and supervision of a physician. Many physicians throughout the country are working with Dr. Manners in the use of his routine. Take the book to your doctor and ask him to cooperate with Dr. Manners and you may be one of the lucky ones!

23                                                  UNDERSTANDING

Dr. Manners basic philosophy in the research was that cancer is a nutritional deficiency disease. The AMA and the American Cancer Society and the Federal Drug Administration have not agreed with him and in some instances have actively thrown road blocks in his way. Dr. Manners is a persistent man and he complied with all the red tape the afore-named agencies threw at him and he has succeeded in setting up a procedure which will prevent cancer, cure it if it already invaded the body and treat it successfully for remission, in some instances in leukemia.

The book is not for the layman without a background in Chemistry with the exception of the last chapter, page 164, in which he outlines the therapy to be followed by a physician for the cancer patient.

A PRAYER FOR “JUST ENOUGH”

by Aleta Lister

O Lord, help me in all that I do and all that I wish for, to walk the thin line between excess and “just enough.” Help me to check on my daily, individual expectations, so that those I bring with me to the next day may be as realistic and as flexible as possible. Give me enough time to try to solve my problems of living and enjoy my life, but just enough. I know that time is something neither to be produced nor stored. May I be given, by grace, just enough to use.

Give me just enough money and will to match my investment in time and to use toward solving my problems of living. Give me vertical mobility, but just enough not to have ever-escalating desires of keeping up with someone better off than I.

Give me enough courage to speak when it’s rele­vant, enough strength to be silent when it isn’t. Give me just enough restraint to keep from polishing my own ego.

24

As others have asked before me, Lord, give me just enough patience to endure what I can’t change, just enough courage to change what I can’t endure, and just enough wisdom to recognize my contradictions. But it would help if that patience of which I have just enough, Lord, could be stretched into the kind of which the Orientals say, “it is no patience which you can bear patiently; patience is to bear what is unbearable.”

Give me, Lord, just enough inspiration to mix with my perspiration.

Give me enough style not to soar to the skies but sufficient to rise above the ground.

Give me enough of dreaming not to escape this earth but to release the bonds of my spirit. Give me visions enough of sacred gardens, intimations enough of tomorrow, to pass through the many wastelands of today.

Last of all, O Lord, give me just enough humility and dignity to hold back my own words long enough to join in the prayer of an ancient Aztec chieftain:

Grant me, Lord, a little light, but no more than a glowworm giveth which goeth about by night, to guide me through this life, this dream which lasteth but a day, wherein are many things on which to stumble, and many things at which to laugh, and others like unto a stony path along which one goeth leaping.

HEALTH DEPARTMENT

Another View

For those who have been following this series of articles we wish to make known the cell salts for those born in March and April. These salts are Potassium Phosphate and Sodium Sulphate.

Foods containing an abundance of Potassium Phosphate are lettuce, cauliflower, olives, lima beans, lentils, walnuts, apples, cucumbers, spinach, radishes, cabbage, potatoes, horseradish, onions and pumpkins. Herbs containing an abundance of this cell salt are

25                                                  UNDERSTANDING

gentian, garlic, mustard, land-cress, aloes, catnip, ginger, cayenne, hops, nettle, broom-tea, honeysuckle, and blessed thistle. Some of these are very nippy to the tongue, i.e. cayenne! But good for the body.

Foods containing an abundance of Sodium Sulphate are beets, spinach, horseradish, swiss chard, cauli­flower, cabbage, radish, cucumber, onions, and pumpkin.

You can see that if you eat at least one good green salad every day you can hardly avoid getting the proper cell salt. And if you like cauliflower and cabbage, cucumbers and onions you’ll also get the needed salts for your body metabolism.

Herbs containing the sodium sulphate are yarrow, burdock and ground ivy. A tea made from these will cause perspiration, rid the body of toxins through the pores and make you feel better—–better put a little honey in the tea though. It doesn’t sound very pleasing to taste.

Dr. Reid has also identified some gems for persons with birthdays in March and April. For March they are Amethyst and Diamond. Their color is red and their flower is anemone; these people are usually pioneers in some field, Dr. Reid says and their key word is action! For those with birthdates in April the gems are agate and emerald. Their color is yellow and their flower, the jonquil. Their key word is stability. They are sustainers.

26

BULLETIN BOARD

Change and more change has come to Understanding, Inc. It is the age of change for many organizations and Understanding is no exception. The recently elected president of Understanding and his wife, Dr. Lloyd G. Sellman and Rev. Rita Sellman have resigned. Dr Sellman has been for many years identified with another organization and in January he was elected president of it. He felt that two organizations were more then he could competently administer and in view of the fact that Understanding was the new one, he chose to resign from it and remain with the organization he has been with for many years. We wish him all success in his newest task.

The inability of the Executive Vice-President to assume the presidency at this time provided the opportunity for one of the young and faithful members of Under­standing to assume the role of President-pro-tem. We are truly grateful to Jeffrey Perry, Woodland Hills, Ca. for his willingness to assume a large responsibility and carry on Understanding’s work. Please give Jeff Perry a rising vote of thanks!!!

Members of Understanding are finding their way to the Fry’s new residence. Bill Boushka, board member arrived in January but couldn’t locate the Frys —- we’re sure sorry about that Bill. Call us next time before you leave your new home in Dallas Texas. Lillie McKnight arrived at the Fry residence March 1st and stayed the week-end and the Otto Arndts are scheduled to arrive some time the second week of March. It’s nice to know you’re not forgotten just because you’ve moved.

Probably this issue will reach you too late for attendance but Daniel Fry will be speaking to the Los Angeles Unit # 15 March 24th and to the newly formed UFO group in Yucca Valley at the invitation of Gabriel Green on March 25th.

27                                                                                       UNDERSTANDING

THE BEAUTY OF NAVAJO PHILOSOPHY

by Dr. Ron Anjard

What do most people know about the Navajo? The answers would include silver jewelry, beautiful woven blankets and rugs, sheep herding, living in the very arid southwest U.S.A., and the women wear long skirts with velvet blouses. A few others might add that the Navajo are now one of the largest, if not the largest, and that they usually won their wars against others, including the whites. But there is so much more to understand which will give us new insights into their concepts as well as a different look at our own.

First-a short review of history. According to “Navajo” tradition, their ancestors arrived in small, poverty-stricken groups. These separated and formed basically three groups. The Southwest group is the group most people know about. But along the Pacific Coast-the Salish people of the Puget Sound area and even a Canadian-Alaskan group are “Navajo.” Before they moved into their present area, the region was settled by the Anasazi-which means “ancient ones” in “Navajo.” Some of their strongholds included Mesa Verde in Southwest Colorado and Chaco Canyon in New Mexico. The Anasazi were not driven out by the “Nava­jo” but by two periods of severe drought. The actual source of the “Navajo” has been debated for a long time. A key may be in their highly tonal language. The “Navajo” language is a subgroup of the Nadene

28

language. An effort has been made to establish a relationship with it and Sin-Tibetan…. which is the ancestoral form of both the Chinese and Tibetan languages. The “Navajo” language is a highly complex language full of subtle meanings. Like Chinese, the meaning of a word is distinguished by the pitch of the voice. Most Americans would find it very difficult to learn their language. Thus the “Navajos” have an ancient heritage unknown to modern man. It was the Spaniards who gave them the name “Navajo.” They have had many names to many people. Their own name is-the Dineh- which means-the People.

This article will treat important as well as unique aspects of their religion-their philosophy of life.

The concept of religion to the Navajo-the Dineh is so total that there is no word or phrase for “religion.” Everything in their culture is religious. Everything a Dineh knows-his hogan, his fields, his livestock, the ground, the sky-everything-is holy. The Dineh don’t refer to their mode of life as a way of life, it is the way of life. There is not a deity designated as the Supreme Being. The Universe, to the Dineh, is an orderly system of interrelated elements, an all inclusive unity that contains good and evil. There are many deities including forces of nature and a group of “Helpers” that bridge the gap between the “Holy People” and the Earth Surface People (humans). These deities are prominent in their legends.

The Beautiful Rainbow of the Dineh usually symbolizes “the way of life.” At the center of the Navajo world is their shelter, the hogan. The hogan is more than just a place to live. It bears little similarity to the white people’s concept of a home. To the Dineh, the hogan is a gift of the gods. It serves as a place in the sacred world. The round hogan is symbolic of the sun. Its only door faces east so that a waking Dineh family first sees the rising sun. The sun, the Father Sun, is the most sacred deity.

29                                                  UNDERSTANDING

Death and all things related to death are repulsive to the Dineh-the Navajo. Dead Dineh are buried as quickly as possible. The traditional Navajos have long

believed that the afterworld is a place similar to earth. Some Navajo believe it is similar to the world from which Navajos came before entering this world. The Dineh believe that the deceased is met by relatives who appear as they did in life and who then guide this “new” spirit through the afterworld. Much of this is in agree­ment with major findings by many including Dr. Kubler Ross and Dr. Ray Moody. The dead can return as ghosts. to plague the living-usually because of an offense. This also agrees with many current understandings. Ecology and the proper use of nature is part of the religion of the Navajo. Nature can be controlled only to an extent such as diverting water for crops. But those who try to master nature are looked on very suspiciously. The Dineh believe that nature is the master of man and that the gifts of nature are truly gifts. Man cannot be so selfish as to accumulate nature’s riches for the sake of having them …. or more than he and his relatives can use. Riches, like food, are to be shared with a man’s family and other Dineh. A navajo leader said, “you can’t get rich without cheating people.” Skills such as speak­ing and weaving are valued more than personal wealth. The display of wealth, including jewelry, is not a personal show-it is a family matter.

Religious practices and rites are essential in nearly every aspect of traditional Dineh culture. The “Navajo great dances,” as the Spaniards called them, were actually religious ceremonies. There are fifty-eight different, complex ceremonies with variations. The primary reason for the ceremonials, known as “sings,” is to keep man in harmony with his universe. A “chanter” or “singer” performs the entire, complex ritual. For example, in the Night Way Ceremony, there are over five-hundred-sixty-five songs. Each must be done with precision-in word and tone-to accomplish its mission. The Singer must also conduct all the elaborate rituals and dances. He directs the dry painting. Ceremonies are

30

to heal-disease, misfortune, distress and they are regulated by natural elements. The patient is purified through the rituals and eventually becomes identified with those aspects to restore him to harmony with the universe. The curing chants are always concerned with some specific disease. The Shooting Chant is used to cure those injured by snakes, arrows and lightning. The Night Way Chant, in contrast, is a major ceremony performed between the first frost and the first thunder storm.

Dry paintings were mentioned. These are often erroneously called “sand paintings” by whites. Dry paintings are an essential part of virtually all cere­monies. In the Night Way, five are required. For almost all the Indians of the Southwest, dry paintings are an important part of all curing ceremonies. The Dineh have developed them to a very advanced state. The People use six-hundred to one-thousand different designs. The purpose of each painting is curative. The sacred sand is scattered in six directions, or completely buried or occasionally given in small quantities to those present. A dry painting may be a simple design from 3 feet wide to an elaborate pattern 20 feet wide. Singers believe that creating an authentic dry painting for public display is a profanity.

The Navajo legends are also very sacred. Completely sharing these to an outsider is also a profanity. There is no official version of the important Navajo story of Creation or with the legend of the emergence. Details vary on purpose when relating these to white recorders. Basically the legends are an oral history passed down from father to son. The first part of the Dineh story of Creation parallels the Biblical Book of Genesis. The legend of emergence from the underworld has similar­ities to the Hopi legends as shared by White Bear Fredericks.

One last sharing relates to Extra Sensory Perception and mental telepathy. The Navajo have exceptional abilities. Older Navajo are often capable of accurately predicting future events, especially their own death. Studies reported the ability to find lost articles and even

31

effectively tracing thieves and murderers.

The heritage of the Navajo is still a mystery. Their language offers important keys. But there is much to learn from their living commitment to their religion. All that exists is holy. There are some surprising similarities as well as major differences. They were early ecologists. Consider the concept about “getting rich.” But the differences are often a better way of living. New insight into their ceremonies and a clarification of dry paintings was provided. The key is that all the ceremonies have a specific function and in most cases is intended to cure the Dineh. ESP is a reality. They don’t consider their dry paintings or legends as cur­iosities; they are essential parts of their lives. Often we can learn much from others. There’s so much more to learn to appreciate these People-these early residents-these Dineh.

UNDERSTANDING NEEDS YOU!!

Join the work of rebuilding the Center Facilities!

SEND YOUR CONTRIBUTION NOW

It will take several thousand dollars to replace the two structures Understanding needs to complete the work of educating for survival those who will be directed to the desert in the coming months.

Your money, your prayers and your physical presence to work on the project are needed.

Address Contributions to

Dr. Lloyd G. Sellman, President, Understanding, Inc

 Star Route Box 588F

Tonopah, Arizona 85354

DO IT TODAY

 

 ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦ 

UNDERSTANDING INC., CONVENTION TAPES

Would you like to be able to have an Understanding convention in your own home? Would you like to present all of the lectures to your friends and acquaintances? They are available NOW!

AVAILABLE NOW – Cassette Tape of the ‘Man in Space’ convention lectures.

AL WRIGHT, (Project Director for the ‘Space Shuttle’) – “The Age of Aero-Space Transportation.”

PAT CODY, (Director of Aero-Space Education, Pacific Region, U.S.A.F.) – “Our Aero-Space Heritage.”

DR. RAY BROWN, (H.M.D., Ph.D.) – “Your Health In Space.”

DR. DANIEL W. FRY – (President of Understanding, Inc.) – “Preparing to Live in Space.”

DR. MERVIN STRICKLER, (Chief of Aviation Education Programs Div., F.A.A.) – “Russian Aero-Space Education Training.”

All tapes – $5.25 ea. (Postpaid). Send orders to ‘Tapes’, c/o Understanding, Inc., Star Route Box 588F, Tonopah, Arizona 85354.

UNDERSTANDING INC., CONVENTION TAPES