Flying Saucer Review April 1984 [antikvár]

To judge by all the testimony that has been given about hei- in these two books, no more devout and fervent Church-member could be found than this American Fundamentalist lady. For a long time she even thought that her squat, bald, pumpkin-headed, robotlike visitors were . Angels!And yet she has been obliged to put up with the most harrowing treatment from these ciuel creatures over a number of ycai'S.Mr. Malcolm Dickson went on to point out that, in our recent account of the "Ral-I-'nces in Brazil" (FSR, Vof 29, No. 1) the garage-attendant Luis Franja was protected "because (as he said) he knew that God would help him" whereas the two principal witnesses, Luli Oswald and "F.G.", had no such failh and were severely tampered icith."We have had an amusing follow-up on this point, because, in a more recent letter, Irene Granchi, the author of the report on the Brazilian Rat-Faces, writes as follows :-"Mr. Dickson has jumped to a hasty conclusion, for one of the things that Luli Oswald keeps on telling us still is that "F.G.", in his fear and panic, repeatedly crossed himself (making the Sign of the Cross) although his family are actually Muslims!" The sad truth may therefore well be that mere faith or belief cannot guarantee us immunity. And it is highly likely that good works are no better protection either. (This, as one recalls, was the great issue in the 16th Century faith versus works which found its expression in Luther and Protestantism and the revolt against Rome.)But if neither faith nor works can avail, what else is left to us?One would like to suggest and with some confidence that, in the final reckoning, it will be the evolved level of consciousness that will give mankind the best protection, as it will lift them out of the sphere of influence of the Lower Forces.Was not this the parting injunction of the Buddha Gautama, the Enlightened One, to his followers:"WORK OUT YOUR OWN SALVATION WITH DILIGENCE"In Buddhism, cach man treads the Way by his own efforts, because Buddhism, like Christian and Muslim and Jewish Mysticism, is primarily concerned with the lengthy task of the "Work upon the Self" that work that no-onc else can do for us. And, in our own days, mindful of the need to seek the Higher Consciousness, such teachers as Gurdjieff and Ouspensky have hammered away on the theme that (as is so obvious) the whole of the ordinary life of the ordinary average human being is noth ing but another stage of mechanical "sleep", from which it is essential that wc "awaken" if the "Work" is to succeed.(On the other hand, it is difficult to believe that such exemplary souls as Saint Anthony and Saint Teresa and the Curé of Ars were not already on a very high level of consciousness indeed.)In the field of UFO research, we have heard a good deal of blather about "Higher Cotitact" and "Eticinni-ters with Higher Cosmic Brethren". Alas, the evidence for contact with any noble source is pitifully thin.And one thing that we can take as certain is that any really Higher Beings who do chance to be cruising around in our particular little corner of the Universe will at least be better judges than we of these matters, and will have enough gumption to make "contact" only where it is perceived by them to be of value to the recipient.As another old Eastern saying puts it: "When the pupil is ready, the Master will appear."We, for our part, unless we have developed that protective Higher Consciousness, will be wise if we eschew these childish enthusiasms for "contact", lest we too run into more than wc had bargained for. On that score, at any rate, one cannot disagree with Mr. Malcolm Dickson.YET ANOTHER NEW CONSULTANT FOR FSRWith very particular pleasure we also welcome on to our masthead the name of our old friend John Keel, who has for many years been a regular correspondent of the former and the present Editors of FSR and a frequent contributor to our columns. His articles and books, notably his UFOs: Operation Trojan Horse, are widely known throughout the English-speaking and other UFO research groups of the world.