During the last few months we have heard a number of dire warnings from official sources, on the dangers of our constantly increasing rate of air pollution. On Dec. 5 the U.P.I. carried an article by Joseph L. Myler, pointing out that the federal government. has recently issued a report noting with alarm that, "The overall loudness of environmental noise is doubling every 10 years."' It said, "immediate and serious attention must be given to this mushrooming problem." It is a serious problem because noise can damage hearing and perhaps both physical and mental health.

The report defined noise as "sound without value," and said it gets worse and worse in pace with our social and industrial progress. It indicted all of the well known noise makers such as jet aircraft. boiler shops, air hammers, pile drivers, air conditioners,, power saws, kitchen devices and machinery in general. It also mentioned the "neighbors" radio and television, uninhibited scooters, motorcycles and some sports cars. It had little to say about. rock and roll music, but. this deficiency was made up for by speakers at the 76th. meeting of the Acoustical Society of America in Cleveland last month, where Charles Speaks and David Nelson of the University of Minnesota's hearing research laboratory, reported

2 UNDERSTANDING

that "rock and roll musicians are running the risk of incurring damage to their hearing as a result of continued exposure to loud music." Their recommendation for rock and roll musicians was "Well fitting ear plugs!"

At the same meeting, James M. Flugrath of the Memphis State University speech and hearing clinic, attacked the rock and roll problem from the standpoint of the teen-agers who dance to it. "They certainly like the music,'" Flugrath said,"' and the louder it is the better they like it. They would never agree that rock and roll noise is `sound without value.' " There is no denying, however, that the sound is louder than the human car is designed to absorb without considerable strain.

Thus another form of atmospheric pollution is brought to our attention. Amid the flood of noxious gases, dust, smoke and nauseating fumes with which we are so busily polluting our atmosphere, we are also pouring forth a constantly mounting deluge of deafening decibels which threaten to render our current generation of .teenagers hard of hearing before they reach what they consider to be the ripe old age of thirty!

——— ♦ ———

BEYOND IMAGINATION

A noted scientist has stated that the pursuit of knowledge starts with imagination and then proceeds to search. This may lead to research upon which an hypothesis may be erected. Then come the theories that have to be tested. Reduplication by experiment cause some to be proved.

Concerning things that. are not understood one may apply imagination and form. hypotheses, eventually reaching conclusions obtained by use of exacting scientific methodology.

The description of sightings of unknown flying objects is difficult People will appear to misinterpret because they don't know how to interpret them. With more observation and experience man will perhaps be able to catalog and classify many of the types prevalent in the sky.

Scientists claim that it is not always easy to open the scientific mind to cosmic possibilities implied by the observation of natural

JANUARY, 1969 3

phenomena. It is suggested that there may be life-forms indigenous to space, or to the rarified atmosphere of planets, and perhaps associated with unknown life-forms indigenous to our Earth, Mariners have asserted that objects of an unidentified nature dwell in the oceans and are seen to rise from them and go into the atmosphere!

What we call matter is now considered to be a complex of energy packets arranged in certain ordered patterns. The sizes of the core and the revolving particles and the distances between them seem to be roughly comparable to the units of our solar system. As matter is mostly "space" it may be physically possible to have other sets of matter almost in the same place at the same time. Perhaps space objects can pass through a "solid" wall.

Investigating sightings and activities of unidentified flying objects excites the question, "What are they?" Perhaps they are vehicles carrying space voyagers, perhaps mechanical and operated by remote control.

It may be that some are of themselves animate. Certain UFOs are redolent with the odor of violets. Others give out infra-red rays which cause burns underneath the clothing.

Extra-terrestrial life may be organic, at least part of the time. A noted writer of Science Fiction and Fact, believes that eventually our visitors won't. come in space ships; they will be space-ships. Perhaps this will be the next step in evolution.

We have viruses that are animate in one generation and inanimate in the next. There are complex organisms related to spiders that can be desiccated to crystallization and then come back to active life when soaked with water.

However, imagination may easily lead us astray, particularly with respect to sightings. For instance, in a photograph taken in England the "space man" standing to the rear of the little girl as she sits in a meadow, could well be a column of smoke.

Some of the mysterious lights sighted could be of organic origin. Bioluminescence or "cold light" emitted by living creatures such as certain bugs, bacteria, and fish is of almost incredible intensity considering the size of the source. The imagination which originated the design of such creations is staggering! For instance, there is a South American beetle larva that has green lights ahead

4 UNDERSTANDING

and red behind. It has become quite famous as the “stop and go" bug.

Unknown objects in the sky have been successfully photographed so often that their existence is unmistakable. But what they really .are, where they come from, and why they are here is as yet beyond our imagination.

The discovery of the outline of a space ship inside an artifact that is split open may be due to eager anticipation. A somewhat familiar design can appear on a blank sheet of paper folded over an ink spot, and then carefully opened. Circumstances combined with imagination can produce strange figments.

UAO's are Unexplained Aerial Objects. Some types reported are able to change their shape and size. Perhaps the most obvious fact about these is that they eventuate; that is, they appear. Either they come to us from beyond (through space) at different speeds, or they materialize. After appearing a UAO may stabilize (stay put), or it may not. When leaving it can flash off like a rocket, or it may slowly dim out and just fade away.

UAP's are Unidentified Atmospheric Phenomena. Many of these are explainable; Northern Lights, reflections, search lights, mirages, sun-dogs, etc. But a few seem to be something else. Are they pure energy, matter, or non-matter?

In the words of Vannevar Bush, "Science has a simple faith, which transcends utility. It is the faith that it is the privilege of man to learn to understand; End that is his mission.

If we abandon that mission under stress we shall abandon it forever, for stress will not cease. Knowledge for the sake of understanding, not merely to prevail, that is the essence of being. None can define its limits, or set its ultimate boundaries."

-Cyril C. Trubey

——— ♦ ———

SPIRIT OF CHILDHOOD

(This is a Farewell Address to a High School Graduating Class, by Georges Agadianian, Division of Humanities, Gannon College, Erie, Pa.)

Children: You may find it strange that I should call you "Children" precisely on the day when you have an impression that your

JANUARY, 1969 5

childhood is over. But what I have always loved in you, is your childhood, the spirit of childhood you have not yet lost. You do not have the wisdom of the old, you do not have their experience. Their wisdom, thus far, has not locked up your minds, it has not. smothered in your hearts the gift. of generous, unselfish enthusiasms, it has not yet deteriorated the spontaneous freshness of your feeling. under the rancid dust of realistic cautiousness, clever and mercenary calculations, this self-important, smiling skepticism that is already cold and motionless like death. You are not a settled knowledge, you are an expectation, a curiosity in search.

I speak of the spirit of childhood, not of childishness, not of immaturity, that still exists in most boys and girls of your age. Immaturity, or childishness, unlike the spirit of childhood, is. thoughtless, inconsiderate, self-seeking; it is crammed with pompous, asinine illusions, it is centered on its greedy and short-sighted. dreams. Immaturity has no spiritual depth, no altruistic needs, it is a blind self-worship, a blend of animality and infantile romanticism, of sentimental vanity and artificial torments.

When I speak of the spirit of childhood, I do not think either of your bodily youth: a man of sixty, who is still capable of throwing his whole heart into some great, unselfish cause, who can still strongly feel and fight. for some inspiring, vital truth, has a heart that is radiant with childhood, whereas a miser of twenty is old.

Children, stay children until the end of your lives. Never let the freshness of your youth be contaminated, tarnished by the senile wisdom of the old. Don't listen to their stifling, endless criticisms, the rationalism where they bathe as in a lonely- swamp, an incurable despair. Never abandon ideals, never disown faith even u hen life seems to contradict it, soil its very essence, bring bitterness and cynicism to your hearts. Let earthly experiences destroy your illusions. Illusions are weakness. They are self-deception. They have little to do with your faith. They are an outlet, an escape. Faith. alone is a goal, an inner knowledge of an essential truth. Faith. must be a strength, an unshaken strength, governed by the spirit. of childhood. Illusions are childishness: in place of wanting you, to be in the image of God, they want God to be in your image. Ordeals of existence are not meant to shatter your faith, but to

6 UNDERSTANDING

widen its vision by striking down the illusions that swarm around it, and degrade it.

Don't confuse optimism and faith. Faith is aware of the painful condition of men. It knows the meaning of grief, it knows the meaning of charity. Optimism is just an easy way out, a convenient attitude, a philosophical excuse for the fundamental indifference, the selfish unconcern, that is comfortably settled in your lower self. For those of you who are already tempted by the conceited, basely clever doctrines of the old, I shall quote a saying of Christ: "Suffer the little children to come unto me, and forbid them not:

for of such is the kingdom of God. Verily I say unto you, whosoever shall not receive the kingdom of God as a little child, he shall not enter therein."

——— ♦ ———

WATANA'S WORLD DREAM

(In January 1968 the Understanding Magazine carried another article on Watana Keovimol and his dedicated efforts towards world peace. The following article appeared in the October 16, 1968 "State Hornet" of Sacramento, California and brings us up to date on the activities of one young man whose faith in the future should serve us well.)

"For the past three years I have been strongly supporting the United Nations.. . . I feel that the U.N. has done many great things for the world ... however, the U. N. is really a body for social and diplomatic exchange of points of view for the government representatives, but not as the world organization that can keep peace for the world."

So spoke Watana Keovimol, Ambassador-at-Large for the World Government and student at Sacramento State College. All men have dreams, but very few the sustenance to implement their vision. Watana has a dream and he's been working steadily to give it life. Born 24 years ago in Thailand, Keovimol came to the U.S., worked and earned himself a scholarship. When asked why he came to Sacramento State College, he emphasized its locality with relation to government, i.e. the State Capitol.

Watana's "dream" in succinct terms is to see a world safe from

JANUARY, 1969 7

self-annihilation. His criticism of the United Nations centers around that organization's inability to stop war and he calls for a revision of the charter, giving the people of the world more power instead of the governmental representatives. This "dream" is not unique. Most men harbor similar feelings, but. few go on. Watana is going on.

In November of 1967 Watana couldn't sleep. He thought of this small planet and the imminent danger that surrounds it. He immediately wrote up a "world constitution" and sent it to various. world leaders. This letter soon found itself in the hands of the Secretary General of the World Constitutional Convention, a group sponsored by the German United Federalists. The Committee was impressed by his article and invited Keovimol to participate at the convention. Watana was on his way.

The convention, held in Switzerland and Germany from August 27-September 12, 1968, soon made its way to Wolfach, Germany, where at. 24, Watana was the youngest member. The problems discussed were numerous, yet the main topic centered around the need. for an effective world government, not the weak United Nations as at present.. The people of the world have to be represented; a need exists for a real executive power in order, to carry out the bills passed by the General Assembly. There is a need for a body with the power to stop war -- this was the language of the Convention -- a language of peace.

In drafting up an alternative to the present U.N. setup, the convention called for a world government with three bodies: a legislative, executive and judiciary branch. The executive council would be threefold-having a council for the people of a nation, one for the governments themselves and an advisory council.

In evaluating this proposed setup, Watana expressed his feeling that the "small nations are the wave of the future," thus giving such a world body great support. In the wake of this convention, Watana's work is only beginning. He now has to prepare for the 1970 Convention by trying to promote better understanding of the meaning that such a convention holds for the peoples of the world. He's now working on headquarters which will be situated in Japan, India, Mexico, Sweden, Africa and Denver, Colorado.

Such an adventure in attempting to establish world government

6 UNDERSTANDING

might be belittled, its supporters branded as naive idealists and its efforts labeled as a waste of time. However Watana thinks differently. A hopeful view toward the future should not be written off as a fantasy and determination should not be mistaken as naiveté.

——— ♦ ———

TOWER OF BABEL

Let's build a tower whose top will reach into heaven. Imagine the wave of enthusiasm this thought must have generated in the land of Shinar. Their conversation mingled with joyous laughter as they prepared the bricks for this mighty venture. Every brick must be perfect and thoroughly burned.

The descendants of Shem would long be remembered throughout the world. By the use of intelligence and will they would ascend into heaven. No one, including the Lord could control their power. Their knowledge of bricks and mortar would be their keys to heaven.

The Lord being aware of their project decided he could not let this happen. The question, which force should be used to stop them? All power being in His hands, He could use a mighty wind. But that wouldn't do. The people would only try again when the winds bad ceased. Earthquake, why not open up the earth and swallow the temple? No! Many people would be killed and the ones that were left would move to another location and begin the operation again. AM did not all these people speak one language? Why not confuse their language? They would be unable to understand each other. If they lacked understanding, there would be no unity. If there was no unity, there would be no cooperation. No cooperation, no tower.

How relative is this story to man's position in the world today? Man still uses mortar and brick in construction. However, he has become wise enough to realize the futility of attempting to build a tower that will reach into heaven. In fact he chooses to use the term utopia rather than heaven. The bricks he is using to reach this utopia are of knowledge rather than clay.

Over a period of many years man has, through the use of science been forming bricks of knowledge. As the number of bricks increased man has been forced to re-arrange them in such a manner

JANUARY, 1969 9

that would support his social structure. Finally, man has arrived at. the point in time where he is accumulating bricks so fast that he finds it difficult to place them in their proper place in the wall of his social structure.

The controversy over artificial means of birth control is a prime example. This discussion has become so intense that it is causing great concern to one of our oldest religious organizations.

What about the matter of death in connection with heart transplants? Is man really dead when he suffers brain damage beyond. repair? Or is he alive until his heart makes its final beat? What is the best approach to solving our social problems? Who is going to answer these and similar questions? Is the layman with his limited knowledge of scientific detail capable of supplying the answers? or must we place our dependence on the professional, the scientist, the politician, the religious leader?

At present we seem to be drifting toward placing our faith-in the specialist. It must be admitted there is logic in this tendency After all, you wouldn't be expected to consult an eye doctor if you had a problem concerning your foot. However, it must be recognized there are certain subtle dangers in placing too much dependence on the specialist. or professional.

Each of these groups is engrossed in constructing bricks of knowledge based on his limited field of experience. Consequently he has difficulty fitting his finished product into the wall of the social structure in such a way as to make it stable.

This instability emanating from the inability to properly align these bricks of knowledge once again poses a threat to the structure of civilization.

What can we as individuals do to help prevent the wall of civilization from tumbling down on our heads. There are no simple answers to this question. However, there are two facts which stand out perfectly clear. One, the professional or specialist does not necessarily offer a solution to our problems. Second, quite often the layman is not adequately informed.

Becoming a specialist requires such concentrated effort, it seems unlikely that there will be much change in this group. That leaves the layman, people like you and me. We must commit more of our individual effort to understanding the demands of our social

10 UNDERSTANDING

structure. We must express more understanding and concern for our fellow man. Brotherly love, acquired through understanding is the only mortar strong enough to bind the bricks of knowledge together. The specialist will produce the bricks. We, the individual must accept the responsibility of shaping these bricks and supplying the mortar to build a stable wall of social order.

-Cecil M. Wright

——— ♦ ———

The Next Rosetta Stone

(Grants Pass Courier, Grants Pass, Ore., Nov. 25, 1968)

By Joseph L. Myler

WASHINGTON (UPI)-Let us think of those poor puzzled people who will inherit the earth after we have destroyed this civilization.

Dr. Dael Wolfle, figures that at least a few human beings" will be spared if the awful thing happens.

For generations their main business will be simple survival. But after many a moon "scholarly curiosity" will develop "about the remains of earlier civilizations," including ours.

Wolfle is publisher of Science, weekly magazine of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. For a recent issue he wrote an editorial entitled "The Next Rosetta Stone."

Prof. Abraham Pais of Rockefeller University has said "a great society is ultimately known for the monuments it leaves for later generations."

If that is so, said Wolfle, "what a puzzle we have constructed" for scholars of the future.

The Pyramids probably will still be standing. Rising here and there above the forests will be skeletons of cities such as long dead Manhattan or Moscow or Rio.

Contributing to the folklore of the future will be the overgrown

JANUARY, 1969 11

remains of highways, canals, airways which perhaps will evoke in primitive minds wild surmises about an ancient age of giants. And in the rubble of Washington, Wolfle said, will be found "a misleadingly large number of bronze men on horseback."

It is the way of civilizations to rise and then fall, leaving behind both monuments and puzzles.

Not until discovery in 1799, of the Rosetta Stone, bearing identical inscriptions in three different languages (one of them Greek) was mankind able to decipher ancient hieroglyphs recording the long dead life of an ancient land called Egypt.

Wolfle noted that many so-called time capsules, containing mementoes of our age, have been buried here and there in the hope that future civilizations will find them and thus learn something about the dim past which is our present.

Ghosts Welcome

(Post Advocate, Alhambra, Calif., November 11, 1968)

DETROIT (UPI)-A clearing house for ghosts is operated by a spirited organization in Clayton, Mo.

Haunt hunters, a group dedicated to psychic research, seeks information on ghosts hauntings, extrasensory perception and other psychic phenomena, according to the "Encyclopedia of Associations," published by Gale Research Co., Detroit.

Sonic Boom Impact

(Ft. Lauderdale News and Sun-Sentinel, Sunday, Nov. 24, 1965)

WASHINGTON (UPI)-Scientists weighing the sonic boom problem of supersonic transport planes of the future estimate that for up to 40 million Americans it would be like passing an oncoming truck on a superhighway as often as 50 times a day.

Twelve prominent scientists, in a report entitled "Noise and the Sonic Boom in Relation to Man," urged the government Thursday to bar supersonic flight over populated areas until experimental studies determine the effects of the boom on mankind.

The report said: "The number of supersonic transport planes expected sometime after 1975 would subject between 20 million and 40 million Americans under a path 12-1/2 miles on either side of the expected flight tracks to five to 50 sonic booms per day."

12 UNDERSTANDING

Fifty Years Left

(San Jose Mercury, San Jose, Calif., October 24, 1968)

LOS ANGELES-Man, along with the blue whale is high on the lists of animals that biologists fear are doomed to almost immediate extinction, a botanist said here (Los Angeles) Wednesday.

He said the extinction of man as one of these "endangered species" is not. quite so imminent as that of the blue whale, which may disappear entirely this year, but that man may have as few as 50 more years on earth.

The danger isn't so much that, man will blow himself up with the H-bomb, according to Richard Felger, as it is that he will poison himself out of existence with chemical wastes and residues.

Dr. Felger is senior curator of botany at the Los Angeles County Museum of Natural History.

"Life will probably persist on earth for millions of years," Felger said in an interview.

"But as things are now, it is not likely that. man will be among the surviving species. If he continues poisoning the environment at the present rate he won't live more than half a century or a century left."

He said man is his own most effective and dangerous natural enemy, more a threat to the species than any bacterium or insect pest could possibly be.

"Man is destroying his life environment by making water unfit to drink, air unfit to breathe, and by clearing away plants and plastering the earth with concrete and asphalt," Dr. Felger said.

One of the most serious hazards is that created by long-lasting chemicals used for insecticides. Dr. Felger said agricultural chemicals are pouring into the oceans through drainage canals, creeks and rivers.

Studies have shown that the phytoplankton of the oceans, the tiny plants that are the major source of the oxygen in the earth's atmosphere are extremely sensitive to some of these poisonous chemicals.

Unless population growth is controlled and man's wastefulness curbed, Felger foresees the decades beginning in the 1970's as dominated by starving masses of people and the repressive governments that. will try vainly to keep events under control.

JANUARY, 1969 13

UFOS INTERNATIONAL

FROM FINLAND

The "Vimana" is published quarterly by the Finnish Interplanetary Society of Helsinki, which has groups scattered throughout the country. Though published in the Finnish language each issue contains two pages of summary in English. The following material is from Volume 2, 1968.

"As we have mentioned earlier the interest in the UFO-problem has been steadily growing here in Finland. An active member of our society, Mr. Tapani Kuningas (Uro, Finland) has been organizing a systematic research in order to chart the UFO-incidents in our country. In his article in this issue of the Vimana he puts forward his plan for the future research and points out that the results of the investigation, when ready, would also be sent to the societies and investigators in other countries ....

An interesting UFO-incident occurred on the 16th of February, 1968, in Lahti, a town in the central part of Finland. Mrs. Tillikainen who lives near Lake Joutjarvi, saw from her house between 1:40 -- 2:25 A.M. two very bright light phenomena, which stayed on the northern coast of the lake close to the ice cover. These things stayed all the time at the same place and she got tired and went to bed. When she again woke at 3:30 A.M. the things were gone.

"It should be mentioned that on the preceding evening at 8:30 a couple of young boys saw four light balls flying in the sky. They flew in a straight line and were yellowish in color.

"After a couple of days a friend of Mrs. Tillikainen went to look at the place where she saw the things. This friend, Mrs. Hmavalta, saw in the snow long trails and two holes in the ice from which the trails radiated. Although the temperature had for a long time been under the freezing point the holes were still there in the ice with unfrozen water therein."

A sketch is given in the magazine showing the rails and holes, with the comment: As you see the shapes are interesting in the light of some other "ground-effects" reported elsewhere in the world.

FROM SOUTH AMERICA

Santiago del Estero, September 1, 1968. (Clarin)

Two teachers of the national school in Lomitas, an isolated place

14 UNDERSTANDING

of Atamisqui, the headmistress Miss Maria A. Anriquez and Miss Maria del Valle Sanchez, were talking on Friday night in the school yard, when they suddenly saw a multi-coloured object, swaying near the top of a tree. The two girls were admiring it, and when after a few minutes it began to move away, they exclaimed, "How beautiful! We wish it would not go away." As if to please them the object suddenly turned back and came flying towards the school. The two scared girls dashed into the school house and did not venture out again till after the object had disappeared. The caretaker at the school confirmed the declarations of the two teachers saying that from her window she had watched the impetuous evolutions of the UFO.

(Translated by Edith Greinert)

FROM GERMANY

So-called UFOs known to us generally as Flying Saucers, were all the fashion years ago in the international papers, as observance of a small exhibition in the Vienna City Library once again proved. Even in 1520 A.D. provincial pioneers to today's newspapers spoke of Flying Saucers over Vienna: and, not only in German but also in Italian editions

Both "papers" were in the city library-displayed for all to see, in the Exhibition Hall of the City Hall. This extensive display, by Dr. Herbert Lengheim, is the first of a series about the "development of the printing press."

(Translated by Ruth Ilten) May 1968 issue of UFO Nachricten --Flying Saucers 1520 A.D. over Vienna.

——— ♦ ———

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

Unfolding Drama of Future

The year 2000 exerts a strong attraction on our imaginations. The attraction will become stronger the closer we get to that magic year which, some of us may be shocked to realize, is nearer in time than the first inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt or the coming to power of Adolf Hitler.

This fascination with the 21st century is shared as much by scientists as by laymen. The year 2000 has been set up as a target date for all sorts of expert predictions.

JANUARY, 1969 15

The renowned biologist and geneticist, H. Bentley Glass, offered a peek at 2000 the other day. He predicted that by then:

Man will be free of hunger and infectious diseases-despite the mathematical certainty that world population will have reached 6 billion and defective body parts will be replaced, even in unborn children.

Most people will enjoy a vigorous physical and mental life until the age of 90 or 100.

Frozen reproductive cells, of living people as well as those long dead, will be used to create life.

But looking through his glass darkly, Glass found the picture not all rosy. "This staggering power over human evolution will only provoke another great crisis in human affairs the crisis of values and goals."

His warning is echoed by British physicist Dennis Gabor, who says that the most formidable obstacle man has to overcome is human nature itself.

According to Gabor, "the brutal fact" is that nobody knows how to make people happy unless they are hard at work, their noses to the grindstone, or they are fighting each other to death.

Fighting is obviously no longer a reasonable channel for human energy, but neither is hard work. We cannot, he says, go on growing more and more productive and consuming more and more forever. We must eventually reach a level of maturity. The basic urge to work must be replaced by the ability to enjoy leisure.

Another biologist, Robert S. Morison of Cornell, predicts that, whether we like it or not, the need to teach children the new knowledge that is becoming increasingly necessary for survival in a rapidly moving world will lead to a decline in the authority of the family and the growing take-over of its child-rearing functions by society.

These glimpses of the brave new world we are fashioning may be more than a little frightening to some. But if so, it is only because science has enabled us to look ahead with such clairvoyance.

Imagine the consternation that would have been caused in the innocent. and optimistic world of 1867 if our forefathers could have foreseen the 20th century. They would have considered the benefits

16 UNDERSTANDING

technology was to bring a poor exchange for its cost in human values-two massive world wars in which tens of millions died, the rise of dictator, the assembly-line extermination of human beings, the city-destroying weapons.

Yet few of us would turn back the calendar those 100 years.

——— ♦ ———

book reviews

An Astral Journey by Peter Boudreau. $2.50 (P.O. Box 2224, E. Santa. Cruz, Calif. 95060)

Eight people, four men, four women, unhappy with conditions on planet earth, decide to undergo vigorous spiritual training to prepare themselves for astral journeys to other worlds, in search of superior ways of life.

Peter Boudreau gives an imaginative account of these spiritual astronauts experiences on the Moon, Mars and Venus.

Although conditions on these worlds are not perfect. either, comparisons are drawn with like conditions on earth-economic, political, social and religious-with the balance in favor of the other worlds.

The author, as noted on the book jacket, "has given us a vivid unorthodox and amusing adventure story, yet basically this is a serious comparison between our own imperfect modes of life and others, brilliantly conceived by him as to be found elsewhere."

Truth is No Tyrant by Cash Asher. $3.50 (Science of Spiritual Law Publishing Co., Tonopah, Arizona 85354.)

The writer, in his foreword, says, "These are not my words. This is not me as I have always known myself. Material agnostic, I now

JANUARY, 1989 17

find myself in the grip of an esoteric force, purging, leading where I know not."

The volume is the result of months of meditation. Half of the book was written in nine hours of automatic typing by an intelligence which, Cash Asher notes, "had expropriated me far the night." The rest of the book "came from pre-dawn hours . . . when I turned myself over to the pen ... writing came without conscious thinking."

The test consists of revelations in prose and verse, in few words and many, of the Ageless Wisdom Teachings of Eternal Truths. The thesis is not new, but each unique presentation offers the seeker a new perspective until, at last, his own inner door is opened. Here then are the offerings given Mr. Asher which may serve your contemplative and meditative purposes, and perhaps add to the fullness of your own spiritual understanding.

——— ♦ ———

Poet’s corner

E Pluribus Unum

I looked back into the endless caves of time,

Into the dim and vague emptiness of the past,

To the dawn of reason, to see Man in his prime,

To look down upon the earth's vast

And empty then, where no man stood

But one whose name was Adam.

18 UNDERSTANDING

The voice of a thousand centuries has echoed in my ears.

I feel the heartbeat started there and I know the same old fears.

I know the Gauls and the Romans and all the plagues and dreads

And all the wars and revolutions and the guillotine's lust for heads.

It seems to me I stood there and I, the crowd, both laughed and cried

And watched and waited and pulled the rope and felt the blade and lived and died.

How did I cross that gap so long shut off from Man's access?

Perhaps before I found myself I was divided into many, split ...

Split between mother and father by the reverse action of time,

Part of me in her and part in him; into my grandsires and dames

Was I split again fourfold into eight, sixteen, and thirty-two?

Was my germ a sharer in their lives too?

Was I pulled back farther and carried in an eyeball's gleam,

With no mind nor reason nor feeling nor self? But was I there?

And was I able somehow in their woes and delights to share?

And back until the seed that Adam carried might have contained an infinitesimal part of me,

Could this strain that binds us common to the earth have reached as far as me?

Oh, Race of Man, here and across the sea!

Is it, is it that you're a part of me?

And I, I'm a part of thee!

And am I scattered endlessly

Through every land and sea,

In all the cities and towns,

On all the continents?

And am I present in all human sounds?

And each man is my brother;

And when I look at him, What I see

Is but a part. of me.

- Paul G. Imhoff

JANUARY, 1969, 19

bulletin board

Dr. Whitworth Lecture Series

Mrs. Esther Ellsworth, Co-ordinator for Unit 71 of San Bernardino, California announces that. a series of lectures by Dr. Eugene E. Whitworth has been scheduled for January 24th, 25th and 26th.

Please write to Mrs. Ellsworth at P.O. Box 626, Morongo Valley, Calif. 92256, for location of lectures.

Report from Klamath Falls, Oregon

President of Unit 76 (Klamath Falls, Ore.) Mrs. Dema Mc Bee writes: "I am very happy to announce that our meetings have been held regularly every first and third Tuesday of the month, even through the summer....

"We held a rummage sale this past year and did remarkably well though we do not have too many members as yet. . . . If every Unit in our organization would put forth the effort on a rummage sale, a baked food sale, or some other such project ... and send half of what is received to Understanding, that. would further our cause substantially.

"It takes a little effort to put on these things but we believe in it to be well worth the time and energy... Now, we either believe in the principles of Understanding and want to send the message to every one we can or we are just joiners.'

"We hope that if any one else has any better ideas they will share them with us."

Our sincere thanks to the membership of Unit 76. We trust that other small groups will be encouraged by your report.

20 UNDERSTANDING

Merlin Unit 1

The monthly Home Meeting of Merlin Unit One will be held on January 8th at the home of the Campbells. Mr. Ernest Wyatt will give a talk on "Science of Mind," based upon .the principles of Ernest Holmes. Everyone welcome.

In December the "tape session of a talk by Damien Simpson was so well received that a second special session was called for two weeks later to hear additional tapes by Mr. Simpson.

If you wish to be on our mailing list please drop a card to Miss Hope E. Hiner, 1102 S. W. Bridge St., Grants Pass, Ore. 91526.

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"Living with people is an opalescent, art, set in self-acceptance, faceted with the beauties of originality and contrast, and displayed with dignity, courtesy and honor. Accept yourself as an individual, formed by heredity, draped by environment, polished by experience, and you accept the right of every man to be free. Respect your own abilities, and you respect the right. of every man to be proud. Cherish your right to seek happiness, and you cherish the right of every man to live. Choose to be different, and you will respect originality. Choose to be strong, and you will cherish liberty. Choose to be yourself, and you will accept your neighbor. Walk in honor, you will walk with-friends."

-Mary Domb Mikkelson

(From Summer Bulletin of New Age Bible and Philosophy Center.)

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CLASSIFIED DEPARTMENT

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

MONTESSORI EDUCATION for the "little ones." Preparation for the New Age and world service. Teacher training. Book lists. College credit courses. Write World University, P.O. Box 4800-K, Tucson, Arizona.

SPECIAL OFFER: L. L. Castetter, Director, Inst. of Human Engineering, 3680 E. Fall Ck. Pky., Indianapolis, Ind. 46205, will send you "Research in Personality Development," 220 pages-''Symposium on Education," 125 pages-''Approach to Spiritual Science," 36 pages for $2. Retail value $4. Write for descriptive literature.

WORLD PEACE requires ESPERANTO, Text, record, etc. loaned FREE, Esperanto Library, Dept USI. Middleton, Wis. 53562

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EXPLORE THE LATEST INFORMATION REGARDING UFOs - THE WORLD SPACE RACE

MOON PROBE - STRANGE SIGNALS FROM THE STARS - GERMAN SAUCER CRAFT

SPACE MEDICINE - ETC.

Phone-(213)-780-7703 Admission: $3.00 per day donation Students $1.50

**DO NOT MISS THIS INFORMATIVE POWER PACKED 'THREE-DAY' WEEKEND!!

* JANUARY 31, 1969 - FRIDAY NIGHT - 7:30 PM (BANQUET)

FEBRUARY 1, 1969 - SATURDAY - 1:00 PM THROUGH 10:00 PM

FEBRUARY 2, 1969 - SUNDAY - 10:00 AM THROUGH 10:00 PM

SEE: MANY UFO PICTURES - DISPLAYS - SLIDES - MOTION PICTURES

Also-- 'New' revised full length color film "PHENOMENA 7.7"

SPECIAL: SUNDAY MORNING AT 10:00AM......AN OUTSTANDING NEW AGE LECTURE ENTITLED

"A MESSAGE FROM THE STARS" - DELIVERED BY - DR. FRANK E. ST RANGES

OUTSTANDING SPEAKERS INCLUDE

Dr. J. Raymond Christopher, ND, MH - Scientist --Nutrition Expert -- NICOUFO Adviser

Orfeo Angelucci-Author--Lecturer--U Expert--His statements will make you Think!

Dr. Daniel Fry- Scientist--- Founding Member of NICAP -- President of Understanding

Mel Noel -Former United States Air Force Jet Pilot -- Will relate encounter with UFOs

Calvin Girvin - USAF (Rot) Former Asst to Pentagon Brass -- Saw Secret UFO Files

Michael Barton - Officer NICOUFO -- German Saucer Expert -- Author – Lecturer

Gabriel Green - President of "ACA International -- Editor -- Lecturer

Dr. John J. Keating - Editor of New Age World -- Expert Graphoanalyst

Carl Anderson - U.S. Navy Engineer -- Unique Space Contact Account

Fred Kimball -'Will Demonstrate Communication with Animal Kingdom

Dr. George King - President, Aetherius Society -- Author – Lecturer

Also, Guest S Baker from Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Pasadena

NOTICE On Saturday Night February 1, 1969 -- we will show actual hardware removed from a take where a UFO had plunged through ice. These UFO fragments have been analyzed by a laboratory with amazing results.

SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER-(UTAH NICOUFO DIRECTOR)

Dr. John Elwood Dennett - Prof of Math, Languages, Prof of Computer
Science, Utah Consul for Federal Republic of Germany ....
Subject: "Interstellar Visitors and Their Purpose"

_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ CLIP AND MAIL . _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

5th Annual UFO Space & Science

Public Symposium **UFO TELEVISION PREMIERE BANQUET 12506 Sherman Way, Van Nuys, Calf.

JANUARY 31, 1969 (Friday) 7:30 P.M. $5.00 per person-donation (Full Course Dinner)

DR. FRANK E. STRANGES will present outstanding program. . . meet all of our unique convention speakers -- In Person!!!

NAME: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

ADDRESS: _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _

CITY _ _ _ _ _ _ _ - STATE: _ _ _ _ _ _ ZIP _ _ _

Number of Reservations desired: _______ Amount Enclosed: ________ Mail to: I.E.C., Inc, 7970 Woodman Ave.

Van Nuys, California 91402 BY RESERVATION ONLY - Please have your reservations in by "January 25th"

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AN ASTRAL JOURNEY

By PETER BOUDREAU

An imaginative flight to the Moon, Mars and Venus by eight spiritually trained Astronauts.

Price: $2.50

Order from:

Peter Boudreau

P.O. Box 22,24

E. Santa Cruz, Calif. 95060

NOW AVAILABLE

by Dr. Daniel W. Fry

Steps to the Stars (4th printing)

Curve of Development

Both softbound $1.50 each

also

White Sands Incident and

To Men of Earth

Hardbound-New Edition-$3.95

Softbound - $1.45

Atoms, Galaxies and Understanding

Softbound, $2.00

Hardbound, $3.00

Please add 15c for postage

Merlin Publishing Company

P. O. Box 105

Merlin, Oregon 97532