Since the “Sword of Damocles,” (in the form of unlimited nuclear weapons) was first suspended over the heads of all mankind, Hamlet’s dilemma has become an ever pressing question for Society, Government and all of our present Civilization. Millions of words have been written, thousands of impassioned pleas have been made from the pulpits and the podiums of the world, and hundreds of political meetings, at all levels of government, have been held in relatively futile attempts to cope with the problem.

We have learned, after a fashion, to live with the danger, but as yet we have not found any truly practical means of eliminating, or of substantially reducing it. The sword is still there, and constantly growing in size and weight. During the past twenty years, the best we have been able to accomplish, is to persuade our political leaders not to swing their diplomatic razors too close to the hair that suspends it. (During past periods of political “Brinkmanship” the hair was actually nicked upon several occasions.) Ten years ago, the Geneva Disarmament Talks began, in an international effort to reduce the danger to all of humanity. The talks are still going on, but today the total of world armament is more than ten times as great as it was when they began. It is clear that, in this field

2 UNDERSTANDING

as in many others, there is little or no relationship between political words and political actions. The present world stockpile of nuclear weapons alone, now equals the explosive power of 15 tons of T.N.T. (30,000 pounds) for each and every man, woman and child on Earth, and still more bombs are being added to the stockpile every year!

To any thinking person, it must seem a trifle extravagant to manufacture weapons with the explosive power of 30,000 pounds of T.N.T., simply to kill each person on earth, when it must be realized that a tenth of an ounce of ordinary black powder, behind a steel jacketed bullet, would do the killing just as quickly and just as permanently!

In the question period following almost every lecture delivered by your editor, someone will ask if he believes there is intelligent life on other planets somewhere in the Galaxy. His answer is always the same. “I have no doubt that there is intelligent life on many of the planets of the Universe, and the belief encourages me in the hope that some day there may be intelligent life on this one!

THAT PEACE WITHIN

IT WAS Samuel Johnson’s contention that, in order for man to evaluate anything, there had to be comparisons. Therefore, to arrive at peace, by-product of wise bilateral leadership, we must, by comparing the ingredients which go into making war, discover which ingredients make for peace. We must search for the real truths, as the late Dr. Johannes Greber did and, in finding them, come by inner peace.

Peter studied the outline to promote better understanding among the faiths. This feeling runs deep through all strata of human society. “What,” he asked, “are the great, true religions of the world?” “There are only four, in order of age, Brahminism, Buddhism, Judeo-Christianism and Moslemism. In a sense, though, you could place even these into two giant categories, Brahmin-Buddhist and Judeo-Cristo-Moslem.”

“But what about spiritualism?”

“All incorporate spiritualism into their doctrines, if not into their practices. All agree that the Creator is Spirit. But they have also assumed into their man-made ‘digestive systems’ fragments from floundering faiths, from Nimrod, who founded the first triune-godhead, down to the present.”

To attain understanding within their respective sects, patience and tolerance

OCTOBER 1972 3

are usually taught. All religions worthy of the name, particularly the ancient Greek and Hindu pantheistic systems, taught of a profound love – treat your neighbor kindly, as you yourself would like to be treated.

Not fourteen generations from Adam to David, and not fourteen generations from David to Christ – but a code, long since forgotten. There have been some sixty generations from Christ to the present time. Yet we have indisputable evidence that homo sapiens, with even a larger brain than now, existed more than a million years ago. Brahmins, Buddhists and their kindred creeds, teach that man first arose as a rational creature between three and four million years ago.

This worship of the East, though polytheistic, has come to the conclusion that there must have been a First Cause. No deeply thinking and thoroughly logical person, however, can visualize life taking form out of chaos. Even chaos must have a beginning.

For the millennia before the Deluge, there appears to be no established religion of a man-made nature. There is no record, either, of any great war for a long period.

Yet the Book of Enoch, covering the origin of man and life in pre-flood times, was removed from the Bible some sixteen hundred years ago by Jerome. This Book of Enoch, covering the origin of man and life in pre-flood times, was removed from the Bible some sixteen hundred years ago by Jerome. This Book declares that the Lord of Spirits was worshipped quite faithfully. That is, until “angels”, sent down to earth by the Lord of Spirits to teach mankind both further truths and to help him advance more rapidly as an earthman, fell athwart the exiled Lucifer (Azazel, who had dragged down into the earthy spheres a third of the heavenly population; also Rev. 12:4) and taught mankind, instead of truths, contact with false gods, magic, astrology, neocracy, making of weapons from iron, battle strategy, enmity and hatred.

Then these erstwhile good spirits mated with earthlings, by a process not known today, and produced evil giants (Gn. 6:1-4).

More of truth has been lost than we now possess, partly because of our preoccupation with and reliance on material wealth. Sidhartha Gautama and Jesus of Nazareth preached love, kindness, tolerance, patience in order to obtain peace. It would appear that Buddha prepared the way for Christ, just as the legendary Osiris of Egypt prepared the way for both. Yet, as Alfred Loisy said near the turn of the last century (and for which heresey his church persecuted him to his death), great truths seldom last

4 UNDERSTANDING

very long after the deaths of their discoverers.

Militants and pacifists in our day state that they seek peace, but peace as an outgrowth of self-discipline must be born first within the individual and shine forth as a light. Christ was the greatest of all religio-social exponents because he added to the old formula which is constant among all religions. His adding to the formula set his doctrines apart.

“Even the worst criminal loves those close to him,” Jesus said, “but you must go further. You must love all things. You must love even your enemies.”

One does not find truth by consorting with liars. This is axiomatic; even a child understands it. Yet supposedly mature persons flock to séances of lowly character, to fortune-tellers and to astrologers by the millions the world over, trying to uncover the truth from sources patently far removed from the Source of truth.

Today, unfortunately, all religions have a dangerously paganistic flavor. However, no new corporate entity is advocated; rather, those in existence should endeavor to alter, in humility, their modus operandi with regard to searching and preaching. There are too many blind followers in high places. The blind make poor leaders of the blind.

When all men have the truth firmly in their hands and act upon it, there will ensue that peace of which the prophets of old sang.

Rex Eidson

WHEN YOU SAY “I UNDERSTAND.” BE SURE THAT YOU MEAN IT!

(This article originally appeared in THE MARCAP NEWS on June 29, 1972, and is reprinted here with the permission of Orbit Publications, a division of MARCAP COUNCIL, Arlington, Wash.)

The words “I understand” have become to cliché in our English-speaking world of today that we usually accept them as an acknowledge-ment rather than to consider that the person who utters those words truly does understand. We have good cause to ignore the real meaning of the words, since so few truly do understand while at the same time they say, “I understand”! Perhaps such people would be much more honest to say, “I heard you,” for that is usually what they mean, but the truth of that statement is also highly questionable in most cases.

When you utter words to another person, they may have heard you, but they usually interpret your message according to their own data and experience or according to their own style. They look for hidden

OCTOBER 1972 5

meanings, significances, aspersions, implications, etc. They do this be-cause people teach each other to make assumptions and search for meanings rather than to be direct, clear, and open. Saying words to another person does not mean that that person will understand your message at all It merely means that they will turn your message into something that they do understand and that, usually, is their own style of communication! They know what they would have meant if they had said what you said, but they do not know what you mean; they do not understand you. Yet they say, “I understand” to you, when they should be saying it to themselves really! They understand self, but they have altered your message and this does not allow for understanding of you.

It is a common practice of non-entities to manifest intellectual ability and intelligence which they do not really have. They borrow data from print and other sources in order to be able to converse! They seek data in order to be able to tell someone about it and to win the admiration of the receipt point for their knowledge ability. They mimic anything that sounds intelligent. They use words they have heard without truly under-standing the meaning of the words or even how to spell those words, or their proper usage in the construction of a message, written or spoken.

Pseudo intellectuals and non-entities are like parrots. They can mouth great messages without the least comprehension of those messages. Yet they often say, “I understand”!

Perhaps we should all learn to ask, when someone says, “I understand” in answer to a communication we have given to them, “Okay, tell me in your own words what it is that you understand.” Verification is more often needed than not, in communication. The need to repeat was seen often in the early days of radio, for example. Repetition of a message by a relay terminal should be definitely a part of the rules of communication. If we think that the relay terminal really got the message and duplicated it, we can often be surprised at how the relay terminal leaves out key phrases or misinterprets key words, or adds his own emotion to the message, and countless other methods of altering the message.

It is a good idea to actually appraise your own comprehension before saying, “I understand,” rather than to say it and then be found out as a prevaricator, whether intentional or not. You can handle this very quickly once you form the good habit of doing so. You can simply take the A-R-C triangle (affinity, reality, and communication) and ask your-self whether the other person’s message is real to you, whether it was clearly communicated to you, and whether you are interested enough

6 UNDERSTANDING

and have affinity enough to give the right amount of the required attention in order to comprehend. Further, you can ask yourself what that person means by what he is saying, rather than what you would have meant if you had said it. Then, if the meaning of the originator is real to you and you have sufficient attention in order to duplicate the message and its clear meaning, all is well. But if there is any part of the communication that has not been made clear, you must learn to ask for clarification — and only then can you honestly say, “I understand”!

E. Blanche Pritchett, Ph.D.

ESSAY CONTEST

Understanding, Inc. announces an ESSAY CONTEST based upon the AREA OF MUTUAL AGREEMENT proposal of Dr. Daniel W. Fry. This thesis proposes a World Congress to determine the “areas of mutual agreement” in the Social Sciences such as long ago were determined for the Physical Sciences. A copy of this booklet will be mailed to each contestant upon request, and the portion of the booklet which describes the purpose and nature of the World Congress will be published in the next issue of this magazine.

The purpose of the contest is to obtain a preliminary list of short and simple proposals to be submitted to the World Congress on THE AREA OF MUTUAL AGREEMENT in the Social Sciences.

Prizes offered: First Prize – $50.00; Second Prize – $25.00; Third Prize – $10.00; Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Prizes – $5.00 each; Seventh through Tenth Prizes – One year free subscription to the Understanding Magazine.

All entries become the property of Understanding, Inc., and prize winning entries will be published in the magazine.

The closing date is November 30th. The judges will be the editors of the Understanding Magazine and Mrs. Florence Bohnert.

No single proposal shall be more than 40 words in length, and each shall have a direct bearing upon the relationship of man to his fellowman and/or upon the means by which this relationship may be made more successful, more productive or more enduring. A list of ten or more such proposals shall constitute an entry in this contest.

Two sample proposals, taken from the booklet entitled “The Area of Mutual Agreement” follow:

1. Resolved: That it is more desirable that all persons should have available to them, a sufficient amount of nourishing food, than that

OCTOBER 1972 7

most of them should suffer constantly from hunger and malnutrition.

2. Resolved: That it is better that man should live in peace and cooperation with his neighbor, than that his works and his goods should be destroyed and he be maimed or killed in battle with his fellow-man.

The contest is open to everyone except the Judges and their immediate families, so begin now to list your ideas as to the proposals which should be submitted to the World Congress.

WITH CHELA IN QUITO

When we first met, Chela had just climbed the eight-block cobblestone road leading to our hilltop adobe house in Quito. The steep ascent, plus the heat of a mid-day equatorial sun, had left her a bit short of breath. On first impression, I took her to be beyond her thirty-three years. But on later occasions she was to seem much younger – at times even girlish.

She was almost five feet tall – which is rather tall for an Ecuadorian Indian – with dark skin and eyes, and black hair which hung in two long braids down her back. She was wearing a poncho over a full, red skirt, straw sandals on weather-worn brown feet, and a man’s felt hat atop her heavy pigtails. She came to us seeking employment as housekeeper-maid, and we hired her as fulltime help at a salary at $12.00 a month.

These wages pleased Chela. One could see that Ecuador’s political history of “peso” revolutions and changes in leadership, had allowed no great progress in education, and Chela, like most of the Indian population, was without formal schooling. She had grown up encompassed by the problems of her race – a high disease-death rate, poverty, and the difficulty of finding work in a land of extremes.

My husband and I had come to Quito for a two-year teaching tour. After considerable house hunting, we had moved into a small, adobe structure in an all-Indian locale. Now, with Chela as assistant, we launch-ed into the business of “getting settled”.

Experiencing life with American “extranjeros” for the first time, Chela’s blunders and adventures abounded just as did our own with the locals. She had never seen a vacuum cleaner and her first action was to take its hose and try, unsuccessfully, to screw it onto an outside faucet to water the grass. Once having learned its use, however, she became fascinated by the proceeding and frequently vacuumed every inch of the house, from floor to mud ceiling.

8 UNDERSTANDING

We had not brought a refrigerator, but a friend kindly offered the use of his while he was on Stateside leave. Chela considered it a beautiful addition to our kitchen and gazed upon it lovingly, although I believe she never understood it. Accustomed to daily marketing in Quito’s big open-air markets, she had not previously thought of – or had the money – to buy more food than could be consumed in one day.

Chela loved the outdoors. When our wood supply was low (we cooked on a wood stove), she would join other barefoot Indian women in wood-gathering excursions on that part of our mountain which was not cultivated and where eucalyptus trees grew in abundance. Other sections of the mountain-side were planted in wheat or similar crops, and Chela and her companions would pass farmers reaping their harvests by laborious, antiquated methods, their efforts usually producing scanty returns.

No Ecuadorian home was complete without chickens, according to Chela, and one day she came from the market with five hens and a rooster in tow. To protect our garden, we built a small pen with adobe bricks, which remained intact on sunny days. However, every time rain fell (often), so did our wall, and out ran the chickens into neighboring doorless homes. Eventually, the chickens had to go in the interests of the potato crop – and the good neighbor policy.

Our first Christmas season in Quito found Chela accompanying me into one market after another. Most of the toys and decorations were handmade of straw, wood or tin. Skilled as craftsmen, the Indians had flattened tin cans and re-shaped them into a variety of attractive items. Chela completed our purchases in the customary manner – haggling at length over the price of each.

Occasionally, one of Chela’s relatives would come for a visit. Before making her home with us, she had shared one of Quito’s little red-tiled houses with her aging mother, sisters, brother, his wife and their children. The brother was a policeman, and while his salary was less than Chela’s, his responsibilities were many. The family existed, in the main, on rice, pork, avocados, red cabbage, limes, bananas and other fruits. Avocados were cheap, and bananas in that country where they grow so profusely, cost next to nothing.

Chela contributed a portion of her salary each month to her family’s support. She displayed a generous attitude, too, toward the poorer children of the neighborhood and enjoyed giving them little trinkets.

When we left Quito, Chela planned to work again for a “familia Americana”. From them, as from us, she would no doubt absorb still other

OCTOBER 1972 9

ideas, mannerisms and practical Anglo-Saxon know-how. And from her they would learn appreciation of her philosophy of life which doesn’t expect big presents from the world yet delights in the little ones, especially when they come gaily wrapped and tied with brightly colored ribbons.

Juliana Lewis

UFO’S INTERNATIONAL

1971 Sighting in Finland

(Vimana, Interplanetary Society of Helsinki publication, April 1971)

UFO Sight in Nallinkari, Oulu

On November 10, 1971 at 10:15 p.m. three young people in a car saw a bright light on the right side. At first they thought it to be a street lamp but then they saw that it was about twice as high up. After a while the bright light went out and instead there was a red, blue and yellow light and around it a red light was moving. A little later a bright light was shown in the UFO and windows could be seen in it. UFO moved higher up, then straight down to the sea. Then the speed was slowed down and it approached the car. The UFO stopped 100-150 meters from the car, it stood still for 10-15 seconds and could be seen very clearly. Then it took off very quickly. When the UFO was above the tree tops it could be seen very clearly. The form was that of a hat, its diameter being 10-15 m, the height was more than the double of its width. I n the lower part of the UFO there were three colored lights. The whole lower part seemed to rotate, while the top was immobile. The top was surrounded by windows. The bright light came from within. A red light was rotating around the UFO. When the UFO came close the young people got out of the car. No sound could be heard from the UFO, at least it could not be discerned from the motor of the car. There were no troubles with the car. The sky was partly clouded and the temperature – 12-150 C. The young people at once reported their sight over the phone and the interview took place the following day.

Eight UFO’s in Brazil

(New Zealand Herald, July 29. 1972)

NZPA-Reuter Rio de Janeiro

Eight unidentified flying objects interrupted a floodlit Soccer match watched by about 2000 people in a Brazilian city according to a Brazilian news agency.

10 UNDERSTANDING

The agency report said that trustworthy witnesses among the fans said they saw the objects flying over the Soccer field at Campos, 130 miles north of Rio.

It added, “numerous people of different ages and professions said the noiseless, flying craft emitted an orange-coloured light while they flew over the field.”

Everyone on the grandstands stood up, the players stopped the game, and radio announcers broadcasting the match started to describe the event, said lawyer Mr. Benedito Rubens, aged 45.

Mr. Rubens said the objects were at a great altitude, but it could easily be seen that seven of them were following a kind of mother-craft.

UFO Sighted Above Portland

Daily Courier, Grants Pass, Ore., 8-12-72

PORTLAND (UPI) – Two groups of people reported sighting an un-identified flying object with “lights around the sides” for a half hour Fri-day night before it disappeared over the hills west of here.

“It looked like something at a carnival,” said Terry Bowlby, 19, Portland.

She and Donna, 19, and Karen Parker, 14, also of Portland, said they were in a car when they sighted the object, which they said had a smooth movement and appeared to be moving about the speed of a car.

“it looked just like that space ship in the TV series, ‘Lost in Space,’ ” said Rick Young, 20, Portland.

Young and his wife, Margo, Bob and Mary Gourde and Bill Ziemer, also saw the object. He said they saw it fly around the radio and television towers on the West Hills and under an airplane before disappearing.

“It was round,” he said, “seemed to have about 30 lights around the outside and one light in the middle, all white lights, no red, and it appear-ed to be revolving around the center.”

Kansas UFO

Mail Tribune, Medford, Ore., 7-19-72

DIGHTOI: Kan. (UPI) – For several months this western Kansas town of 1,050 has been visited by a recurring unidentified flying object-a fiery red cluster of bright lights seen by the chief of police, several policemen and a number of citizens. But the community remains relatively unconcerned.

Police Chief M. R. Shelton described the object as a “round, red-

OCTOBER 1972 11

orange and white light… bright as a cluster of lights on a football field.” It hovers about 300 to 500 feet high, usually 10 miles west of town.

“We didn’t think much about it at first,” Shelton said. “We thought it might be the military taking infrared pictures of the area to check feed-lot runoff.”

Shelton said the thing will remain stationary until an investigating officer radios another car about it. It then begins to move away-“every time we transmit it moves.”

Shelton saw it about two months ago and chased it with his car at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. He said it would run parallel to his car, or slightly ahead of it.

The UFO has been sighted several times a month, usually between 11 p.m. and the early morning hours, since late February.

The pragmatic rural Kansans have taken it calmly.

A Forbes Air Force Base spokesman at Topeka said, after a check back as far as April, “from the period between April and the current time Forbes has had no low lever flights – low level being from ground level to 3,500 feet.”

Forbes does have a plane equipped to take infrared photos but the spokesman said it flies “well in excess” of 50,000 feet. “And it can’t hover – it’s a twin-engine jet,” the spokesman said.

McConnell A. F. B. at Wichita also indicated it had no flights over the area. Shelton said authorities had not found it necessary to call the Air Force to check on the UFO, partly out of fear of not being believed.

The town still leans toward the infrared picture taking theory that was put forth soon after the first sightings.

“The public pretty well bought that and things died down,” Shelton said. “But I’m kind of stymied myself.”

WORDS

Words are like people, bitter or rude,

Musical, harsh, high-toned or shrewd;

Descriptive, condemning, praising or bold

Mocking, or teasing, new-fangled or old;

It is not for space conquest that man will be sung,

But, for the taming of his tongue.

Annie Kendall Wilson

12 UNDERSTANDING

World report

Silver Dust in Iowa

The Cleveland Press, 7-12-72

A Des Moines student of, unidentified flying objects said that the mysterious silver dust found in three Iowa soybean fields recently was left by invaders from other planets.

William Atkinson, 34, a member of the Aerial Phenomena Research Organization (APRO) of Tucson, Ariz., discounted a report by Iowa State University that the silver dust and craters were caused by lightning.

“These craters were definitely caused by spaceships from intelligent beings from an alien world,” said Atkinson. “We hit a slump several years ago when there were no UFO reports,” said Atkinson, “but in the past several months we have had increased activity, and the silver dust on the fields confirms the upswing.”

Atkinson said the “invaders” were probably so advanced in their civilization that the earth “simply bored them and they left again.”

The silver dust was discovered in soybean fields near Story City, Goldfield and Laurens,

Plants with Soul

Daily Courier, Grants Pass, Oregon 7-29-72

BERKELEY, Calif. (UPI) – Agricultural researchers wired a poly-graph to some petunias and found plants responding to emotional situations.

The lie detector showed that the petunias appreciated being watered, worried when a dog approached, “fainted” when violence threatened their growth and showed sympathy when harm came to nearby foliage. The California Farm Bureau concluded that gardeners with “green thumbs” probably develop an emotional relationship with their plants.

OCTOBER 1972 13

Asmat Afterlife

Daily Courier, Grants Pass, Ore. 8-5-72

SOKARNOPURA, West Iran (UPI) – The Asmat people of New Guinea believe that death reverses the life they have known on earth.

In the spirit world, sand replaces mud and dark skin becomes white. When the Asmat first saw Europeans, they thought they were ancestors returning to visit them.

Students Turn to Meditation

Times Democrat, Dav., Ia., 6-19-72

Students Turn to Meditation

Times Democrat Dav., la., 6-19-72

IOWA CITY, Iowa – Hundreds of University of Iowa students are getting off drugs, alcohol, aspirin, even coffee – and turning on to transcendental meditation (TM).

The Students International Meditation Society (SIMS) has instructed nearly 1,800 eastern Iowans in meditation.

The Transcendental Meditation (TM) technique was brought to Europe and the U.S. 13 years ago by the Maharishi Mahesh Yogi. Since 1965 there has been much public interest and scientific research into the results of meditating.

According to John P. Lediaev, an associate professor in mathematics at Iowa and a SIMS instructor, more people are now learning how to meditate in the Chicago and Iowa City areas than in any part of the country.

“Transcendental Meditation is a mental technique which allows the mind to reach a state of more refined activity,” he said. “As the mind be-comes trained for refined thought, one can think more clearly all day. This mental awareness occurs at the same time the body is in deep relaxation.”

“Our meditation really requires no effort,” Lediaev said. “In Boston retarded children have successfully learned the techniques of TM. There is a special “children’s meditation” technique offered for youngsters under 10 years old. So far SIMS has taught 20 children in the Cedar Rapids-Iowa City area this “meditation to be done in activity,” Lediaev explained. His daughter, age 5, meditates and Mrs. Lediaev feels it has been a calming, beneficial experience for the child.

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Lediaev also stressed that the Maharishi’s meditation method does not have a religious connection. “Some religious mediators strive to think of a concept or principle. Our meditation is practiced on a level of technique, not meaning,” he said. “We don’t try to control our minds to think about a certain thing. We let the mind go its natural way.”

“We don’t meditate for meditation’s sake. We aim at activity – at what occurs after a period of meditation,” Lediaev continued. “This is why we urge our students to meditate before breakfast and again before their evening activities.”

A Telescope for Space

Daily Courier, Grants Pass, Ore., 6-28-72

CAPE KENNEDY (UPI) – The space agency has decided to move a-head with detailed planning for an orbiting telescope so big that astronomers think it will be able to “see” to the edge of the universe.

The 120-inch-diameter instrument would be almost four times the size of a telescope scheduled to be launched this summer in an orbiting astronomical observatory and much more accurate. It would be able to look at galaxies 100 times fainter than those seen by the most powerful ground-based telescopes.

Astronomers for years have dreamed of using such a large telescope in space where there is no atmospheric curtain to screen out and distort much of the view for ground observatories.

“One 120-inch telescope in orbit could produce more astronomical data than all existing ground-based telescopes of this size and larger,” Dr. John E. Naugle, associate space agency administrator, told Congress earlier this year. The largest now in operation is the 200-inch instrument at Mt. Palomar, Calif.

Naugle said the 120-inch orbiting telescope could increase man’s “understanding of the content, scale and evolution of the universe. Perhaps more importantly, we may detect rare and previously unobserved phenomena at the edge of the universe.”

The telescope proposed by the National Aeronautics and Space Ad-ministration (NASA) would be a multi-purpose observatory able to study the planets of our solar system as well as open new frontiers in deep space astronomy.

The new space shuttle rocket plane makes the telescope even more attractive. The shuttle will carry the telescope into orbit and then retrieve it as necessary for repairs, refurbishment and updating and return

OCTOBER 1972 15

it to space for more astronomical observations.

The large space telescope as now planned will weigh between 20,000 and 25,000 pounds and be 40 to 52 feet long. It will be powered by high quality television.

The telescope would be launched in 1980, according to tentative plans.

A Peace Academy

Call-Chronicle, Palmerton, Pa., 6-4-72

Effective killing and destroying is an age-old science that has been taught in military academies and war colleges all over the world for centuries.

Now – for the first time in recorded history – an attempt is under way to teach the art of keeping and making peace – to resolve international conflicts through non-violent means.

The International Peace Academy is a brand new idea – an idealistic one based on cultivating and reinforcing the constructive inclinations of man rather than his destructive tendencies.

Will it work? Why not an international system of instruction where politicians, scholars, diplomats and citizens can go to learn how to pre-vent wars and stop them once they have started?

Maj. Gen. Indar Jir Rikhye (ret.) is chairman of the board of directors of the International Peace Academy, based in New York City.

The beginnings of a “peace profession” already exist in various inter-national organizations like the United Nations. Still in a stage of development, however, is a system of training for peace-related responsibilities.

Essentially, this is the dream goal of the academy, founded last July, after four years of global consultation and experimentation.

The academy is a university without walls with the problems of inter-national conflict at the heart of its curriculum.

The academy offers practical training in the arts and science of peace. The academy was established formally last July after a couple of pilot four-week training projects and a three-week seminar in Vienna in July 1970 and in Helsinki in July 1971. More than 200 persons from 59 countries were involved.

They explored practical skills in mediation and negotiation international control of violence and peaceful social change.

These projects demonstrated that systematic preparation for peace responsibilities is not only needed but possible. In academy programs the focus is on teaching and developing professional skills in the achievement

16 UNDERSTANDING

of peace. These include conflict analysis, impartial use of international military resources to limit hostilities and the mobilization of non-violent citizen action for change.

Its on-going program is active in these areas:

§ Short-term preparation of professional and leaders in peace-related fields.

§ Development of longer professional curricula with a greater degree of specialization running from six months to two years.

§ Action education projects to bring together parties to a conflict with third parties in a mutual search for peaceful solutions.

§ Cooperation with educational institutions throughout the world to organize new programs focused on the relation between social change, conflict and conflict resolution.

§ Advisory and consultive services.

§ Publication of resources for education and training useful to others as well as to the academy.

§ Research to strengthen education and training for peace.

Hunt for “Bigfoot”

Oakland Tribune, Oakland, Calif., 12-21-71

MOSCOW (UPI) – A persistent Canadian, Rene Dahinden of Vancouver, with a suitcase full of giant footprints is seeking Russian help in tracking down the elusive “Abominable Snowman” and. perhaps Californias “Bigfoot”. Dahinden called upon Soviet scientists to present evidence of the existence of a giant, hairy man-like species of beast that roams remote mountain wildernesses from Northern California to the Soviet Caucasus.

“They are skeptical, but open-minded,” Dahinden said. “They are willing to look, to listen, and they will analyze the evidence (including the film of an alleged California “Bigfoot” taken in 1967). Soviet evidence includes reports of sightings by shepherds, cattlemen, doctors and teachers.

The Independent, Richmond, Calif., 7-22-72

LOUISIANA, MO. (UPI) – A big, smelly, shaggy monster, possibly from outer space, according to researchers in the field of flying saucers, may be haunting this small community. Doris Harrison, 15, reported she saw a big black, shaggy monster behind their home in Louisiana, Mo. Cast of the footprint shows four or five toes coming out from a palm-like base.

OCTOBER 1972 17

Other reports have also been made of sightings of the creature named “Momo” for Missouri Monster, but searchers have turned up nothing. Police Chief Shelby Ward said, “The more I keep hearing about it from people the more difficult it is for me to be skeptical.”

According to Hayden C. Hewes, in recent years more than 300 sightings of hairy bipeds have been recorded. He added that if Momo is not a biped, it might be a troglodyte, an ancient cave dwelling creature akin to the “Abominable Snowman.”

Book reviews

Conversations With the Beyond

(Conversations with the Beyond, Doris Heather Buckley, Sherbourne Press, Inc., 1640S. La Cienga Blvd., Los Angeles, Calif. $2.50, Softbound.)

In Conversations with the Beyond, Mrs. Buckley offers a fascinating and very personal account of experiences with spiritual teachers from “beyond” as well as of the work of the Buckleys in helping foundering spirits who have passed through the experience of death without the realization that life is eternal.

Doris and her husband, Dan, were first introduced to the spirit world through the Ouija Board. Later Dan became the trance medium used by spirit entities, spiritual and ordinary, with Doris asking the questions, and offering suggestions to “lost souls”. Much of the rescue-work, as it is called, was done in the presence of a small group of interested friends.

The material offered is very personal in nature, relating to the lives and problems of both Doris and Dan, as well as to the experiences of Emza, Doris’s mother, both before and after death. Quan Tse was the personal spiritual guide of Dan, Lord Wantano of Doris.

The spiritual teachings and lessons offered by these higher beings are an integral part of the text, always stressing Love, Understanding and

18 UNDERSTANDING

Peace, for all levels of Beingness. The book is offered to each according to his present understanding with the thought that subsequent readings will bring even greater understanding. The Buckleys found that their own spiritual unfoldment was a progressive experience throughout the years of contact.

The accounts of the contacts with beings who did not understand their after death consciousness and came to Dan and Doris for enlightenment are, naturally, very interesting. They reveal human personality quirks as well as humor.

Wisdom teachings always require personal application and effort. Presented in such a personal context in Conversations with the Beyond, the teachings acquire an immediate significance and gently nudge the reader to practice Love, Understanding and Peace.

(Copies may be had from Mrs. Doris Heather Buckley, 4018 Rincon Ave., Campbell, Calif. 95008.)

bulletin board

October Understandorama

Mrs. Esther Ellsworth, Coordinator for San Bernardino Unit #71, announces an October Understandorama to be held on Sunday, October 22nd at the Griswold Inn, Flamenco Room, in Claremont, California.

The speaker panel includes Adrienne Ashlev, Patrick Donovan, Alice Baker Wilson, Dr. Wayne Guthrie, Rily H. Crabb, Daniel E. Ekern, and Colonel Arthur J. Burks. The subjects covered will include Our Indian Heritage, Sensory Perception, Hand Analysis, Opening of the Wisdom Eye, Man-Earthling or Star Guest, and other fascinating topics. Music will be provided by Caroline Frances.

OCTOBER 1972 19

Donation for the day session will be $3.00, for the evening, $2.00. Program details are available from Mrs. E. Ellsworth, P.O. Box 626, Morongo Valley, Calif., 92256.

Understanding – New Horizons

Two full day sessions of UNDERSTANDING – New Horizons, sponsored by Mrs. Angela Kilsby, will be held in the San Francisco Bay Area. The first, October 7th, will be held at Rickey’s Hyatt House, Palo Alto, Calif.; the second, October 8th, at the Leamington Hotel, Oakland, Calif.

For additional details of the programs write Mrs. Angela Kilsby, 1265 Monterey Blvd., San Francisco, Calif., 94127, or phone 415-334-1158.

Area of Mutual Agreement Tape

Dr. Daniel W. Fry’s lecture on the Area of Mutual Agreement, given at the Giant Rock Convention, 1970, is available on a 5″ tape for a donation of $3.00. Funds realized will be used by Understanding, Inc. to further this message. Write C. R. Gahlbeck, Unit # 15, 4515 W. 170th St., Lawndale, Calif., 90260, for your copy of this significant tape.

Annual Meeting of Understanding, Inc.

The Annual Meeting of Understanding, Inc. will be held in Merlin, Oregon on the weekend of October 14 and 15. All Officers, Directors and Members of Understanding, Inc. are hereby invited to attend these meetings at which the events of the past year are reported and plans for the future are considered.

The sessions will be held at the International Cultural Center of Understanding, 2200 Merlin Road, Merlin, Ore. Registration will commence at 10 A.M. Saturday, October 14th, business will commence at 1 P.M. The session will conclude at noon Sunday, after a morning Work-shop Session.

The members of Merlin Unit #1 will host a Potluck Luncheon on Saturday.

We need your active participation in the affairs of Understanding and encourage your attendance.

Magazine Returns

With ever increasing postal costs, with a very mobile subscriber family, and a very minimum subscription price, we find we can no longer forward returned UNDERSTANDING MAGAZINES. Our fee for picking up the

20 UNDERSTANDING

magazine with the new address is 10c, remailing another 8c, which leaves nothing to cover publication costs.

If you are moving please notify us at least four weeks in advance. If you do not wish to miss a single issue and desire returned copies, a donation to cover our costs would be appreciated. We thank you for understanding our financial needs.

Magazine Notes

If the magazine looks different it is because we have recently changed printer and print style – to Offset.

However, we are still checking as to which print size will be most readable and attractive, hence the variance in recent issues. Please bear with us until we make final choice.

The magazine will offer more illustrations in the future, adding interest to the subjects presented – this made possible by Offset printing which does not require expensive cuts.

We seek only to serve.

CONSIDER THE CONCEPT

The mind is not only the creator of thought, but it is the receptacle of all that falls upon it. The awakened mind makes the body sensitive to every kind of feeling. The sleeping mind makes the body dull. At the same time the fineness of the body has its influence in making the mind finer, and the denseness of the body makes the mind dense. Therefore the mind and body act and react upon one another. When there is harmony between the mind and body health is secure, and affairs come right. It is the disharmony between mind and body which most often causes sickness, and makes affairs go wrong. When the body goes south and the mind north then the soul is pulled asunder, and there is no happiness. The secret of mysticism, therefore, is to feel, think, speak, and act at the same time, for then all that is said, or felt, or done, becomes perfect.

Hazrat lnavat Khan

You punish yourself when you punish another; when you give some-body a blow with hand, word or thought, you give it to yourself. Keep your thought on your Soul and this will dissolve all frictions between you and ocher men.

AUS IGF __ Sweden

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-$2.95

Atoms, Galaxies and Understanding Softbound, $2.00

Hardbound, $3.00

Please add 20c for postage

Merlin Publishing Company

P. O. Box 105

Merlin, Oregon 97532

SUNRISE

by Antita in Tala & Enrica

refers to the rising Sun of the Aquarius dispensation.

This fascinating story of Eternal Love and Life is an excellent introduction to the Cosmic Laws of Karma and Reincarnation, as well as a springboard to deeper conscious unfolding of the reader’s own divinity.

The story recounts several incarnations and gives deep insight into life beyond death.

SUNRISE is an outstanding gift-book.

VANTAGE PRESS, Inc. NEW YORK 516 West 34th Street, N.Y. 10001

YEAR BOOKS AVAILABLE

1968-1971

Understanding Magazines for

1968-1969-1970-1971

Are now available in convenient Yearbooks.

Price: $2.00 per volume, plus 25c for handling.

Issues 1958 through 1967 at $1.00 per volume, plus 25c handling.

Understanding, Inc.

P. O. Box 206

Merlin, Ore. 97532

ADVERTISING SPACE AVAILABLE

Advertise Your Books,

Activities, etc.,

in Understanding Magazine

Rates:

$8 per quarter page per month

Three months: $16.50

Six months: $33

One year: $66

These rates are for additional insertions of the same copy. The charge for copy change is $3.00 per quarter page. For other rates, please write. If proof is desired, copy must be submitted one month in advance of publication.

Copy limit, 20 lines to quarter page

Memberships in Understanding

Understanding, Inc. is a non-profit corporation dedicated to the propagation of a better understanding among all the peoples of the earth so that they may live in harmony and be better prepared psychologically and sociologically for the space age.

Several types of membership are available to those who wish to support our endeavors either with dollars or with time and service, or both.

The Associate Membership is Two Dollars per year; the Contributing Membership, Ten Dollars per year, including the Understanding magazine; Sustaining Membership, Twenty-Five Dollars per year, including subscription; and Life Membership, Five Hundred Dollars, including subscription to Understanding magazine.

Welcome to the Understanding family!

UNDERSTANDING, INC.

P.O. Box 206, Merlin, Oregon 97532.

Understanding Volume 17 Number 9

TO BE OR NOT TO BE?