(Sean’s notes: Pages 5 and 6 and 16 and 15 are duplicated in the original as they are here)

CONTENTS

December, 1972

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS   ……………             2

SUPER COMPUTER   ……..             3

SPECIAL TO UNDERSTANDING MAGAZINE   ……             5

EXAMINE ALL THINGS   ….             5

UNDERSTANDING CHRISTMAS   ……….             9

poet’s corner   ………….             11

UNDERSTANDING INC. ANNUAL MEETING   …….             14

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR   ……             15

world report   …………..             15

Bulletin board   ………..             22

——— ♦ ———

THE STAFF

EDITOR ……. Dr. DANIEL W. FRY

asst. editor ……………   kerttu campbell

circulation manager ………  clara A. ledbetter

staff artist …………..  gus tanasale

 

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UNDERSTANDING

VOLUME XVII                             DECEMBER 1972                                    NUMBER 11

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

THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS

(Modern Version)

Twas the night before Christmas,

And all through the streets,

Mobs of people were shopping,

For goodies and treats.

The buses were jammed,

Till no more could ride,

The stores were so crowded,

One could scarce get inside.

A gift for Aunt Hattie,

And one for my cousin,

Two more for the Jones’es

And the kids want a dozen!

My arms are so weary,

of bundles and bags,

My wallet is empty,

My Yule spirit sags!

2                                                    UNDERSTANDING

Although it’s the season,

Of goodwill and cheer,

I’m glad that it comes,

Only once in the year!

SUPER COMPUTER

Recently I was sitting quietly in the early morning, sipping my first cup and not thinking about anything in particular, when a thought entered my consciousness that was startling. “God is not dead, and he has a computer attuned to the consciousness of every living human being.” This computer is the source of every revealing human thought.

The profound clarity of this thought brought me alive immediately and I began to meditate in earnest; however, I did not receive any other thoughts then with same clear startling impact of the one above. I began to rummage through what sixty-two years of experience as a human being had revealed to me. I was shocked to note that nothing of particular significance had been revealed with the exception that God’s plan had given us enough knowledge to know that we must stop the carnage of wars and the destruction of our earth. We are plainly on the spot – it is the responsibility of our human element to implement and preserve this planet and the life there on or sink into oblivion.

The question arose – a computer? Answered by another question – where did humankind acquire the knowledge to make a computer? This was followed by an avalanche of questions – Who am I? Where did I come from? Did I choose to be who and what I am? I most certainly did not make the choice, therefore, I have to be a product of God’s computerized plan, put here for some purpose. I am convinced this holds true for all my fellow humankind, be they black, brown or yellow.

The last figures I have seen said there were 3.6 billion people on earth with no two of us exactly alike. Every one of us is different, and there is no knowledge on earth that could have done that – created so many without duplication.

Super Computer could be a misnomer, due to limitations of language, but it is the only thing we know of that can handle things in the billions with any accuracy. Please let me bring to your attention many other reasons that lend credence to a spiritual network attuned to each of us, surrounding us completely. We can now sit down anywhere with five or

DECEMBER 1972                     3

more radios tuned to different stations and get five different programs from all around the world. So we know there are radio waves all around

us all the time. Humankind can now push a button, open a lens and be-gin taking photographs millions of miles from earth. God, the creator of all, has a spiritual network more powerful than anything we can create.

It is from this network that messages come into our consciousness or unconsciousness, through dreams God is always trying to get us to hear him through these messages – having created us with the option of accepting him or rejecting him, but nevertheless receptive to these messages.

I thought back over my life, mostly after my mother’s passing. Always when confronted with danger, the correct message came into my consciousness clearly as to which course to follow for safety. I am alive; where did the message come from? On matters of right or wrong in dealing with my brothers and sisters, many times from the standpoint of having the advantage, the message came that proved to be that which was right. I invariably developed the father image among the majority of my brown and black brothers in many lands of God’s earth by obeying the instructions of these messages.

These messages have become known to us by various names such as premonition, intuition, instinct, hunches, sixth sense, and we are all familiar with them. Where do they come from? Since we cannot prevent them from coming, or direct their content is there any other explanation other than from a computer, programmed by God Almighty? Would not the creator of all have one far superior to our own? How many thousands of people already have had the electrical impulses emanating from their brains, measured and cataloged?

Vanished civilizations that lived here on earth thousands of years before the advent of writing and of record keeping believed in God? They left their symbols of God for us to see. God is the anchor of humankind; without God we are nothing. What else is there for us to relate to, when we can’t explain our existence. What limited knowledge we have shows it will cost nothing, not even intellectual discredit, to accept and believe in God.

Humankind of my age can readily admit that we were badly taught about God and religion as youngsters, yet we can’t blame anyone for this. It was not God’s plan for knowledge of that age to be understood as well as it is today.

4                                                    UNDERSTANDING

Experience has perhaps taught me after many years of uncertainty, toying with agnosticism – a result of the early teachings – that the only discipline required is to accept God as the creator of all we know about, ask for God’s guidance and obey God’s instructions. Only then will there be peace at home and abroad. God bless you.

Ross W. Tolbert

SPECIAL TO UNDERSTANDING MAGAZINE

New Delhi, India. Representatives of International Understanding and Great Western University were uniquely honored in India recently. They are Dr. and Mrs. Eugene E. Whitworth of San Francisco, California.

PRIME MINISTER RECEIVES FIRST COPY OF “THE SONG OF GOD”

The first copy of “The Song of God” is presented to Smt. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India. “The Song of God” is a modern American poetic setting of the ancient Hindu scripture called Bhagavad Gita. Over a five year period the concepts of the 3,500 year old scripture was simplified in concept and wordage and set as a lyric drama into free verse and sonnets. It is intended especially for readers with a Christian back-ground.

Shown above are: Dr. Eugene E. Whitworth, American poet; Smt. Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India; and Mrs. Ruth E. Whitworth, who is credited with the vast research which makes “Song of God” easy to read and understand.

The Indian press calls Dr. and Mrs. Whitworth “the singers of the Song of God”. They have been invited to spend the remainder of their lives as guests of Gita Ashrams of the World, and are introduced to Indian audiences as “Saints from America”.

DECEMBER 1972                     5

EXAMINE ALL THINGS

(It is the policy of Understanding, Inc. to offer its members and subscribers introductions to the work of other groups concerned with an expansion of mans understanding of Self and of the many worlds in which he lives.)

The Findhorn Foundation

Peter and Eileen Caddy with their three sons and a friend, Dorothy Maclean, in November of 1962, came to Findhorn Bay Caravan (Trailer) Park for what they considered a temporary stay. However, they were led to stay and to form a New Age Community on this unlikely spot, “which has offered a creative influence and inspiration to individuals and groups throughout the world”.

As it was an isolated, off the road community it at first, drew only those truly dedicated seekers of a better way of life, and thus, growth was slow. In the beginning of 1970 the group consisted of 15, by the end of the year of 45, and today, there are over 100 loyal, devoted members. While the initial effort, under spiritual and deva guidance, was to create a community and a garden in what seemed an impossible area, now the group has expanded its activities to include the Findhorn Studio and Shop, the beginnings of Findhorn College, publications, including books, as well as a theatre with drama, music and art. The work and philosophy of the Findhorn group has been aired by BBC television and brought many visitors and residents to Forres Park, Findhorn Bay, Morres, Scotland.

When granted, recently, recognition as Religious and Educational Charity, the aims and objectives of the Foundation were defined:

“The advancement of religion and religious studies and practices in any part of the world by teaching, example and demonstration of the validity of the essential truths of all religions and spiritual teachings and by such means to encourage and help those who sincerely seek by the increase of their knowledge and the development of their being, to achieve a greater understanding of the purpose and meaning of life and its relation-ship to God’s plan.”

From the beginning, the consciousness of the group abolished all sense of lack, and proceeded with seemingly impossible plans for buildings, gardens, etc., knowing that “all our needs are met”. And, so they were from many sources, funds arriving to meet all needs, the garden

6                                                    UNDERSTANDING

flourishing, helpers appearing on the scene – all in response to total and complete faith in the Divine Plan.

As stated in the Findhorn literature “…….from the beginnings, the intent has not been to create a garden nor to build a community, but to demonstrate a consciousness of attunement to the supreme link between all men, the Life of God. Because we live in a world of form and action, it has always been our further intent that this attunement be followed by action – Heaven brought down to Earth – in fact, the discipline of obedience to what is received in communion with God. It is this discipline of attunement to the will of God and obeying it that has built Find-horn over the years. No human consciousness, acting in its own self-locked way, could have achieved the miracles that we have seen manifested, month after month, year after year, since Findhorn began.”

While the community, originally, was dependent upon the communion of Peter and Eileen (Elixir) with the Divine, with time, others in the group established their own direct communion and attunements were shared. At first, “God’s Word through Elixir (Eileen) was the only source of spiritual guidance, but by 1968, it was realized that God within each of us was the true Source, and individual responsibility among the members grew.

With new members of varying talents joining the Findhorn Community activities expanded, and spiritual teachings led to greater awareness and personal transformations within the group. “Everything at Findhorn forces an individual to examine his own life and relationships more deeply and completely, and to draw out of himself new understanding, new perspectives and new patterns of behavior”.

Many young people have been drawn to Findhorn, amazed that intellectual theory and spiritual principles have been practiced and have worked! “Here we had the living pattern, the practical application, the training which balanced and complemented the theory and study.”

There is much more of interest concerning the Findhorn center, which cannot be conveyed in this brief introduction but which is offered by the Foundation in its many introductory publications. To further your own understanding of an exciting, practical spiritual approach to the New Age, why not write to: The Findhorn Foundation, Findhorn Bay, Forres, Moray, Scotland, asking for sample literature. (Donations to cover at least postage are much appreciated by all non-profit organizations.)

DECEMBER 1972                     5

EXAMINE ALL THINGS

(It is the policy of Understanding, Inc. to offer its members and subscribers introductions to the work of other groups concerned with an expansion of mans under-standing of Self and of the many worlds in which he lives.)

The Findhorn Foundation

Peter and Eileen Caddy with their three sons and a friend, Dorothy Maclean, in November of 1962, came to Findhorn Bay Caravan (Trailer) Park for what they considered a temporary stay. However, they were led to stay and to form a New Age Community on this unlikely spot, “which has offered a creative influence and inspiration to individuals and groups throughout the world”.

As it was an isolated, off the road community it at first, drew only those truly dedicated seekers of a better way of life, and thus, growth was slow. In the beginning of 1970 the group consisted of 15, by the end of the year of 45, and today, there are over 100 loyal, devoted members. While the initial effort, under spiritual and deva guidance, was to create a community and a garden in what seemed an impossible area, now the group has expanded its activities to include the Findhorn Studio and Shop, the beginnings of Findhorn College, publications, including books, as well as a theatre with drama, music and art. The work and philosophy of the Findhorn group has been aired by BBC television and brought many visitors and residents to Forres Park, Findhorn Bay, Morres, Scot-land.

When granted, recently, recognition as Religious and Educational Charity, the aims and objectives of the Foundation were defined:

“The advancement of religion and religious studies and practices in any part of the world by teaching, example and demonstration of the validity of the essential truths of all religions and spiritual teachings and by such means to encourage and help those who sincerely seek by the increase of their knowledge and the development of their being, to achieve a greater understanding of the purpose and meaning of life and its relation-ship to God’s plan.”

From the beginning, the consciousness of the group abolished all sense of lack, and proceeded with seemingly impossible plans for buildings, gardens, etc., knowing that “all our needs are met”. And, so they were from many sources, funds arriving to meet all needs, the garden

6                                                    UNDERSTANDING

flourishing, helpers appearing on the scene – all in response to total and complete faith in the Divine Plan.

As stated in the Findhorn literature “…….from the beginnings, the intent has not been to create a garden nor to build a community, but to demonstrate a consciousness of attunement to the supreme link between all men, the Life of God. Because we live in a world of form and action, it has always been our further intent that this attunement be followed by action – Heaven brought down to Earth – in fact, the discipline of obedience to what is received in communion with God. It is this discipline of attunement to the will of God and obeying it that has built Find-horn over the years. No human consciousness, acting in its own self-locked way, could have achieved the miracles that we have seen manifested, month after month, year after year, since Findhorn began.”

While the community, originally, was dependent upon the communion of Peter and Eileen (Elixir) with the Divine, with time, others in the group established their own direct communion and attunements were shared. At first, “God’s Word through Elixir (Eileen) was the only source of spiritual guidance, but by 1968, it was realized that God within each of us was the true Source, and individual responsibility among the members grew.

With new members of varying talents joining the Findhorn Community activities expanded, and spiritual teachings led to greater awareness and personal transformations within the group. “Everything at Findhorn forces an individual to examine his own life and relationships more deeply and completely, and to draw out of himself new understanding, new perspectives and new patterns of behavior”.

Many young people have been drawn to Findhorn, amazed that intellectual theory and spiritual principles have been practiced and have worked! “Here we had the living pattern, the practical application, the training which balanced and complemented the theory and study.”

There is much more of interest concerning the Findhorn center, which cannot be conveyed in this brief introduction but which is offered by the Foundation in its many introductory publications. To further your own understanding of an exciting, practical spiritual approach to the New Age, why not write to: The Findhorn Foundation, Findhorn Bay, Forres, Moray, Scotland, asking for sample literature. (Donations to cover at least postage are much appreciated by all non-profit organizations.)

DECEMBER 1972                     7

UNDERSTANDING CHRISTMAS

“Star of wonder, star of night, star of loyal beauty bright.”

There is something special about Christmas that makes people feel up-lifted. Many experience a feeling of wonder; they sense something taking place on a spiritual level that is a mystery to them. This is good . . . it should make them strive to understand. We are told that the good-will flowing between people on earth at Christmas is reflected in Heaven a hundredfold and lights it with joyousness.

Let us consider the Christmas story seriously. Over the years a few people, after much thought, have come to believe the story of the virgin birth of Christ to be legend . . . that His advent into the world was natural as all infants are born. Jesus said, “Into the world came I, the normal child of parents. No mysteries attended upon My birth, much as later man would have it . . . Men have taken liberties with truth, that truth and legend might be one, to enhance My prestige and deify Me whom they would serve as Lord.” (Golden Scripts Ch. 137, Verse 9 & 35.)

Does this idea impair your love of the age-old and truly beautiful story of the Christmas Nativity? It should not, for now we may look for other, symbolic meanings in this story, and have a firm foundation in truth as well. In time your appreciation of Christmas may be greater than ever.

Nevertheless, Jesus was born of a virgin, though not in the usually accepted sense. In esoteric language, a virgin is one who came from the Master Kingdom of the Elohim, not from Spiritland where mortal beings abide between lives on earth. In this sense Joseph and Jesus, as well as Mary, were virgins; they all came from the Master Kingdom.

In the ancient language, “city” means mystery, or something that is hidden from mortal eyes. Jesus was born in “Bethlehem”, the pure conscience. Many men have awakened part of their conscience, for that is what Bethlehem means. When the Christ Child is born in Bethlehem, a mortal man is starting to manifest his Christ consciousness.

“Jesus means flesh body; “Christ” means perfection. The man Jesus manifested a flesh body in physical, mental and spiritual perfection and thus was a Christ.

The “manger” represents the circumstances and conditions we must pass through to reach purity. A manger is found only in a stable, a home

8                                                    UNDERSTANDING

for animals of the field. As long as we lie in a manger of experience, we are undergoing purification.

The five pointed Star of Bethlehem represents man’s five physical senses and the gathering together of mortal knowledge. The six pointed star represents the higher, God-given faculties. Imagination works between the physical senses and the spiritual faculties to produce wisdom and understanding. It is when the high faculties are drawn down, and by imagination we are able to vision in the invisible, that we have an opportunity to reason with something above the physical. The sixth nerve center is in the middle of the forehead – it is the “all-seeing eye”, the center of wisdom. When it functions in completeness, the vision is clear and true, as Jesus demonstrated many times.

Shepherds in the distant fields saw the Star of Bethlehem which symbolized the five physical senses of man operating in purity. They were aware of wonder and the desire to worship something greater than earth had to offer.

Three Kings stand for three states of consciousness. The first is the sub-conscious, or that of which we are aware but do nothing about. The second is the submerged consciousness, or knowledge of all our lives, including the pattern of the current life. The third is the super consciousness, or the ability and capacity of joining all in one. The gift of gold is the gift of wisdom. Frankincense stood for the essence of which all things are made; and myhrr symbolizes the perception of spiritual truths.

The dream of peace is universal. Why is it so difficult for mankind to realize it? Causes of war between nations arise from the same frictions that cause animosity between individual men. The peace that is of Christ demands justice. Peace will not abide with mankind unless through justice there is equitable treatment for all. Men and nations in conflict do not want to accept equitable settlement based in truth. But peace is also rooted in patience, and we must believe that differences can be worked out, even if it requires divine intervention in the affairs of men. When the Great Ones sent forth the message, “Peace on earth, good will toward men”, it contained love and hope for mankind. In the words of the beautiful carol:

For to the days are hastening on,

By prophet bard foretold

When with the ever-circling years

Comes round the age of gold;

DECEMBER 1972                     9

When peace shall over all the earth

Its ancient splendors fling

And the whole world give back the song

Which now the angels sing.

May yours be a Christmas blessed with awareness of Christ’s great love.

Margaret Little

CONSIDER THE CONCEPT

“Jesus led men to feel at home in the world; he delivered them from the slavery of taboo and taught them that the world was not fundamentally evil. He did not long to escape from his earthly life; he mastered a technique of acceptably doing the Father’s will while in the flesh. He attained an idealistic religious life in the very midst of a realistic world. Jesus did not share Paul’s pessimistic view of humankind. The Master looked upon men as the sons of God and foresaw a magnificent and eternal future for those who chose survival. He was not a moral skeptic; he viewed man positively, not negatively. He saw most men as weak rather than wicked, more distraught than depraved. But no matter what their status, they were all God’s children and his brethren.

He taught men to place a high value upon themselves in time and in eternity. Because of this high estimate which Jesus placed upon men, he was willing to spend himself in the unremitting service of humankind. And it has this infinite worth of finite that made the golden rule a vital factor in his religion. What mortal can fail to be uplifted by the extra-ordinary faith Jesus was in him?”

The Urantia Book, Page 2093

 ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦ 

Material technology will emphasize the exploration of Outer Space but the Light will come only to those who begin to explore “inner” space. Man must come to know himself as a Divine Being and let that manifest through him.

Nellie Cain

10                                                  UNDERSTANDING

poet’s corner

CHRISTMAS ON MARS

A Scholastic Awards Entry (1959)

By Joseph Billiams

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. High School

Elizabeth, New Jersey

T’was the night before Christmas and all around Mars,

Not a spaceship was flying; there were only the stars.

The spaceboots were hung by the atom pile with care.

In hope that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,

While visions of meteors streaked through their heads;

And Mamma in her spacegown, and I in my cap,

Had just settled down for a long Martian nap, –

When down by the spaceship there rose such a clatter,

I sprang from my bunk crying, “What is the matter?”

Away to the porthole I flew like a flash,

Tore open the spacelock and threw up the sash.

The lights on the breast of the volcanic ash,

DECEMBER 1972                     11

Gave the dullness of dust to the refracting glass;

When, what to my wondering lens should appear,

But a flying saucer, and eight tiny reindeer.

With a little old pilot, so lively and quick

I knew in a moment it must be Saint Nick.

More rapid than rockets his coursers they came,

And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

“Now, Blaster! now, Dancer! now, Trancer and Vixen!

On, Comet! on Cupid! on Thunder and Blitzen!

To the top of the bubble! to the top of the ball!

Now, blast away! flash away! dash away all!”

As rockets which before the wild enemy fly,

When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky,

So up on the bubble the coursers they flew,

With a spaceship full of toys – and St. Nicholas too!

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof,

The blasting and clawing of each tiny hoof.

As I closed down the spacelock, and was turning around,

Down the spacetube St. Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed in a spacesuit, from his head to his foot,

His clothes were all spotted with space dust and soot!

A bundle of toys he had flung on his back,

And he looked like a Venusian just opening his pack;

His eyes – how they twinkled! his dimples,

how merry! His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!

His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,

And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

He was a plump little Martian; a right jolly old elf;

And I laughed, when I saw him, in spite of myself.

A blink of his eyes, and a scratch of his head,

Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

12                                                  UNDERSTANDING

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,

And filled all the stockings – on his face was a smirk,

And laying his finger aside of his nose,

And giving a nod, up the spacetube he rose.

He sprang to his spaceship, and gave it a blast,

And away they all flew, in a silvery cast.

But I heard him exclaim, ere he soared out of sight,

“Merry Christmas to all and to all a good night!”

UNDERSTANDING INC. ANNUAL MEETING

The Annual Business Meeting and Workshop of Understanding, Inc. were held at the International Cultural Center of Understanding in Merlin, October 14 and 15. While we would that more Units might have been present in person rather than by proxy, we did share the activities of several Units through their very interesting yearly reports.

We salute the officers for the year 1972-73 and wish them a rewarding year of service to Understanding, Inc.

President: Dr. Daniel W. Fry; Executive Vice-President: Mr. William A. Mansfield; Vice-President: Dr. Olin Byerly and Mr. T. Yale Hurt. Honorary International Directors: Mr. Per Axel Atterbom and Miss Edith Nicolaisen of Sweden; Mr. Anthony Brooke of England; and Mr. Herbert D. Clark of Canada.

National Directors: Dr. Daniel W. Fry; Mr. Harvey Campbell; Mrs. Angela Kilsby; Mr. Thomas Tucker; Mr. Don Bohnert; Mrs. Tahahlita Fry; Mr. Edward T. O’Connor; Mrs. Wilma E. Thompson; and Mr. Lee Yates.

National Officers: Recording Secretary: Mrs. Florence Bohnert; Treasurer: Mrs. Kerttu Campbell; Corresponding Secretary: Mr. Otto E. Arndt; Subscriptions: Mrs. Clara E. Ledbetter; Membership and Organization: Mrs. Florence Bohnert; Geographic Files: Mrs. Esther Ellsworth; and Friendship by Mail Chairman: Mrs. Melva Campbell.

Copies of the Minutes of the Meeting and year-end Fiscal Reports are being mailed to all Units and members in good standing.

The Sunday morning Worship, concerned with implementation of Dr. Fry’s proposal – THE AREA OF MUTUAL AGREEMENT – was a lively session as those present contributed of their understanding of the thesis. The primary result seemed to be a needed clarification of the con-

DECEMBER 1972                     13

fusion still existing as to the nature of the Proposals to be submitted to a World Congress for consideration. The proposals sought in the Social

Sciences are to be in the areas in which men now do agree, not for areas in which he should agree. Further, it was stressed again that the proposals sought are not now concerned with how they may be universally applied. Their present purpose is to determine the basic areas of agreement among men.

With the Annual Meetings concluded, Dr. Fry leaves today (10/16) for a cross country lecture tour lasting through November. Perhaps he will pass your way!

LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

Dear Dr. Fry:

Sometime ago we sent to Joseph and Louise Busby (Voice Universal) a copy of the AREA OF MUTUAL AGREEMENT and asked for their comment. We received a letter from their Spiritual Unity of Nations headquarters in South Africa, giving permission to print in the Under-standing Magazine, this quote from their letter.

“Thank you for sending a copy of the Area of Mutual Agreement. Yes, it is good, and we have read it from beginning to the end. Mutual agreement means just what is written . . . It must be agreement reached on both sides. Agreement means that people agree to differ and yet are able to shelve their differences for the good of the whole. We are moving more and more into the state of ‘Equilibrium’ and balance – a balance brought about by sharing – sharing of our highest ideas, sharing of understanding, sharing of all that we have, for the good of the whole.”

This is a good time for us to order more copies of the Area of Mutual Agreement pamphlets for the Inglewood Understanding group. The enclosed check is for 80 more copies.

In understanding,

Dorothy and Steve Stevens #15

 ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦  ♦ 

 

You are not here to live within yourself, with a wall around you; but You are here to love and to render service to your fellowman.

Louis Conde (Lahissa)

14                                                  UNDERSTANDING

world report

Cooperation Results

Medford Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore., 8-28-72

MOSCOW (UPI) -The Soviet Union says with American help its Mars flights “achieved considerable success” in exploring that planet.

The official Tass news agency outlined last week the preliminary findings of the Soviet Mars 2 and 3 probes “which have completed their exploratory programs.”

The unmanned flights swung into Mars orbit nine months ago. Mars 2 released a capsule which apparently crashed on the Martian surface. Mars 3 successfully parachuted a capsule onto the surface Dec. 2.

Of the Mars 3 capsule, Tass said last week:

“The signals of its panoramic TV cameras were received at the planned time along two independent channels simultaneously. The signals came through clearly and without static but transmission did not last long. So far there is no clear understanding of reasons why the transmission stopped abruptly.”

Tass said the investigation continues.

“Measurements were simultaneously conducted by the Soviet stations and the American satellite Mariner 9,” Tass said.

“The putting of the Soviet and American space automats in Martian orbit, their equipment mutually supplementary scientific instruments, their simultaneous long-functioning and the exchange of information between Soviet and American scientists all helped to achieve considerable progress in probing Mars.”

None of the findings reported by Tass indicated the existence of life on Mars. It said:

– Mars is an even drier planet than scientists supposed and has a surface atmospheric pressure about 200 times less than that on Earth.

DECEMBER 1972                     15

– The surface temperature ranges from 56 degrees to 135 degrees be-low zero and drops to 165 degrees below zero near the northern polar cap.

– Heat conductivity of Martian soil is low and accords with that of dry sand or dry dust in a rare atmosphere.

– Water vapor content is 2,000 times less than in the Earth’s atmosphere.

New Hybridization Technique

Medford Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore., 8-18-1972

 WASHINGTON (UPI) – Raising the possibility of brand new food crops for a hungry world, scientists reported their first success in growing a mature and fertile plant from genetic cells of different parentage.

Their achievement at mating the cells in a test tube also presents the potential for developing crops so resistant to disease and pests that chemical protection would no longer be needed.

The new method of producing plants specially tailored to the needs of man was developed by research biologists of the atomic energy commission’s Brookhaven National Laboratory at Upton, N.Y.

The Brookhaven hybrid “is extremely significant to agriculture,” the report said “because it represents the potential for genetically developing totally new crop species or the modification of existing species having improved yield and resistance to disease and insects.”

“For example,” the report said, “one can imagine that it may be possible to devise plants which produce edible food above ground and an edible root below ground. This could cause our present concepts of world food production to be changed markedly.”

It will take a lot more work to turn the Brookhaven technique into a revolution of the world’s agriculture.

But, said Dr. Carlson, “the remaining problems are technical rather than theoretical. We know what can be done.”

Police Seek UFO

The Cleveland Press, 9-15-72

Deputies in Burlington, Colo., searched for an unidentified flying object as “big as a house” but failed to find any sign of it. A farm family reported the UFO landed in a field of tall corn and took off again.

“I don’t really think we’re going to find any little green men but these are responsible people who reported this,” said Kit Carson County Sheriff

16                                                  UNDERSTANDING

George Hubbard yesterday.

Mrs. Geraldine Ludwig said the object landed once, then shot back into the sky and “got real bright. Then it came back down. It lit up in the field. It was round and it was big and it looked like rays were coming out of it. It was as big as a house and it was a strange white glowing object.

Hubbard said the object’s description was similar to one sighted by a sheriff in Colby, Kan., 75 miles east of Burlington, a few weeks ago. “I know these people personally,” Hubbard said. “I don’t know what it was but they saw something.”

UFO Over Merlin

Daily Courier, Grants Pass, Ore., 9-27-72

At least three persons contacted the sheriff’s office and state police Tuesday night to report a bright green object “falling through the sky” over the Merlin area.

A Merlin woman told deputies that she and her husband saw the object shortly after 9:30 p.m. as they were northbound towards Merlin on Interstate 5.

Merlin is national center for Understanding, which is involved in such matters.

The object “looked green in color but was much bigger and brighter than a falling star,” she said.

No traces of the falling object were found, or little green men either.

Sheriff Gets UFO Reports

Roseburg (Ore.) News Review, Sept. 1972

The UFO’s are back again!

Numerous sightings of unidentified flying objects were reported to the sheriff’s office and to a local radio station Thursday night.

All the reports were similar – a bright object displaying red, green and white flashing lights observed directly overhead in the sky.

Jerry Walker of Glide called the sheriff’s office at 11:34 p.m. saying he was seeing two flying objects, one appearing over Roseburg and the other appearing in the direction of Sutherlin.

Early Saturday morning of last week two calls came in from residents east of Sutherlin who reported seeing similar flying phenomena about a mile directly up about 1:20 a.m.

The object or objects were too high and too indistinct for identity.

DECEMBER 1972                     15

– The surface temperature ranges from 56 degrees to 135 degrees be-low zero and drops to 165 degrees below zero near the northern polar cap. -Heat conductivity of Martian soil is low and accords with that of dry sand or dry dust in a rare atmosphere.

– Water vapor content is 2,000 times less than in the Earth’s atmosphere.

New Hybridization Technique

Medford Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore., 8-18-1972

WASHINGTON (UPI) – Raising the possibility of brand new food crops for a hungry world, scientists reported their first success in growing a mature and fertile plant from genetic cells of different parentage. Their achievement at mating the cells in a test tube also presents the potential for developing crops so resistant to disease and pests that chemical protection would no longer be needed.

The new method of producing plants specially tailored to the needs of man was developed by research biologists of the atomic energy commission’s Brookhaven National Laboratory at Upton, N.Y.

The Brookhaven hybrid “is extremely significant to agriculture,” the report said “because it represents the potential for genetically developing totally new crop species or the modification of existing species having improved yield and resistance to disease and insects.”

“For example,” the report said, “one can imagine that it may be possible to devise plants which produce edible food above ground and an edible root below ground. This could cause our present concepts of world food production to be changed markedly.”

It will take a lot more work to turn the Brookhaven technique into a revolution of the world’s agriculture.

But, said Dr. Carlson, “the remaining problems are technical rather than theoretical. We know what can be done.”

Police Seek UFO

The Cleveland Press, 9-15-72

Deputies in Burlington, Colo., searched for an unidentified flying object as “big as a house” but failed to find any sign of it. A farm family reported the UFO landed in a field of tall corn and took off again.

“I don’t really think we’re going to find any little green men but these are responsible people who reported this,” said Kit Carson County Sheriff

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George Hubbard yesterday.

Mrs. Geraldine Ludwig said the object landed once, then shot back into the sky and “got real bright. Then it came back down. It lit up in the field. It was round and it was big and it looked like rays were coming out of it. It was as big as a house and it was a strange white glowing object.

Hubbard said the object’s description was similar to one sighted by a sheriff in Colby, Kan., 75 miles east of Burlington, a few weeks ago. “I know these people personally,” Hubbard said. “I don’t know what it was but they saw something.”

UFO Over Merlin

Daily Courier, Grants Pass, Ore., 9-27-72

At least three persons contacted the sheriff’s office and state police Tuesday night to report a bright green object “falling through the sky” over the Merlin area.

A Merlin woman told deputies that she and her husband saw the object shortly after 9:30 p.m. as they were northbound towards Merlin on Interstate 5.

Merlin is national center for Understanding, which is involved in such matters.

The object “looked green in color but was much bigger and brighter than a falling star,” she said.

No traces of the falling object were found, or little green men either.

Sheriff Gets UFO Reports

Roseburg (Ore.) News Review, Sept. 1972 The UFO’s are back again!

Numerous sightings of unidentified flying objects were reported to the sheriff’s office and to a local radio station Thursday night.

All the reports were similar – a bright object displaying red, green and white flashing lights observed directly overhead in the sky.

Jerry Walker of Glide called the sheriff’s office at 11:34 p.m. saying he was seeing two flying objects, one appearing over Roseburg and the other appearing in the direction of Sutherlin.

Early Saturday morning of last week two calls came in from residents east of Sutherlin who reported seeing similar flying phenomena about a mile directly up about 1:20 a.m.

The object or objects were too high and too indistinct for identity.

DECEMBER 1972                     17

Life Out There?

Daily Courier, Grants Pass, Ore., 10-14-72

VIENNA (UPI) – An American scientist said today intelligent civilizations probably have existed in outer space for billions of years and suggested they are trying to make Earth a member of the galactic community. “In all likelihood intelligent civilizations have existed in the galaxy for four or five billion years,” said Bernard M. Oliver of the Hewlett Packard Co., of Palo Alto, Calif.

Hunt for Fabled Yeti

Medford (Ore.) Mail Tribune, 9-26-72

BANGKOK (UPI) – A Himalayan expedition by a group of young American Scientists hopeful of uncovering clues to the legendary Abominable Snowman got underway today with the departure of the first in the group to leave for Nepal.

Edwin W. Cronin Jr., 28, a Wilmington, Del. wildlife biologist, left for Katmandu where he will wait for six others in the party, then set off together by truck and a 10-day hike to remote eastern Nepal.

The group plans to spend 15 months observing wildlife in steep forested regions at 8,000 to 14,000-foot altitudes.

The young scientists, although planning to make observations on many of the region’s plant and animal life, rate their chances as better than anyone before them in spotting, photographing-and they talk even of temporarily capturing – the mighty Yeti, subject of lore and legend for ages.

The scientists are convinced an ape-like creature existed in Himalayan climes in prehistory and say there is evidence that it exists today.

Like Being There

Daily Courier, Grants Pass, Ore., 7-18-72

Navy engineers in San Diego have put together an aquatic robot with a remotely controlled television camera. The camera is guided by the head motions of an above-water operator. Every time he turns or tilts his head, the underwater camera does the same, transmitting an image to a television screen held in front of the operator by a head harness.

Other systems under development may eventually provide three-dimensional vision, hearing and even a rudimentary sense of a feeling by means of manipulators electronically controlled by movements of the

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operator’s hands and fingers.

The engineers look to a time when a man, sitting in a warm, dry, safe environment, can “swim” to virtually unlimited depths, turning his head to look here and there as he performs such tasks as manipulating valves on oil rigs, collecting sea bottom samples or opening hatches on sunken vessels.

Such “tele-operators” would be even more effective than an actual man on the scene, who would be hampered by cumbersome life-support equipment and the emotional stresses of a hazardous situation.

While the Navy is interested only in terrestrial applications, it is possible that someday astronauts, sitting in shirtsleeves in orbiting command modules, will remotely explore such hostile planets as Jupiter or Venus through sensory hookups with robots on the surface.

Plastics in the Sargasso Sea

Daily Courier, Grants Pass, Ore., 7-5-72 by Joseph L. Myler

WASHINGTON (UPI) – The Sargasso Sea, that vast region of the North Atlantic which lies between the Azores and the West Indies, is a warm and relatively still area, bounded by ocean currents which impart to it a slight swirling motion that tends to concentrate floating objects toward its center. The name comes from sargassum, a seaweed, which covers areas with dense mats.

Actually, the seaweeds do not constitute an impenetrable mass, as legend often had it. They occur only in drifts. However, the Sargasso Sea has accumulated many things, besides ships, including marine creatures not found elsewhere, lumps of petroleum, and now concentrations of bits and pieces of refuse from the new Age of Plastics.

It may turn out that this strange sea in the ocean is one source of PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) which have contaminated a host of plants and animals throughout the Atlantic.

While sampling the western Sargasso Sea, scientists found plastic particles in numbers running to more than 9,000 per square mile. They appeared to have lost the substances that made them plastic in the first place, substances which have become part of the marine ecology. Most of the netted plastics were brittle pellets. Larger samples included such items as syringe needle shields, cigar holders and junk jewelry.

Where did the plastics come from? Some of the sampled areas were within major shipping lanes. The sampling station closest to land was 145 miles northeast of Bermuda. The station nearest the continent was

DECEMBER 1972                     19

559 miles Southeast of New York City.

Scientists found that the little plastic pellets had provided a surface for growth of tiny marine organisms such as diatoms and hydroids, and perhaps bacteria. What will be the consequence of this?

Since the world has been mass producing plastics for only a little more than 25 years, the discoveries in the Sargasso Sea provide a rough idea of how little time it takes for man to mess up his environment.

Bulletin board

Books Received

We acknowledge with appreciation the many books received, in recent months, for our Understanding Library. Our thanks to:

Dwight H. Buckley for his UNITIVE REALITY;

Heather Buckley for her SCIENCE OF MIND and CONVERSATIONS WITH THE BEYOND (reviewed Oct. 1972), and also for THERE IS A LAW by Hope Naylor, and EVOLUTION OF MAN, 206,000,000 Years on Earth, by Mark-Age Associates (reviewed Aug. 1971);

Margherita Vassen for SUNRISE, Anita in Tala and Enrica (reviewed July 1972);

Merta Mary Parkinson for THE AWAKENING;

Ellen Ethel Gibbs for Lahissa Conde’s LIFE IS AS YOU GIVE IT;

Vantage Press for Louise F. Wyatt’s GETTING OFF THE WHEEL; and

Swan House Publishing Company for Louis C. Kervran’s BIOLOGICAL TRANSMUTATIONS (reviewed November 1972).

We regret that we cannot review all the fine books received. Space is a

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factor at times, and lack of reviewers at other times, but we are grateful for all contributions.

Should any of our members wish to review books received, please write the Editors of Understanding Magazine at Merlin. Your assistance would be most welcome.

Christmas Gift Subscriptions

There still is time to order your Christmas Gift Subscriptions for family, friends, public libraries, etc. We urge you to take advantage of our special Gift Subscription price of only Two Dollars for the year. All requests received by December 15th will be honored at this special price, and a gift card will be enclosed with the first issue mailed.

We count upon you to share with others our goal of “a better under-standing among all peoples of earth, and of those not of earth”.

All orders should be sent to Understanding, Inc., P.O. #206, Merlin, Ore., 97532.

An Apology

Our sincere apologies to Rev. Rowland Henry, Chaplain of Unit #37, Buffalo, N.Y. It has been called to our attention that we omitted his name from the roster of New Officers for the Unit, in our August issue. Belated congratulations to you Rev. Henry, and we are sorry for the omission.

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