In this episode of “5 Minutes,” Dr. Robert Svoboda explores a traditional perspective on aliens through the lens of Vimalananda’s teachings and classical Indian literature.

I say a perspective because it is partly mine, partly Vimalananda’s, and partly based on what can be understood from classical Indian literature. Vimalananda was not very impressed with the whole concept. Remember, we were discussing this 40 or 50 years ago, when people were talking about flying saucers, UFOs, aliens, and similar ideas.

He said that, to some degree, some of these experiences may involve the gods and goddesses who live in the upper atmosphere. According to the literature, these beings have to use vehicles to move from place to place, particularly when moving from their higher realm into the much denser reality where we exist.

In order for them to enter this denser reality, they need to take on a denser vibration than the one in which they normally exist. That denser vibration would naturally take some kind of form that could be perceived by human beings in a particular way.

So Vimalananda said that, to some degree, some of these experiences could involve such beings. But he believed that a much greater portion of what people experience is not coming from these devatas or suras, but rather from asuras.

An asura is an ethereal race similar to the suras or devas, but less benevolent and more interested in influencing people to believe what the asuras want them to believe. One thing they might encourage people to believe is that they are aliens from Orion or from some other part of the universe. They could perhaps be associated with such places, but even if they come from somewhere like Orion, they would still need to take on a denser form in order to enter our reality.

As they enter this reality, they become influenced by the various causes, conditions, and karmic influences that exist here.

Vimalananda was therefore not impressed by the idea that these aliens were simply members of advanced civilizations who had arrived to accomplish various things. He said that certainly the devas have their own advanced civilizations, and the asuras also have civilizations that are much more advanced than ours in many ways.

But what matters is not whether a civilization is advanced. What matters is whether the beings from that civilization who interact with us are doing so in a benevolent way or not.

He was of the opinion that many of these UFO experiences were not particularly benevolent and that it was better not to give them excessive attention. Yet it is interesting to notice how much attention continues to be given to them.

Personally, I have no doubt that there is some reality connected with these experiences. But I agree with Vimalananda that it does not necessarily require the complicated idea that beings are traveling from distant parts of the universe in physical spaceships.

The beings who are truly remarkable, in my opinion, are the rishis. These are beings who could move from here to the Sun in less than a second, and if they wished to travel to another star, they could do so in the same way, because they have a different relationship with time and space than we do.

Their understanding and control of time and space are beyond our ordinary ability to comprehend.

So, in my opinion, and based mainly on Vimalananda’s teachings, I do believe there is something beyond us connected with what people call aliens. But honestly, I am much more interested in Shiva, Vishnu, Ganapati, and Hanuman.