In the Ocean of Intelligent Life

By editor in Man and Universe April 15, 2020

The question “Is there life on Mars?” has long been part of folklore, as well as the expression “little green men from Mars”. Both have turned into familiar phrases, often used with an ironic tone. This is a remnant from a time when some eagerly hoped for humanity to find intelligent life elsewhere, while others dismissed the very question of extraterrestrial life, especially intelligent life, as the domain of frivolous literature, ridiculing the dreamers. These others, although not always in the majority, held authority, and their viewpoint clearly prevailed. Scientific scepticism is a powerful force! So powerful that it can often override common sense for extended periods of time.

What does common sense say in this case? It suggests that in the vast, unimaginably colossal Universe, life — especially intelligent life — should exist beyond Earth. It is likely simply due to the law of probability, as the uniqueness and irreproducibility of the conditions on our planet that enabled life to emerge and evolve can only be hypothesised, but not proven. However, for many years, serious scientists insisted that Earth’s situation was unique, and that dreams of finding life on other planets were futile. Moreover, they even doubted the existence of other planets themselves. “It is highly probable that no other planets have formed anywhere else in the Universe besides our Solar System,” they claimed.

Yet now, thousands of planets have been discovered, some of which bear a certain resemblance to Earth. There are few of them, but they do exist. And these are but a tiny fraction of the vast space that our detection methods have yet to reach. Only a minuscule corner of the galaxy is observable. Just one galaxy among countless others. And now, no one would dare, relying solely on scientific scepticism, to assert definitively that humanity is alone in the Universe.

As for the Teaching, it has always confidently asserted — even thousands of years ago, during earlier revelations — that intelligent races exist in the Universe besides humanity, and that there are many of them. Of course, proving this is not possible at this moment. Not even eyewitness testimony is sufficient. I myself, in the energy world between two lives, have encountered and communicated with representatives of other civilisations and visited their planets. However, I cannot scientifically prove the existence of the energy world, nor that humans live more than one life. I remind myself of a medieval traveller who has visited another continent and speaks of its wonders, but has no proof beyond personal recollections. This is common when it comes to the unknown.

Why does the Teaching affirm the existence of intelligent life in the Universe as an undeniable fact? At least because its existence is embedded in the program of the Universe’s evolution. And not only embedded, but it is a key factor.

The Creator is now undergoing a phase of development: a phase of inner self-discovery. A discovery that leads to moral perfection. This makes the Creator’s Spirit more perfect, granting it higher qualities. This is how the Creator will reach the level of development necessary to take an important step in personal evolution and undergo a profound transformation. But knowledge and moral advancement are impossible without the involvement of reason. Only intelligent beings can take this path. This means that the emergence of such beings is inherently part of the Creator’s inner evolution program. The Creator discovers Himself through them, perfects His Spirit through them. They are the force without which the Creator would never undergo His transformation. Without them, the existence of the Universe would have no meaning. One could say that it was precisely for their emergence that everything was conceived. The Universe was “designed” by the Creator as the cradle of reason; as the environment that was meant to give rise to and nurture intelligent life.

And such life does exist. It is not just humans. The emergence of only our species would be insufficient to accomplish such a monumental task. A task that is, quite literally, of cosmic scale — not just in space, but also in time. Evolution does not work only on a small planet. It, in modern terms, is designed to bring about the emergence of intelligent species, and these species emerge constantly, almost everywhere in the Universe. In our galaxy alone, there could be many thousands, if not millions. In the Universe as a whole, which, though not infinite, is much larger than we can begin to imagine, their number is truly incalculable.

The Universe resembles an ocean, literally teeming with life. And a significant part of that life is intelligent. Enormous work is being done to perfect the Spirit. Intelligent races emerge, undergo their journey, and return to the world of Spirit, bringing with them particles of Spirit that once emerged from it, now returning more perfected. These particles once resided in intelligent beings (“sentient beings”, in the terminology of the Teaching), and were their souls. New races arise in place of those that pass, ready to walk a similar path, taking in Spirit’s particles, only to one day return them to the world of Spirit, purer.

This is the path of every intelligent race, which can be called the path of its soul from light to light. They all perform a shared task. They all — us too, humans — are part of that task. We are one of those bright sparks that together illuminate the Universe with the light of reason. The light of the Creator’s reason, shining through us, the sentient beings.

The Universe is filled with life. Including intelligent life. Its emergence is not a rare phenomenon, not the result of an extraordinary coincidence, not an exception to the rule, but precisely the rule — a natural necessity and inevitability. The Universe was created to be populated by intelligent beings. And all its matter, energy and Spirit must, over time, pass through the sentient beings, become part of them.

For humanity, the existence of intelligent life somewhere beyond Earth is still not obvious. But it will become obvious in time. However, humans have dreamed of encountering inhabitants of other planets ever since they began to see planets not just as dots on the celestial dome, but as cosmic bodies like Earth. That is how the question “Is there life on Mars?” was born. Well, perhaps there is no life on Mars itself. We will find out with time, perhaps very soon. But the dream of meeting our brothers in reason — that dream is one of those destined to come true. When will it happen? Hard to say. But it will, without a doubt. One could say the rendezvous has already been arranged. And how soon it happens depends not only on them, but on us.