CONTENTS

For October, 1965

HINDU VS. MOSLEM   ……..             2

AMERICAN HERITAGE   ….             3

ARE PRAYERS AND THOUGHTS CREATIVE POWER?   ……….             5

“BY THEIR PASTIMES”   …             6

WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING   ……………             9

World report   …………..             10

UNDERSTANDING HANDBOOK   ……….             12

YOUR QUESTIONS, PLEASE   …………….             13

book reviews   ……             13

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR   ……             14

poet’s corner   ………….             16

bulletin board   ………..             17

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THE STAFF

EDITOR ……. Dr. DANIEL W. FRY

asst. editor ……………   kerttu campbell

circulation manager ……..  edna basmajian

staff artist …………..  gus tanasale

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UNDERSTANDING

VOLUME X                                  OCTOBER, 1965                                       NUMBER 10

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

HINDU VS. MOSLEM

Your editor and his wife have just returned from a rapid but fairly comprehensive tour which began in Edinburgh, Scotland-went to London and thence to Cairo, Jerusalem, Bethlehem, Beirut, Athens, Rome and Paris. The journey was not undertaken as a pleasure trip, nor as a `sight seeing’ venture, but with a sincere desire to learn, at first hand, a little more about the thoughts, the dreams, the hopes and the fears of the various peoples throughout the world. We would have liked to have visited the cities of New Delhi in India and Rawalpindi in Pakistan but the prevailing circumstances, both political and financial, prevented this extension of our journey.

As this article is being written India and Pakistan are engaged in what many newsmen have described as “the most ridiculous war in all history.” They point out that neither side has enough planes or tanks to fight a successful war, and neither side has enough petroleum products to supply their troops for more than sixty days.

The analysts say that there is no real need to worry about stopping the war because, unless Red China or some other nation begins to supply the belligerents with weapons and oil, the war will end by itself for lack of material in about sixty days. The analysts, however, appear to have forgotten one small fact of history. Wars of

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extermination, with frightful loss of life and tremendous destruction, were fought long before there were any tanks, planes, artillery or petroleum products.

Through the endless centuries in which man has raised his hand against his fellow man, far more men have died from tile whirr of the arrow than from the bark of the rifle, and more have died from the swish of the sword than from all of the high explosive that has ever been made.

The dispute between Pakistan and India is one of long standing, and only incidentally does it involve the territory of Kashmir. The real division is that between the Moslem and the Hindu, and this dispute is as old as the two religions. Millions of innocent men and women have been slaughtered in the past, simply because they were Hindus in a Moslem area or vice versa. There are at the present time more than 46 million Moslems in India, and about 10 million Hindus in Pakistan.  All of these 56 million people could die in a cataclysmic bloodbath, if the hatred and fanaticism should build up to tile levels which have existed in the past.

The highly trained professional agitators who have infiltrated Pakistan from Red China are. of course, busily plying their trade in order to build up hatred to the point. where Pakistan and India will exhaust themselves in a conflict with each other, whereupon Red China, under the guise of helping Pakistan will simply move in and take over both. The pattern is so simple and has been repeated so many times that both India and Pakistan, in spite of their differences, should recognize their common danger and compromise their religious differences before they are both swallowed up by a system which does not permit any religious expression of any kind * OUR ANCIENT

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AMERICAN HERITAGE

HOW much we have benefited from the ancient. civilization that inhabited the American continents we may never be able to realize, How much we can yet learn we are only beginning to appreciate. When the Pilgrims came to this land, ]row impossible for them to know the pattern already established and still active in the enveloping astral light, and which unconsciously was to influence them and

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all of us who are their descendents-while we on the physical were perpetrating almost unbelievable injustices on the remnants of that civilization whose home this was. However there were bonds of friendship established in those early days which proved to be of lasting benefit, and in many instances carried on, in spite of treachery and misunderstanding that came later.

It is not. too well known that the government of the first thirteen colonies was patterned after a union amongst the Indian tribes by which they kept their individuality- as tribes but were united in ways that were advantageous to them economically and for defense. The beginning of a United States of America started here, inspired by a plan new to us but. old and tried by a long departed civilization, and being used successfully under the guidance of great statesmen amongst the Indians; men who received their training and knowledge in an entirely different way than we are accustomed to believing necessary for statesmanship and leadership to develop. Nothing was known by tile colonists of tile rigid discipline, of the teachings handed down, the long and secret vigils in the kivas, the ceremonials, the attunement with nature by which they attained to a high degree of insight.. We have believed that from colleges and matching wits with others in world politics was the only way to acquire any understanding of statesmanship.

Marks of an ancient culture are daily being discovered all over the Americas and beliefs and customs of different native groups are being systematically studied by a few dedicated souls who are willing to be humble and devoted enough to really try to understand the meanings hidden in the teachings and ceremonials by which the Indians, for the most part, still live. It is difficult to have these people reveal their secrets of spiritual beliefs and practices for they are handed down by word of mouth only to those prepared to receive than.

The Hopis live on the high mesas in the midst of Navajo Land, in the state of Arizona. They call themselves People of Peace, which the name Hopi means. Their Pueblo, Old Oraibi, is the oldest in-habited place on the continent. The name has a meaning which they tell us must for a time be kept secret. They believe they have. a message for mankind, and perhaps this is the reason they have been

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willing to reveal more of their teachings and prophecies than is usual with most Indian tribes. However the most sacred teachings are not disclosed.

One known as “Daddy Bray,” a friend of the Hopis, who is in close touch with their way of life, has reported on his interviews with Hopi spiritual leaders. A few of these ideas are given here, to shoe the serious nature of the message hidden in the symbolism and colorful expression with which they are told. Many spiritual truths have to be clothed in allegory in order to carry over to succeeding generations, Symbolism can be read and understood by initiates everywhere, although separated by time and by language barriers. Carvings on rocks are a permanent record of the past, and such symbols as the swastika, signs of the sun, and many others are for all time. The Hopis have all these. Not only is their origin and history written on imperishable rock, but many of their prophecies are preserved in this way. No one knows how ancient these carvings are, but they are startling in their accuracy and strangely understandable, in view of the happenings of today. It would be well for us to give them our thoughtful consideration.

The Hopis had prophecies of the coming of the white man, and of many inventions to come. They told of the carriages that “run by themselves” – and of “ways” spread all over the land “like cobwebs” – “the long house” – and of people traveling a “road in the sky,” a prediction of airplanes. They told of a “little ball” so powerful to kill that there would be no living thing for many years. All this would come before a “time of purification” that “would correct all wrong.” The earth would shake, and there would be a great battle. If the people “do not listen” there would be another shake by the “Great Spirit.” The “red caps” would come and “people will rain from the sky.” All transportation would come to a standstill. All would have to “run on their feet,” and they are now training for it. Cooking will be done in the open.

The Hopis are capable of abstract thinking, and their language has concepts of time and space, some of which have only recently been developed by us. These concepts are in their language structure and are of ancient origin.

The message of the Hopis to the world is: We must have peace.

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It could very well be that the spiritual awakening now taking place

all over the world is largely due to the patterns already established and nurtured and cared for by dedicated souls, who have protected for us our ancient heritage. Because of them it will he easier for us to male our transition into a new and better way of life. It may not be inevitable that we have to go all the way into the destruction predicted for its.

– Letha Reineman, Unit 22

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ARE PRAYERS AND THOUGHTS CREATIVE POWER?

WHEN the concerted thoughts and prayers of men of goodwill are projected toward the President, toward all in authority everywhere, as well as to the planet we inhabit, what are the results to mankind?

We believe that God or Good is everywhere, in all things and for all things. There must be intelligence in every particle in existence, and if this be true, there must be a means of communication between the particles. Mind and spirit are able to reach all-all other minds and spirits, and all particles of which the planet is composed.

It could be that only our lack of confidence in the ability of our minds to reach the ends of the earth, if need be, keeps us from entering into a solemn effort to avert every human catastrophe. If one man, ten thousand years ago, could speak to the wind and waves and have them obey his commands, is not this some proof that the elements are, or can be, subject to the minds of pure-hearted men today

What small beginnings we have made in discovering our mental and psychic potentials; how little confidence we have had when it comes to the use of our minds for the benefit of all mankind, or even for ourselves! Most of us truly desire to be of some service to our fellowmen but we feel inadequate and know not where to commence.

Could we not become deeply in earnest about watching our thoughts throughout the day to prevent negation in our thinking? Unconsciously we think of disasters and accidents as being inevitable, as being part of the natural events of our life over which we have little, or no control, and naturally we make no effort to prevent

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them. It does not occur to us that we may even be contributing to the cause of many of these so-called accidents by thinking and expecting them to happen-by “affirming” these things.

For example, how often have we noticed and lamented the fact that when one terrible catastrophe occurs that several others, similar in nature, follows shortly thereafter? One plane crashes to earth, killing all aboard-in a day or two we hear of another that falls and burns-then perhaps a third plane crashes with the same sad results. Is there some link between these disasters? Could the fear-thoughts or anticipation of many people have caused the elements or the particles, the atoms, of, these planes to disintegrate? After one air disaster are not the minds of many thinking of other possible similar accidents

Of these matters we, as yet, know very little but we are beginning, to investigate the power of thoughts that may play a part in influencing people and materials. We are unconscious of our use of our minds so adversely now, but perhaps we may exert. this power for good deliberately some day.

We are all aware that prayer-the fervent, desire and belief of man’s heart-has changed many things for untold numbers of the human race throughout the awes. What is prayer but “positive thinking,” a petition, a cry to a Higher Power to change some physical. mental or material condition?

There have been many predictions of disasters, earthquakes, fires and floods, some made by those who have been correct in their prophecies more times than not. When a large number of people think about and believe these forewarnings will come about, what prayers of mind may be, released to influence the behavior of men, and the very earth itself?

If, on the other hand, many men of goodwill were to speak to the elements, the earth, words of peace and quiet, words of love and serenity, who can be certain they would not have some influence, some power to prevent accidents, earthquakes and natural storms and catastrophes’, “As we think, so are we,” and as we think, so may be the world.

-Esther W. Lowery

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OCTOBER, 1965                        7

“BY THEIR PASTIMES”

The old saving” Tell me the company he keeps and I’ll tell you who he is” might be equally axiomatic if it went “‘tell me how he spends his leisure and I’ll tell you who he is.” Bowing to generalities, and risking a contribution to the hardening of the categories, here are some eases in point.

If he spends many an hour cycling proficiently about in short leather pants through his beloved and immaculate woods, knapsack on his back, one child in front and another to the rear of his bicycle, he’s probably a German, and that beaming fellow traveler alongside is likely his wife with another child behind her. When there’s a touch of autumn in the air, he’s likely to be found at the Oktober-Fest, Munich’s traditional barbecue and fair where everyone munches roast chicken and swigs fruit juice bought on the grounds. Then before you can say Katsenjammer (meaning “little cats”), he’s celebrating Christmas and New Year’s, followed by the gayest time of his year, Fasehing or Carnival, like our Mardi Gras. Religious in origin, primary purpose of the latter was to enliven winter’s months with a break while there wasn’t much work to do down on the farm. It’s a time when lie may clog cleverly artistic mask and costume and attend a Fasehing ball at almost any public place, or, if he wants a private party, make his own “Hausfasching” and invite his friends. Come summer, he’s sure to have a vacation,, perhaps touring Italy-by motorcycle if he’s a worker or a sporting type. He may stop by one of his own musical festivals such as that of Bayreuth or neighboring Salzburg. And autumn again finds him back at the Oktober-Fest!

Of course, like our German, all Europeans ride bicycles, but with a difference. In Germany, riding-and hiking-are practiced for the pure pleasure of being out in the open, but in France bicycles are more instruments for transporting the body than the soul. And it’s in sidewalk cafes that the art of conversation-as well as the seat of the pants-is polished.

In the Low Countries, the focus of life moves to the interiors o1 neat, solid-citizen type homes, glimpsed through picture windows. From the incredible quantities of tulips on auction at the flow(-r market, we judge the national pastime must be producing them

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Crossing Sweden by summer (“Let’s see … summer came on Friday last year,” is a favorite and revealing remark by the inhabitants), one sees man, woman, and child sun-bathing with eyes closed so as not to lose so much as a ray from the adored.

Now in Finland, on a raw, windy day in Helsinki, one sees men, women and children sailing small craft, apparently for pleasure, almost submerged in the heavy seas and evidently relishing every minute of it. Characteristically, the national motto of the Finns is “sisu” which in Plain English means guts. Since World War II and Finland’s rapid recovery from it this word and the force back of it have come to the attention of the world. When a Finn has worked eight long hours, then “sisu”-and he can work eight more!

If the Finn has a brother-under-the-skin it might be the hardy Pole, who can often be found skiing at Zakopane, after working at two jobs by day and by night to support himself.

There’s the tavern in Switzerland with whole family groups seated around its tables, from Grandmother to little Hans, eating that. wonderful Swiss cheese and sipping apple juice, while lending an appreciative ear to the musical program in progress.

In cosmopolitan Budapest, the favored meeting place is (or was) an expresso house, for a cup of the same with whipped cream, and in the afternoons elegant pastries and, eternally, chestnut puree. But the real raison d’etr for the long stops there is to read newspapers from all over the world furnished the customer.

In Italy and Spain the national pastime for men might be considered to be the art of paying compliments to passing ladies fair, such tribute being known as the piropo. The pastime for the ladies, it follows, is to merit and receive the verbal bouquets tossed by the observer.

Sometimes geographical divisions within a country itself produce a pronounced schizophrenia in the national pastimes, and reduce my little theory of leisure to the deterministic level of climate and terrain. In Columbia, South America, for instance, natives of the hot country, in their gay prints or all whites, flock to sidewalk cafes  and promenade in the plaza to see and be seen. On the other hand, inhabitants of the cloud-shrouded near 9,000 foot high capital of the country, Bogota, dress in severe black, do not allow women to enter the coffee houses where the men drink ten or fifteen cups of tinto

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(black coffee) a day, and in general maintain a reserve as chilly as the climate till one gets to know them.

Now, how about us? What is there as by-product of our leisure that could be thought of distinctively as “made in the U.S.” coming from a country of privileged position where we are freed by labor-saying devices from much drudgery? In good American fashion, we have saved the brickbats for ourselves. It it is true, as foreigners see it, that American men are so wrapped up in pursuit of the success goal that they abdicate in other realms to petticoat rule, then where does the American woman’s time go? One of our leading contemporary anthropologists, Prof. Clyde Kluckbohn, says, “Their abundant leisure goes into women’s clubs, community activities, “cultural” organizations, unhealthy devotion to their children, other mildly or seriously neurotic activities.”

Pontius Pirate asked what truth was, and did not stay for an answer. Perhaps the important thing is to ask the question: Are we selling ourselves short’? Do we really put into life and therefore find as much as others in “less fortunate” countries? Or are we, the best fed nation in history, going hungry”

* Clyde Kluckbohn, Mirror for Man (Fawlett Publications, Greenwich, Conn., 1959), page 117.

– Juliana B. Lewis

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WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING

(From the Flying Saucer Review, London, July-Aug., 1965, issue)

In an article by Gordon Creighton, entitled “A Russian Wall Painting and Other ‘Spacemen’ ” we find these significant comments

“As the extraordinary story of the UFO visitations has gradually unfolded over the past eighteen years, it must have occurred to many people that we shall be wise to take another very careful look at all our existing records in such fields as religions, myths and legends, ethnology, folklore, demonology, psychism, psychic research, etc., for they are likely to yield a rich crop of material which-as we now begin to perceive –pertain, more properly to the realm of ‘Ufology.’ Archaeology too must be scrutinized for all the

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clues that it may hold, and already many peculiar things have turned up in this field.”

The article then discusses in detail some of the artifacts, drawings and images which various people claim portray Cosmic Travelers. Mention is made of the Sahara Martian, Japanese images, Mexican monuments, and Russian prehistoric rock paintings. Then is given an account of an Indian encounter with “space beings” on the Argentina-Paraguay frontier in February of 1965 and of another similar account, eight years ago, in Samarra, Iraq.

The concluding paragraphs interpret newly. the descriptive terms “radiant” and “shining” applied so often to these visitors.

“The Greek word ‘angelos’ which occurs in the ‘New Testament means simply messenger — nothing else. The whole tradition built up since then of angels with wings is-I submit-nothing but a general accretion which has overlaid accounts of meetings with Space Beings and related phenomena that were not understood by the Earth dwellers of those times.

“Our Christian tradition speaks then of messengers in radiant apparel, with haloes. And they have wings. That is to say, they have something to do with flying.

Finally, there is our very word “Heaven,” which is well worth considering for, in the minds of so many of us, it. has come to mean just some vague transcendental abode, and we no doubt quite forget that the Greek word of which it is a translation (Ouranos) means only sky. So we have haloes and radiant beings coming from the Sky, and this has been happening not merely 2,000 years ago, but also eight years ago in the Middle East, and in February, 1965, in South America. Surely it is all beginning to make a little more sense than it did …

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New Classified Ad Rates

Beginning with the October issue, the new rates for classified advertising will be six (6) cents per word for the first insertion and five cents (5) per word for additional insertions of the same copy. This is almost a fifty per cent. reduction. We hope you will take advantage of it.

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World report

Secrets of Life

(Medford Mail-Tribune July 1 ,1965. Delos Smith, UPI Science Ed.)

The deepest secrets of life and the key to reasons for death could originate from the people, flowers, trees, minerals and other creatures and things which are unchangeably all around us, according to Dr. O. S. Glatt, a medical doctor specialized in the science of human aging.

It’s a far-out theory but a provocative one because it is both personal and underscores the ever-changing nature of life and the biological inevitability of death. It gets down to our most basic parts-our chromosomes and the genes attached to them…

Isn’t it wonderful that the making and operating directions contained in each gene are subject to change? asked Glatt. If they weren’t then we’d “still he amoebas or perhaps plain chemical combinations. It was essential for the evolutionary process to produce changes in the genetic material in order to procreate more advanced species.”

However, only a small number of mutations (changes) are useful. The majority are useless or harmless. These mutations are produced by, a large variety of agents…”mutagens.” Glatt defied them as fundamentally “radiated energy.” And what radiates energy? Why just about everything around us…

“By ingestion, by inhalation or by close or distant contact, we receive radiation of energy from plants, minerals, chemicals, insects and humans. We also give off energy to all these objects.. .”

It is possible to envision that this energy- interchange is not only the basis of spontaneous biological changes, but also of life itself. It is even logical to assume that it is also the reason for death….

“Every cell is endowed by nature with the property of self-duplication. Once created it should be able to perpetuate itself indefinitely. …Because most mutations are, harmful and because radiation effects accumulate, it follows that. `when the number of

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changed atoms become large, they may affect a vital point in the husbandry- of the individual cell’ . . The whole body is very sensitive to the inefficient performance of one of its vital parts. Gradual degradation takes, place. Old are creeps in through the cracked walls and death is not far behind.”

Toungue-Speaking

(The Daily Sun, Fri., Jan. 29, 1965, by Geroge W. Cornell)

He  was standing at tile door of the ballroom in Philadelphia’s Bellevue-Stratford Hotel when a strange feeling came over him. -It was as if somebody had poured warm oil over me, all through my body,” Laurence Hammond, an Illinois mining engineer. related. There was an electric quality about it.”

Inside the ballroom a convention of the Full Gospel businessmen’s Fellowship had been going on. and Hammond had listened to delegates tell of the Holy Spirit gripping them and speaking through them.

And then, he recounted it happened to him. “It was like being bathed in love,” lie said.

Hammond, an Episcopalian, is one of thousands lately to report experiencing glossolilia-` “speaking with tongues.”

The phenomenon-once common only in Pentecostal churches — has recently sprung up in many congregations of traditional denominations, Methodists, Baptists, Lutherans, Episcopalians, Presbyterians.

A federally supported research project to investigate the psychological and linguistic aspects of tongues-speaking has been started :it Lutheran Medical Center in Brooklyn.

Hammond, 56, of Gelncoe, Ill., general manager of the Tonuco manganese mines in New Mexico and onetime special assistant on the War Manpower Commission, said the experience brings a sense of immense happiness.

“I never knew what joy meant before,” he said in an interview. “,it’s a wonderful thing. And then a great peace settles over you and you feel a great willingness and boldness to talk about. Jesus Christ.”

When it first happened to him at that ballroom doorway six years ago, he said, he originally felt simply a strong urge to pray, and he stared murmuring, “Praise the Lord. Amen. Bless the Lord.”

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But that didn’t sound right somehow, he recalled, and then that. blissful ocean of warmth suffused him.

At that moment, he said, the monosyllabic sounds started pouring from his lips: “Ka ka ki adi la . . .””It was as if my own mind were detached from what I was saying,” he said. “I tried to pray in English but couldn’t. The Holy Spirit had taken over and I couldn’t stop it. It went oil for maybe 25 minutes. “

Afterward, he said, ‘`I felt like shouting.”

Scripture tells of the apostles speaking “with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance” at the first Pentecost, when people of many languages all understood, as related in Acts 2.

Hammond holds a doctorate of philosophy from the University of Geneva.

Ordinarily, he said, tongues speaking is in an unknown language, although linguistic experts sometimes call decipher it. He said a person, knowing only English, may speak in any of the world’s 3,000 languages and dialects.

In cases where the words are translatable, he said, they may mean simply things such as, “God is great. God is good.” Usually, how-ever, exact meanings of the sound are unknown, he said, only the sense of their holy importance.

The gift, “is not to be sought for self, but for closeness to God and to he able to serve Him better.”

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UNDERSTANDING HANDBOOK

LET us first mention that while the author of this most essential Handbook has openly invited suggestions to improve its contents, we find Arthur J. Burks has presented us with a very important document for our use, and that it is complete as it has been presented. We find this Handbook so strikingly straightforward and to the point that it is truly a handbook of a unique caliber. Therefore, at. best, we can only attempt to call attention to what we feel arc a few of the morn significant points, thereby hoping to lend emphasis to the usefulness of this important, personal, self-effacing work.

“What is my primary duty as a Unit member? Attend every

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meeting.” (Individuals within each unit may or may not carry on their UNDERSTANDING work projects collectively, but all should really try to make every meeting. This lends strength to the unit thus aiding in the growth of world understanding.)

“What do we do?” our Unit president may ask. Expecting such a question to be asked. I’ll have something to suggest. I’ll think it out, have the answers. If, under the aegis (auspices) of the Unit, I can do the thing myself, I’ll do it. Who is better qualified to carry out a suggestion than the one who makes it. if it can be clone by one person. The Unit is the basis, the foundation, always a good place to start understanding of any new project, thing, person, objective, that needs taking in baud.” (Work on desiring to work, and you’ll be extremely busy with some understanding task.)

“Loyalty to a Unit., or to Understanding, Inc., is admirable.  Loyalty to the ideas expressed and expounded, which expand understanding generally, is of greater importance.”

These thoughts are but a few that we should hold continually before us. To arrive at a point where we are completely one-pointed in service to establish higher understanding, is the. goal of all mankind. Many are the inspiring spiritual works to guide us heavenward; few are the guiding texts that so plainly and accurately spell out conditions of service. Get this Handbook! Broadcast this Handbook! Make it your useful tool!

Headquarters offers them for a donation of 50c and is accepting orders now. A delay in publication requires your patience and understanding for a few weeks longer. Thank you.

-Donald Knight, Unit 28

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YOUR QUESTIONS, PLEASE

The thought is borrowed from another New Age publication, with which we shall share your answers, for the suggestion is provocative! How often have you heard another ask, or have you personally felt, after hearing a lecture on UFO’s: Why didn’t so-and-so have more details on the craft itself, or on life in other worlds?

Suppose then that you are about your usual routines when unexpectedly you receive a mental contact from another planet. What

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would be your reactions, mentally and emotionally? Would you be ready with the questions most meaningful to your understanding of the opportunity granted you for an exchange of information? Remember, you do not know if the meeting of minds will be for a few minutes or for several hours.

What questions would you ask, and in what order of preference? We are very much interested in these queries and invite you to share yours with other Understanding members through this magazine. Consider then carefully what you truly desire to learn of life elsewhere-if given only three questions-if given a dozen questions! We shall await your letters at P.O. Box 76, Merlin, Ore.

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book reviews

The Curve of Development

(Daniel W. Fry, Ph.D. Softbound, $1.50. Merlin Publishing Co., P.O. Box 105, Merlin, Oregon 9×53?)

In this, his fifth book, Daniel W. Fry has bridged the gap between physics and metaphysics, religion and atheism. For all persons, young or old, he has offered a roadmap for the journey of each soul, beginning with the initial recognition of the existence of the individual, I Am, with many guides along the path, toward infinity.

This book considers the problems to be met and understood as the individual moves up the “curve of development,” constantly increasing in ability and manifestation, until at. last, he reaches the level of energy or light (heaven), where the spirit becomes independent of matter, and the body has little or no significance.

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First, this is the path which each human must follow; second each individual must achieve all of the powers and abilities inherent in each level of development; third-these abilities are not discarded when a new level is achieved, but are carried forward, as in any course of study, as long; as they are a necessary part of growth and development.

With honest and careful consideration, this roadmap enables each person to place himself upon the “curve of development” with considerable accuracy. As with any trip, the journey may be fast or slow as the individual desires-each human possesses free will to determine his own destiny!

Where do you stance on this fascinating journey, what lies ahead, what was the true meaning of the miracle of Jesus-we invite you to read this unique book for the answers!

Another view of Curve of Development:

Those of us who are familiar with Dr. Fry’s writings have come to expect to receive the fruits of a piercing insight. The Curve of Development is no disappointment-indeed while in his first two books Dr. D. W. Fry acted as the more or less passive reporter of his personal experiences, and in the second two books he analyzed some of the basic laws of the physical universe, in this latest work he has clearly demonstrated that the development of the human soul follows a definite, definable pattern.

The book includes a fascinating interpretation of Jesus’s mission on earth-in short The Curve of Development may raise some eyebrows, but it will undoubtedly afford its readers flashes of under-standing; some of the many pieces of the great jigsaw puzzle will be seen to fit more perfectly- than heretofore. Any book which gives more meaning to human life and experience should be investigated carefully- The Curve of Development is such a book.

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LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Mr. Fry:

With reference to your article in the August issue of Understanding magazine, entitled “Shirts, Buttons and Mars,” I believe that the Mariner-4 photos will definitely produce a few new buttons

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(in fact, a whole new shirt) in our concept of conditions on the Red Planet.

As you know, the pictures revealed a surface well covered with craters. As a result, it does not seem possible that, the “yellow” clouds frequently observed by astronomers can continue to be regarded as dust storms. Obviously, if this were so and the craters were millions of years old, as stated, they would long since have been filled with dust.

In fact, the Mariner photos and interpretation have proven to be so contradictory to all our previous interpretations of conditions on Mars that new theories are necessary. Another example: the statement that the Martian atmosphere is only eight miles in depth not only contradicts all previous findings of astronomers who have seen clouds at an estimated height of twenty or more miles but, unless qualified, is ridiculous. Mars is a smaller planet than Earth and the gravity is considerably less. Consequently, any atmosphere existing there would spread out to a height considerably greater than does earth’s. This is true regardless of the density. The present estimate is one or two percent of earth’s density. Traces of such an atmosphere should extend several thousand miles above the surface. Proof that it does is evident in the “drag” that is affecting the moon Phobos – a distance of thirty-seven hundred miles from Mars. Unquestionably, at this height, the air is much thinner than any vacuum we can devise. But it is there and because it is there at such a tremendous height., Mars shield against meteors is at least as good as, and probably better than, earth’s. Thus only the very largest of meteors could get through to the surface. Very likely, then, it would require millions of years for the Martian surface to acquire such a large number of “impact” craters. But. the “weathering” effects of the Martian atmosphere (and we do know liars has “weather”; we’ve seen the clouds, the polar caps and the color changes produced by the melting of the caps) would, over a period of time, remove all traces of these craters. In other words, they can’t exist—-but they do!

The only solution I can imagine is that they are of comparatively recent volcanic origin. -Or perhaps Mars has undergone an atomic war within the last millennium!

-Bill Crawford

18                                                  UNDERSTANDING

poet’s corner

To Thee I Impart

In tenderness lies a gift so pure

So deep, so true, so blessed, so sure

To give a full share from its depth …

But grow it must, and used, lest

It be lost, and rise and grow again

And again until TIME bears serene

The exchange that nurtures each

Soul Into a life so satisfying and in control …

So that in guided and guarded paths of accord …

Tenderness no longer strives, IT IS-of the Lord.

-Fern E. Schaefer

Nothing New

There is nothing new beneath the sun,

Only a deeper closer view,

The secrets of knowledge once begun

The Lord reveals to those who pursue.

So climb the mountains and plumb the seas,

Look closely at man and the way he goes,

Study the earth and Pleiades,

And the genes that govern the lovely rose.

OCTOBER, 1965                        19

Maybe you can discover a law

The Lord decreed in creations day,

One that holds mankind in awe,

And reveals to marl God’s perfect way.

-Gladys C. Winkleblack

——— ♦ ———

bulletin board

Dates to Remember

October 9 and 10-12th Annual Spacecraft Convention, Giant Rock Airport, California.

October 16 through 18, Understanding Annual Meeting, Merlin, Oregon.

October 30 and 31, Northern California Spacecraft Convention, Hotel Claremont, Berkeley, California.

Lectures Announced

The October Meeting; of Unit 67 will be held on Friday-, October 15, 8 P.M. at. 437 N. Kenmore Ave., Los Angeles, Calif. The speaker Will be Trevor James speaking on “Universal Energy.”

The November meeting will be held on Saturday, Nov. 20th, at 8 P.M. at 437 N. Kenmore Ave. also. Col. Harry May, USAF, will speak on “Understanding and UFO.”

Fall Activities

Unit 7 of Orange, California, is planning its schedule of Fall activities. Among the suggestions for Unit meetings are the following:

20                                                  UNDERSTANDING

Discussion groups, where information can be presented and discussed; Tape Sessions, for listening to taped space messages and past lectures by various sources of prophecy for these days based on the Bible, and a Prayer Circle using the Twelve Blessings, the Great Invocation, the Lord’s Prayer and others. The meetings may be held in the homes of various members.

Raymond L. Tippets at Riverside

On October 10th, at the Izaak Walton hall in Riverside, Unit 22 will present Raymond L. Tippets in “The Cross Circle Story.” The flyer announces that “Raymond’s research of material is very thorough and is of the oldest story- ever presented to Man-kind. The Cross Circle Story- goes back to the original Angleish Language which was the only language 7,200 years ago … He will define and . explain the symbols of our alphabet, with spiritual meanings and interpretations.”

Unexpected Trip

Dr. and Mrs. Daniel W. Fry left Merlin rather precipitously for an August 20th Ecumenical Congress in Edinburgh, Scotland. Details from abroad are sketchy but a lecture in London was included. Plan; to return to Merlin by September SO were altered, reasons unknown, and instead the Frys flew to Cairo, spent two days in the Holy- Land, a few in Athens and, as this goes to the printer, may be en route to San Francisco and Merlin via London.

We shall have a more complete story of the trip in the Nov. issue.

Plans for the Future

A most interesting annual report of a successful year by Unit 37 of Buffalo, New York, concludes with the following statement of plans: “In the coming year we hope to rent, buy or build a permanent. meeting place. We would like to operate a public reading room and house the ever growing library there that the public. may stop in, ask questions, pick up literature, read and borrow book, and listen to tapes.

“We feel that Understanding, Inc., has come of age. Our beliefs and ideas are becoming more acceptable every day. The public is more than ever willing and indeed eager to hear and learn. We must obtain the correct information and keep the public informed. With diligent and careful attention to our program the next important five years will make Understanding, Inc., a respected household word the World over.”

“ELIJAH”                                                                                            SPEAKS

For people with OPEN minds

The BARRIERS of FIXED OPINIONS not based upon REAL FACTS,

must be BROKEN DOWN.

MIGHT does not make RIGHT.

“UNDERSTANDING” is the ONLY ROAD

to REAL “PEACE”

In booklet form           $1.00, postpaid.

“ELIJAH,” 4022 Lake Ave., Lockport, N. Y.