The ‘known’ universe consists of about one trillion galaxies (give or take a few billion). Each one of those galaxies contain several billion stars. Most of these stars most likely have planets revolving around them. Many of those planets could be habitable. Many of those habitable planets probably have lifeforms living there. Many of these life forms are likely to be intelligent sentient beings like us.
At the moment we know that the greater part of the universe is yet unknown. Dark matter and dark energy collectively comprise 95 percent of our universe. The remaining 5 per cent is the actual physical matter—stars, planets, moons and everything on them—and this is ultimately nothing but protons, neutrons and electrons which combine together in various permutations and combinations to form atoms of different elements which in turn group together to form molecules.
So, what is this dark matter and dark energy? We don’t know. But it is possible that these could be the spiritual realms where our souls are actually from. The parts of our universe which are not seen far exceed the parts which are seen. So, if we are souls that have come to earth to have a ‘human experience’ does that mean that ours is the only planet in the universe where sentient life exists? Definitely not.
As of 22 June 2021, there are 4,768 confirmed exoplanets in 3,527 planetary systems, with 783 systems having more than one planet. Most of these were discovered by the Kepler space telescope. There are an additional 2,366 potential exoplanets from Kepler’s first mission yet to be confirmed as well as 889 from its Second Light mission and 1,385 from the Transiting Exoplanets Survey Satellite (TESS) mission.
And by the way all of these exoplanets that we have found so far are just in our own Milky Way galaxy. Certainly, there are countless numbers of extragalactic exoplanets as well. The numbers involved are so large that it is hard for the limited human mind to comprehend.
With so many worlds out there, it is almost certain that extra-terrestrial intelligent life exists. We have not officially found any yet but soon certain revelations could be made by governments. In the US, the Pentagon is to be submitting a report to the US Congress about its study on UAPs (Unidentified Aerial Phenomenon [previously known as UFOs]) over the years. US military pilots have recently come on the record that they observed objects that flew much faster and manoeuvred in ways that our current technology would not permit. The US military has also released video footage of the ‘Tic Tac’ UFO and a pyramid shaped UFO that have gone viral.
Even former US president Barack Obama came on The Late Late Show with James Corden in May 2021 and said, “What is true, and I’m actually being serious here, is that there are, there’s footage and records of objects in the skies, that we don’t know exactly what they are. We can’t explain how they moved, their trajectory. They did not have an easily explainable pattern. And so, you know, I think that people still take it seriously trying to investigate and figure out what that is,” the former President said.
When asked about aliens, Obama said, “Well, when it comes to aliens, there’s some things I just can’t tell you on air.”
So obviously there is something out there that is visiting us. Are they from other planets, other dimensions or possibly even from our own planet from places we are still unaware of like the deep ocean, for example? We know more about the surface of the moon and Mars than the deepest oceans on planet earth.
If there is some form of extra-terrestrial or intra-dimensional or deep aquatic or deep underground civilisation that is visiting us then we are certainly living in an unimaginably largely inhabited universe with multiple forms of life spread across infinite worlds. That puts things into a much different perspective, doesn’t it?
Where does that leave us spiritually and physically? Does it open up many new worlds where we can incarnate. Does it mean that some of us here on Earth in this lifetime have had past lives on other planets in our own galaxy and possibly on other planets across the universe including other galaxies.
Is our afterlife realm of spirit worlds likewise divided into different spiritual galaxies and maybe even multiple universes either physical or spiritual or both?
A great description of this is found in the chapter called ‘The Resurrection of Sri Yukteswar’ in the famous book ‘Autobiography of a Yogi’ by Paramhansa Yogananda where the great guru Sri Yukteswar’s departed soul appears before Paramhansa Yoganada and describes the entire creation to him. He says there are basically three universes—physical, astral and causal and each one has its own inhabitants, its own planets, own star systems and galaxies. However, he doesn’t really mention whether we are born on other worlds other than this one in the physical cosmos but does imply it when he talks about the highest astral planet of Hiranyaloka and said that souls only can incarnate on that high astral planet when they are considerably advanced. So, it means that in the astral world, we can be born on different astral planets. The same thing applies for the causal universe as well. However, he does not mention any name of any highest causal planet.
Accounts from past life regressions also have had cases where people who are on Earth currently remember past lives on other planets. The book ‘Souls on Earth: Exploring Interplanetary Past Lives’ by Linda Backman explores these kinds of cases.
So, we live in a huge creation with seemingly infinite numbers of planets, stars, galaxies in multiple dimensions in different universes in terms of density—physical, astral and causal. Who knows how many more there are? The universe seems to be teeming with life on all of these multiple realms and the soul travels across these different arenas on its great adventure to return to the creator of all things.
It seems very likely that we are not alone in this universe! Never have been and never will be. But the real charm of how the creation has been made is that though we have infinity and eternity ahead of us, we should never forget that we are here and now on this tiny planet for a purpose. This world has plenty of problems and it is our duty to solve them because everything and everyone in creation is connected in some way. We must live here and experience life, learn our lessons and try to make the world a better place before we head back to the spirit world and then set out on another voyage somewhere beyond the stars!
Prashant Solomon is a Delhi-based author and businessman.
