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Modern science speaks of multiverses, high tech, spacecraft, and alien life. But what if these ideas aren't new at all? Thousands of years ago, Hindu teachers described infinite universes, each teeming with worlds, beings and civilizations beyond the imagination. They spoke of gods who command cosmic forces, serpent beings with advanced technology and flying craft called vimanas that could traverse space and time. Yet beneath the mythology lies something more interesting. In Hindu cosmology. Reality itself is born from consciousness, not matter. Every universe, every being, every realm is an expression of one infinite mind. So were these ancient texts describing contact with aliens or contact with consciousness itself? Were these technologies physical, mental, or maybe spiritual? Or just a combination of all three? Well, in this episode, we will explore the hidden science of Hindu cosmology, the multiverses, the beings beyond dimensions, and how ancient philosophy may hold the key to understanding alien life. Maybe they're not so different from us, but perhaps the same expression from the same consciousness. So if you are a fan of ancient philosophy, modern science, and, of course, aliens, then this is the episode for you. So sit back, relax, and welcome to Religion Camp. Coca Cola for the big, for the small, the short and the tall. Peacemakers, risk takers for the optimists, pessimists for long distance love for introverts and extroverts, the thinkers and the doers for old friends and new Coca Cola for everyone. Pick up some Coca Cola at a store near you. Extra value meals are back. That means 10 tender, juicy McNuggets and medium fries and a drink are just $8 only at McDonald's for a limited time only. Prices and participation may vary. Prices may be higher in Hawaii, Alaska and California. And for delivery. What's up, people? And welcome back to Religion Camp. My name is Mark Gagnon, and thank you for joining me in my tent, where every single week on Sundays, we explore the most interesting, fascinating, controversial stories from every religion from around the world, from all time. And oh, boy, do we have a doozy today. All right, now, as always, this isn't possible without you and viewers like you. I like when PBS used to say that as a kid, but it isn't possible without you guys. For real. Thank you so much for supporting the show, for supporting History Camp, and for supporting, you know, the main pod camp Gagno. We do all the interviews and other weird deep dives, but it's also not possible without my friend Christos. Are you pal, doing great? All right, Christos, guys. We are talking about something very interesting today. Now, as always, I like to preface this with a few things. One, I Enjoy exploring religion and religious philosophy for a few reasons. One, I was raised religious. Two, I don't think you can understand a people without understanding the God that they worship. Even if you are not a practicing religious person, just by virtue of growing up in a culture that was imbued with religious ideology for thousands of years, you're going to have some of that in you. So I think in order to connect with, you know, my fellow humans on this beautiful planet, one of the best ways, in my opinion, is to understand their religious philosophy. I was so ashamed growing up in my household. You know, it was very Catholic up until I was like 15, 16, 17, didn't know anything about Islam, Hinduism, Mormonism, all these other people that I share this beautiful nation with. And this is my attempt to rectify all that. I want to understand what everyone believes, take the good parts from, from every book and, you know, leave the stuff that doesn't apply to me behind. And today we're going into Hinduism. All right? This is a, a religious philosophy. I, I, I refrain from saying religion when it comes to Hinduism or Buddhism, but a, a, or a way of life that I admire deeply, that I think is fascinating, but more so that I didn't grow up in. So if there's anything that I miss or mistake in here, please don't hesitate to correct me in the comments. Respectfully, okay? I'm doing my best here, okay? My pronunciation isn't great. I don't speak Hindi, I don't read Sanskrit. So a lot of this is for me. You know, I'm gonna be kind of working through this with y', all, okay? On top of that, shout out to all my daisies that are watching. All right? Wherever you are, you know, whether you're in, in India, you know, maybe you're, maybe you're an abc. I think that's what they call them, or an abcd. Have you heard that? This is kind of a slur, but it is sort of funny. An American born confused. Daisy. This is what sometimes Indians will call like the Indian diaspora that lives in America. I'm just using it as like a, you know, a cute little parlance. I think it's fun. Oh, there's also another one. An nri, Non resident Indian. Take another slur of these. There's a lot of guys, come on, let's stop beating each other up, okay? Let's just come together for the common good, all right? And just pursue our dharma. Right? Anyway, today we're talking about one of the most interesting intersections with religious philosophy, in my opinion. Is the existence of other worlds, the existence of intelligent life out there in the cosmos. Right. As a Christian, we don't really talk about aliens that much. And when we do, the conversation kind of deviates. It's really hard, you know, Like, I think the Pope recently was like, if there's aliens, then they're good or something like that. Like, yeah, like there might be aliens. Like, they just open it up. Like, after thousands of years of, you know, Catholic teaching, they finally had a pope that was like, yeah, maybe there's aliens. And then I asked a question one time, I was like, if, you know, Christ died for all of our sins, did he die for the sins of the aliens? These are all questions that, you know, theologians have kind of touched on, but I feel like they haven't really deep dived on. And what makes Hinduism interesting is that the Hindu understanding of cosmology and time is so vastly different from so many of the Abrahamic religions that they have a very interesting sort of compatibility with the idea of other worlds, if I do say so myself. So let's dive in, shall we? All right, we got. In America, we got giant telescopes. We're building them all the time, trying to see the stars, seeing what's up there. Well, in ancient Hindu texts, like the Vedas, all sorts of different stories. They have been describing other worlds and other intelligent type beings for literally thousands of years. And these aren't your typical, you know, like, alien abduction stories, right? The Hindu ideas about other worlds. Worlds and, you know, life and other planets is way more complex and fascinating than almost anything. Like, they need to be making movies about this all the time. Okay, so we are going to go through the Hindu philosophy and what Hinduism as a philosophy says about life beyond, you know, our little solar system here that we call is our. We're in the Milky Way, I think, right? That's our solar system is the Milky Way, which is kind of a cute name. So beyond that. All right, so in order to understand this, you need to take out your. Your Abrahamic brain, All right? If you were raised Christian, you know, Muslim, Jewish, you got to try to remove that if you can, and just kind of just. Just rest for a second, okay? Because in Hinduism, you got to try to picture a universe that goes on forever, where time lasts for billions of billions of years and is almost. You know, there's almost a reality outside of reality. And reality has layers upon layers, and each floor of these layers contains different worlds that are weirder than anything you can imagine. So way before scientists were even talking about Parallel universes in the multiverse and UFOs, Hindus and Hindu teachers and gurus have been describing these cosmic worlds with, you know, beings whose abilities, you know, are borderline magical. Supernatural, certainly. And, you know, the old stories of, you know, like, you know, flying machines, stories of, like, you know, armies of, you know, like, monkey warriors and snake kings and stuff like that. What if this is the description of these other universes? Okay, we're going to get into all of this. So what many Hindu teachers will describe, and when I say teacher, I'll interchange that with guru, you know, at different times. But what they will describe is not just one universe, but countless universes. And each one had 14 different levels where different types of beings lived. And these levels are called locusts. So think of them as like floors in a massive apartment building that is infinite, okay? And each floor has different types of beings that live in each little section with their own special abilities. And at the bottom, you have the Patalas. Now, underground worlds where there's a snake being known as the Nagas, and there are other mysterious creatures that live there. Now, in the middle you have the Buloka, and that's Earth, okay? That's the human world. That's where we're chilling. And then above us at the higher levels are the, you know, what's known as the Bouvar Loka. Now, this is the space between Earth and the sun. This is where spirits live and sages and demigods and all that kind of stuff. And then you have the Svarloka. Now, this is heaven. This is where, you know, gods or God, depending on, you know, your understanding of Hinduism. That's where that exists. And then beyond that, there's even, you know, more refined levels of existence. So here's where things get crazy. Every single one of these 14 worlds doesn't just exist once. They exist in countless universes at the same time. So Hindu writing will describe something known as the Ananta Koti Brahmandas, which literally translates to infinite millions of cosmic eggs. And each cosmic egg is an entire universe with its own 14 worlds, its own gods, its own living creatures, and even its own version of Earth. So to help you understand the scale, imagine if every grain of sand on every beach in the world represented a complete, complex universe. Okay. Have I lost you yet? Well, I hope I haven't, because Hindu's been talking about this for a while, right? Hindu cosmology says that even that comparison doesn't actually come close to showing how many universes actually exist. It's a Vision of reality so huge that, you know, like modern science, computing, none of that can even really fathom it. Okay, so time works on a scale that is also really difficult to wrap your head around. I'm going to try my best. Okay, These are cycles inside of cycles. So one of them is the yugs. This is ages. You've probably heard of the Kali Yug, which is what people describe our timeline as right now. You have the Kalpas, which is day and night cycles of Brahma. This is the creator God. And then you have Mahakalpus. And this is Brahma's entire lifetime. All right, so one day in Brahma's lifetime will last 4.32 billion years. That's one day. And that is about how old our solar system is. And his night is just as long. So his complete life stretches for 311 trillion years. And after that, the whole cosmic cycle begins over again from the beginning. Now, throughout all these cycles, three main forms of the divine the Brahma, right? The, you know, you have the creator, that is Brahma, you have Vishnu, the preserver, and then you have Shiva. This is the, you know, the transformer or the destroyer, depending on how it's interpreted. And they keep everything in balance. So, for example, Vishnu rests on a cosmic snake known as Shisha. And from him, you know, there's the endless universes that come into being with every breath that Vishnu is taking. When he breathes out, worlds are created. When he breathes in, they dissolve back into pure potential. Hindu cosmology treats consciousness as the basic building block of reality. The universe isn't just like a random accident made of, like, you know, lifeless matter and all these little atoms coming together. It is an expression of infinite awareness, literally the, like, infinite that is consciousness. It is an infinite awareness that explores itself through countless different forms and worlds. This is difficult to fathom, but this is how it's understood. Now, if consciousness creates reality, what kinds of beings might live in these other worlds? And could they have already come to Earth? This is the question, okay, if the consciousness of creating Earth, you know, from these creator gods, is it possible that with all these beings that exist, can they also visit our little floor? So to explore this, let's start with the devas. These, you know, people will call them gods, but it's almost better to think of them as like, highly evolved beings who control cosmic forces. So you have Indra that commands storms and lightnings, Agni that controls fire, and Vayu that controls wind. And they're not all powerful gods, like, in a lot of, you know, Western religions, they have limits. And they can be born, they can die, you know, and sort of be reborn, although they live incredibly long times. And they can even lose their jobs if they become too obsessed with power. And then we have the Asuras. Now this usually translates to demons, but the word doesn't really capture what they're actually about. All right? They have powers to oppose the devas, right? They represent chaos and selfishness instead of, you know, order and, you know, charity. They're not purely evil, okay? Many are powerful and they're smart. Sometimes they can be even heroic. And then next you have the Nagas. Now this is a snake being who lives underground. And there's a bunch of them. And they're not just regular snakes. They have entire civilizations and cities and craftsmanship, supernatural societies and, you know, all sorts of stuff, right? The Mahabharat, this is the, you know, one of the greatest, like Hindu epics. It is just an ancient text that is really important to Hinduism. Next to the Ramayana, and it literally translates to, you know, the, the, the great Bharat. It's literally like the story of India and this sort of epic battle between these two sort of clans. Now in this epic, it describes these snakes as master builders and metal workers who can create weapons and structures that go beyond human capabilities. So these snakes can also change into human form and sometimes even mary humans that sort of create like half blood, you know, half human, half snake, children. And then other cool beings include the Yakshas. Now this is like a nature spirit who guards treasures. And then you have the Espadas, these are the heavenly dancers that travel in between worlds. And then you have the Gandharvas. This is like cosmic musicians whose songs can actually affect how creation works. Now what's interesting in these stories is how, you know, it's like the level of technology, okay? And so these beings don't just have spiritual powers. They also have vehicles and weapons and magical objects that often symbolize divine power and cosmic function. So the devas travel in golden chariots that can reach any destination immediately. The Nagas, the snakes, have magical jewels called mani that provide light and power and can even grant wishes in certain cases. And, you know, at the time, this is described as, you know, often metaphorical. But by modern day, some people suggest that this could even sound like advanced technology, a ship that can travel anywhere in the universe. Now one of the big questions is, should we understand these beings as real, actual, interdimensional, or are they, you know, potentially alien entities and are they symbols that represent you know, psychological states or spiritual states. Now, Hindu tradition itself will offer different answers. Some schools treat them as real beings living in actual worlds. They are as real and living in the same reality that we're living in. Others see them as symbols of cosmic forces or aspects of consciousness that are, you know, a little less tangible. Now, many embrace both ideas sort of simultaneously, suggesting that reality might work in different ways that we don't actually comprehend or understand. Now, if these beings are real, that is way more interesting, right? Because if they're real, existing in a similar reality to the one we're in, could they have visited Earth? And would we even recognize them if we saw them? So there are few things in Hindu texts that will grab people's attention, specifically Westerners, that, you know, didn't really grow up with this, like these flying vehicles. These are known as vimanas. Now these are literally like, you know, a jet or like a helicopter. And it's like a spaceship. It's like that's really the only thing we can compare it to. But these aren't like simple chariots, you know, pulled through horses, you know, through the sky. They are described as these extraordinary flying palaces or chariots with these magical features. So the Ramayana, one of the oldest Hindu epics, the one that I mentioned before, tells a story from a time way back in the day, an age that was considered ancient even when the epic was written. And it describes the most famous vimana. This is Ravana's pushpaka. This was a golden palace sized aircraft. Basically. I, again, I'm trying to, I don't want to use these words specifically, but this is basically what it is. It is a giant aircraft that can move anywhere in the sky or even through space at insane speed. It had windows, rooms, gardens inside. And after defeating Ravana, Rama used this same vimana, this same craft to fly back to his kingdom, covering massive distances in just hours. Now, these descriptions show that the epic isn't just telling this, you know, heroic sort of, you know, mystical story. If it exists in some type of reality, which some Hindus believe, it could also describe some type of technology. What's up, guys? 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It mentions many other vimanas, from small one person sort of crafts to these massive flying cities that could hold entire armies. So Arjuna One of the epic's heroes from the Bhagavangita describes a vimana from his father Indra that could turn invisible and change shape and travel not just across our skies, but between different worlds. Now, again, to someone that doesn't understand sort of the divine nature of, you know, a lot of these stories, to me it's like. Sounds a little bit like a. Like a ufo, a little bit. Right? Now, these vehicles don't, you know, just speed up rapidly. They can also hover in place, and they can, you know, also travel vast distances without really needing to land. Some are described as making thunderous sounds while others are moving silently. Some could travel in space, others underwater. Again, my UFO people are like, ding, ding, ding. Now, this brings up an interesting question. Were these vimanas actual, you know, ancient machines that were described from a time far beyond us, some type of ancient technology? Or, you know, or is it just symbolic? Is it just representing a spiritual power or, you know, the ability of highly trained yogis that can send their consciousness over great distance? Again, this happens in the Bible, right? We talk about Elisha's chariot, right, that ascends him into heaven. And we read it and we're like, wow, it's amazing. Is it possible that's a ufo? Who knows, right? Now, some modern interpreters suggest another possibility. Vimanas weren't machines in the way that we think of them today, right? Instead, they were a bridge between our mind and matter, this physical reality. They were said to be controlled through mantras, which is like a, you know, a sacred sound, really, and then yantras, which is a sacred symbol, and then tantra, which is a focused use of consciousness. So in other words, only someone with the right spiritual training and meditative practice could actually fly them or utilize this bridge. So from this viewpoint, vimanas were more than just vehicles. They were a blend of the mind that is basically connecting to the spirit and some type of, like, spiritual technology that could basically show a, you know, a worldview where consciousness itself is a force that can shape the reality that we see, which I think, you know, aligns with a lot of Hindu philosophy. So could these ancient accounts of consciousness power vehicles be hinting at a part of reality that modern science doesn't fully know? Well, Hindu epics and the Puranas, which are, you know, other ancient texts that are very valuable to Hindus, are packed with a lot of stories of direct contact, contact between humans and beings from other worlds. And these aren't like, brief, you know, mysterious encounters. They are detailed stories of long Term relationships and exchanges of knowledge. So for example, take Arjuna. This is a human prince with divine ancestry, obviously. In the Bhagavad Gita he travels to Andra Loka. This is the realm of his father Indra, the God of thunder and lightning. And he uses a vimana. Now this isn't described as a dream or like a near death experience. It is presented as a physical journey to an actual place. And while there, Arjuna trains with heavenly weapons and masters and joins in divine celebration and even has a romance with Urvashi, a heavenly aspara. Now an aspara is basically, you know, one of these different beings that we talked about earlier. Now the story is told straightforward, as if he's just visiting another country, right? He goes into his little spaceship, goes to this spiritual land of his father, but is an actual place and interacts with the people there. Now what's interesting is how casual the tone is. There's no sense that Arjuna is experiencing something crazy or supernatural. He's just simply going to his father's country, right? Like, like how we would go to, you know, Mexico or Canada. Like yeah, he just went over to where Indra was. Now the text gives details about climate, which is always perfect. The architecture is golden and crystal. The social structure, it's, you know, organized in levels, but it's fair for everyone. And even the food is like divine and it's satiating and there's no waste. And then there's the Narada. This is a divine sage who moves freely between the worlds. He's like, like a cosmic liaison or like a, like a interdimensional diplomat or something. Like he's talking with the snake kings on the ground and he's attending meetings in heaven and like he's carrying information between these realms. And in Vishnu Purana, an ancient Hindu text, it describes him as traveling through all the worlds, watching everyone and reporting to Vishnu about how well Dharma is being followed in each realm. And then there are Vishnu's avatars, which we've talked about before in other episodes. But these are basically divine forms that appear in different worlds and in different time periods of Vishnu. Now many people will know about Rama and Krishna on Earth. The Puranas will describe avatars appearing in other worlds too. So the Matsya, this is the fish avatar, supposedly appearing in cosmic waters that exist between the universe. And then you have Kurma, this is the turtle avatar that is held in Mount Mandara during the churning of this cosmic ocean. And this is, you know, according to some Hindus, an event that happened in Dimensions beyond regular physical reality. So perhaps one of the most confusing stories for me at least is the Vanaras in the Ramayana, one of the epics I mentioned before. And these Vanaras are these monkey like beings who become Rama's allies and form an army to battle Ravana and actually rescue Sita. Now, traditional interpretations see them as like animals that have human intelligence and devotion. And their descriptions are interesting, right? Like they're speaking, they're thinking, they organize just like human beings, they have technology. And some, like Hanuman displays abilities that seem to go beyond normal physical limits, right? Like they can fly, they can change size, they can travel between worlds. Now, some modern thinkers wonder if these stories might record encounters with some type of non human intelligence or something to that effect. Is this possible that this isn't just a metaphor or some type of, you know, rhetorical device to describe the divine, but is it possible? This was a being who seemed, you know, different to ancient humans, but actually had this advanced capability. Now, Hanuman's ability to leap across, you know, massive distances and size changing and, you know, moving between worlds and all that stuff, to some they interpret as potentially a description of advanced technology. Now, where does that leave us? Again, I don't want to suggest that these powerful divine beings are, you know, not that and that they're just actually aliens or something like that. But to a Western reader, some of these things do appear to have, you know, some overlap with a lot of the discussion around UFOs. Now, behind a lot of these stories of cosmic journeys and otherworldly beings, there's actually really fascinating philosophy that I don't want to overlook, right? This is a way of thinking about the biggest questions that humans have ever asked, right? Like, what is reality? Why are we here? Where are we going? What is consciousness? Like, where do we actually fit into this massive universe? So the Upanishads, which contain some of the most philosophical ideas in Hinduism, will say something radical about this. Consciousness itself is the foundation of everything. Not just the kind of consciousness that comes from, like the human brain, but like the deeper universal consciousness that existed before anything existed. And in this view, stars, galaxies, atoms, even beings from other worlds are all different expressions of this one consciousness. So if that's true, then the universe isn't just sort of like this dead machine that's losing energy every day. It is alive and aware at every level. Other worlds then aren't just a possibility, they're almost guaranteed because consciousness naturally creates endless forms and dimensions. So the real question is, you know, not like, oh, does life exist out there? But it's rather, what kinds of consciousness might exist out there as an expression of this pure consciousness that underlines the entire universe? It's kind of crazy, but this is, again, how it's written in, you know, many of these ancient texts. So the Bhagavad Gita, which we've done another episode on, which was awesome, brings the idea into, you know, like, this one specific moment. And the Bhagavad Gita, which is just a part of the Mahabharata, is sort of brings this idea at one specific focal point, okay? And this is when Krishna actually shows Arjuna his universal form, the Vishvarupa. This is what is described as, you know, like, all being, all things happening at once, like a full understanding of reality. And this isn't just Krishna becoming really big. It's a vision of reality as it truly is, which is infinite and multidimensional and containing every being. Everything that ever has happened or will happen all at once. And Arjuna sees the cosmos as a single living being, where he, Krishna, and everyone and everything else are simply part of this massive consciousness. And in that moment, Arjuna is, like, overwhelmed and, like, almost terrified because it's difficult to even fathom what he's seeing. Now, the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta takes this even farther, okay? It says that the separation that we feel between, you know, humans and gods, between, you know, human life on Earth and other, you know, humanoid things in distant lands, between me physically sitting here and Christo sitting over there and you watching at home, this is all an illusion that distance is not real. Everything is Brahma, which means this one undivided consciousness just appearing as many different things. So if we ever met beings from another world, it would be like two parts of the same consciousness actually recognizing each other. Now, here's where it gets even more interesting when it comes to the alien question. If consciousness is truly the basis of reality, then maybe we don't need spaceships or telescopes or anything to actually connect with these other beings. So Hindu text says that this can be done through yoga, which literally means union or connection. Now, oftentimes, you hear yoga in America and you think, like, yoga mats and stretchy pants. Not that. Okay? So advanced yogis, according to tradition, can communicate directly from mind to mind, across distances, and potentially even to other worlds. So following that thought, you know, we might not need all this technology to see these other beings, but rather, we need the technology of the mind. We need this bridge from mind to matter. Now, when you compare Ancient Hindu cosmology with, you know, modern UFO alien stories and even scientific ideas about what aliens might be. The similarities are really surprising, but the differences are also really important. So let's just recap a little bit as we go to kind of draw some of these similarities. Right. Today you have physicists that talk about the multiverse. This is the idea that the universe is just one bubble in an endless ocean of different universes. Each one has its own laws of physics, yada, yada, yada. Hindu cosmology has already talked about this. And this is the idea that I mentioned before. This is, you know, the countless cosmic eggs. This is the idea that there are more universes than grains of sand, each one that are complex and, you know, layered, just like this reality that we're living in. And so you could look at that and say, wow, like modern science is just discovering something that we have already had in these texts. And then you have the 14 locas. This is the levels of existence that we talked about described in a lot of Hindu philosophy. And, you know, it's possible this is what, you know, UFO witnesses will describe when they talk about, you know, going to different dimensions or being abducted or, you know, seeing different realms and near death experiences, things like that. Right? There's a similar hierarchy. There's different beings that are maybe more advanced or less advanced, depending on the consciousness they have. And then, of course, the vimanas, this is the flying chariots in the Hindu texts that some people say sounds similar to UFO reports. Right? They can hover silently, dart off at impossible speeds, cover vast tracks of land. They're almost undetectable. Some are in space, some are in water. Now, here's where the differences show up. Modern alien encounters, as people describe them, usually involve beings that actually follow the physical laws, right? The, the physical, you know, physics that, you know, we understand. And they may have advanced technology, but they still will collect samples and run experiments and focus on biology and genetics. And it's all very scientific, Hindu cosmology and the beings that they describe are on a different level. They don't just have advanced technology. They exist in a reality where consciousness and matter may not be separate. Their tools are extensions of awareness. And in other words, what looks like technology to us might just be consciousness in action. It is them utilizing this different level of consciousness that they understand. Their goals are also very different. In UFO accounts, aliens are like researchers from space that come to study us and probe us and all that stuff. They act like observers. Right? Hindu beings, however, are deeply involved in the spiritual journey of all conscious beings. They play roles in, you know, guiding and shaping moral and spiritual growth across all of these different worlds. They're not detached scientists. They're actually actors in this sort of cosmic evolution. Now, the biggest contrast is how we understand consciousness, right? Human science is still trying to wrap our heads around what consciousness really is and where it comes from. A lot of philosophy of the mind stuff really will cover this better. But, you know, there's one explanation that consciousness comes from matter. That, you know, if matter becomes complex enough like our human brain, consciousness then appears, right? Like we are no consciousness, no consciousness, evolving, evolving, evolving. Eventually, our brains get so complicated, boom. Consciousness then exists outside of our brain. Hindu cosmology flips this. They say matter itself comes from consciousness. That consciousness is a thing that underpins everything. Humans, gods, aliens, whatever. They're all connected at this deepest level, and then our reality is manifest from that consciousness. Now, this changes what contact would even mean, because if modern science is right, right, like there's another aliens, you know, being that comes from a different place. It's crazy. It's different. It's fascinating. But if Hindu philosophy is right, meeting them would be just connecting with another part of our own consciousness. It might not, you know, be a discovery in the traditional sense. It would still be interesting, but it would be a reunion of this sort of consciousness that underpins all things. So as Hinduism entered the modern world and came into contact with Western science, a lot of thinkers tried to connect, you know, these ancient cosmic visions with new scientific discoveries. And what's cool is how often they ended up sounding ahead of their time. So, for example, one of the first Hindu teachers, Swami Vivekananda, this was one of the, you know, first teachers to actually reach the West. He gave lectures in New York and back in the 1800s, 1896, specifically. And he said, clearly, this world is not the only world. There are millions upon millions of worlds, and on each world, there are millions upon millions of beings. And, you know, he doesn't just stop at imagining these other planets. He suggests that these worlds might also be different states of existence completely that we can only reach by developing our consciousness. Now, Vivekananda explained that the locas, right, these different, you know, layers might actually be what we would call different dimensions of reality. So he put it simply, the same space contains different worlds, just as the same mind contains different thoughts. That idea sounds a lot like, you know, the modern ideas of parallel dimensions where, you know, multiple layers of reality exist in the, you know, same place at the same time. And Then you have Sri Aurobindo, one of the most profound modern Hindu philosophers. And he developed a system called Integral Yoga, which blended ancient spiritual ideas with modern science. So for Aurobindo, consciousness itself is evolving and moving, you know, from matter to life to mind, eventually to a higher state that he called the supermind. And he argued that this wasn't just happening on Earth, but throughout the entire universe as a part of sort of this, you know, consciousness evolution upgrade that happens, you know, across all existing things on this underpinning of consciousness itself. So in the great book the Divine Life, he wrote, the Earth consciousness is only a small portion of the cosmic consciousness, and there are ranges of being and consciousnesses far beyond what we know. So to him, what we think is contact with animals might actually be contact with more evolved levels of consciousness, beings who exist both in the physical but also beyond physical realms at the same time, because that is potentially what, you know, this higher level of consciousness sort of requires. Now, there is an international society for Krishna consciousness, the iskcon, and it takes a very literal approach to this. They teach that descriptions of higher planets in Hindu texts are not just symbolic, but they are real. So, for example, they talk about Brahmaloka, and they talk about it as an actual planet where beings live for super long periods of times and have, you know, superior technology and spiritual knowledge. So this group takes a very literal approach to, you know, this text that may be, you know, metaphorical or, you know, just sort of an allegory and says, no, this is potentially a real place with real beings that we could potentially interface with. So there's a spiritual and philosophical teacher from India known as Prabhupada, and he wrote commentaries on sacred texts that sometimes sound like it's almost like science fiction, in a way. He describes higher planets where time moves differently. You know, one day on that planet is six months on Earth, and the beings that live there can survive millions of years. But for Prabhupada, these weren't just poetic ideas. He believes that these are real places that could, at least in theory, be visited. Now, in recent times, a lot of modern Hindu thinkers have started, you know, linking these ancient Hindu cosmological ideas with modern scientific discoveries. So scholar Kapila Vatsyayan, for instance, suggested that the old Hindu ideas about this, you know, endless cosmic cycle and the multiple universes might actually show an advanced understanding of the universe, something that science is now only really wrapping our heads around. Even more fascinating are the views that many modern Hindu teachers will talk about is the Idea that we're living now in the Kali Yug. This is a cosmic era when the walls between the different worlds become thinner. So this is effectively the last cycle before a rebirth cycle. And this is when time gets difficult. The Kaliyuk. And they say this is why people are seeing more UFO sightings and psychic experiences and spiritual awakenings that they claim are all signs that the boundary between these dimensions is starting to fade. Now, when ancient Hindu text meets these modern alien theories, the results can often be dramatic and in a lot of ways misleading. So, you know, the ancient astronauts movement that I'm sure you've heard about, made popular by like ancient aliens and stuff like that, they will show Hindu scripture as proof of aliens. They point to the vimanas as spaceships and they describe gods as aliens and compare weapons, you know, in these ancient texts to nuclear bombs. And the pattern is predictable. And I can get why they're doing it right. You take vivid descriptions from these Hindu epics and you interpret them through modern technology. And you know, Hanuman's leap becomes anti gravity and these weapons become nuclear war. And you know, these, these ships become literal spaceships that you can reverse engineer. But most serious scholars will just disagree with this. Sanskrit experts actually argue that these theories ignore a lot of the culture and the spiritual context, treating these poetic stories as technical manuals. And what's lost is a lot of the depth of Hindu philosophy. Right. We're looking at these ships as actual craft rather than understanding that consciousness goes beyond space and time and it requires yogic mastery and not like a reverse engineered blueprint. And some of the scholars will call this like, you know, like stolen thinking or, you know, like basically colonizing these old ideas and not really understanding what you're saying. And the assumption is that, you know, ancient non Western cultures couldn't create these ideas on their own. So it must have been aliens that did it, which is kind of racist, frankly. So the controversy extends even to archaeology. Some writers claim evidence of radioactive ruins from ancient nuclear wars and, you know, all this kind of stuff. Yet, you know, modern serious archaeologists have never confirmed these claims. And when investigated, the supposed evidence all of a sudden, you know, fails a lot of the scientific tests. And I think what this debate ultimately reflects is just kind of different interpretations depending on, you know, how people were raised. So, you know, westerners that see this will see hidden technology and, you know, skeptics will say like, oh, this is, you know, cultural misappropriation. But the truth, I think is kind of elsewhere. It's not alien visitors with Literal metal ships, but in a cosmology and a philosophy that is so complicated that it reimagines consciousness itself as the actual vehicle for traveling through these different realities. So perhaps, like, the real question isn't whether ancient texts describe aliens, but whether we actually understand what the writers are talking about and our own understanding of consciousness itself. So the question being, do Hindus believe aliens? I mean, you know, go ask one, right? Like, the answer is both yes and no. And it's also more complicated than just, like, little green men that you see, you know, in a comic book that flies to Earth to wrap up. Traditional Hinduism doesn't talk about beings flying from distant planets to study us, but it does describe a universe that is so fast and so full of life and intelligence that, you know, the modern search for aliens feels almost limited in comparison. Like using a radio to try to listen to space. It's like, you know, if you're doing that to try to understand aliens, you're missing the whole point. Hindu texts speak about, you know, countless universes and, you know, different realities where there's different beings with different intelligences and, you know, ultimately a consciousness that underpins all of it, that creates these realities themselves. Now, what's unique to Hindu philosophy is this. These beings aren't separate from us. They are just different expressions from the same consciousness. So this idea of meeting them shouldn't be, you know, so scary. This could just be a reunion with what it means to be conscious in and of itself. And that, ladies and gentlemen, is a brief attempt to understand all, you know, 3,000 years of Hindu cosmology in a single hour. I'll be honest. I mean, I find it a fascinating question. And I think. I don't know, I've always liked this sort of Hindu idea of consciousness and how it's sort of undergirds everything. And I'm also always impressed whenever there's, like, an ancient text that gets validated in some way by, you know, modern, you know, science. Right. In some capacity. So this idea that, you know, there's a multiverse that scientists are just sort of talking about, and Hindus are like, yeah, we've had that, you know, or, like, the ability to, you know, meditate and, you know, transcend into a different realm or to, you know, see something or to experience something beyond our reality. Hindus are like, been there. Been doing it the whole time. And I don't know, I just find this kind of stuff really fascinating to really mull on. Now, I imagine if you ask the average Hindu person, they're not going to Be like, oh, yes, we believe aliens because it's in the book. I just think they're understanding, if they're practicing Hindu of what reality is and what consciousness is. Just changes the way that they approach these things. So, yeah, I guess these, you know, History Channel doc is pretty fun. That's like, dude, if you read the Vedas, you know, if you read the. The Mahabharata, there's going to be aliens in there. It's like, no, you're missing the point. And if you just are looking at it to, like, reverse engineer, like, a spacecraft, it's like, all right, it's fun, but you're not getting the totality of what Hindu philosophy can actually offer in our understanding of what reality is and how meditation can shape our reality and what it actually means to do your Dharma and to, you know, to actually escape samsara, to enter, you know, mokti. In short, the Hindus will understand what I said. But, yeah, I mean, it's not crazy, right? It's not crazy if you are a Hindu to be like, all right, there's probably other beings almost certainly, Right? You can look at modern science, be like, there's other, you know, there's a vast, you know, galaxy, potentially infinite. There's probably something else out there. And if they experience reality the way that we do, then, yeah, why not? Can we actually experience each other maybe through meditation, maybe through yoga, maybe through, you know, some type of intentional consciousness? Sure. And if anyone does it, please let me know. I know there's Hindus watching this. What do you think? Is there anything that I missed? What is your personal philosophy? If you are Hindu and you were raised within this, you know, Hindu tradition, I would love to know, do you have a specific devotion? How does your devotion actually change, you know, what your philosophy on, you know, other beings is. Is it offensive to you if someone goes through, you know, ancient texts, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata, and says, like, oh, this is aliens. Is that. Does it bug you? I would love to know. Please drop a comment. I read all of them. Like I said before, be nice about it, okay? I read all of them. YouTube, Spotify, all that. And on top of that, top comment on this video and future videos, we'll be getting some merch. Yes. We will find you. We will hook you up with that religion, Camp Goodness, okay? Get you dripped out and whatever you want. Additionally, if you like this channel, please check out History Camp. Please check out Camp Gagnon. Hit a little subscribe on there. It really helps us grow, and it just helps with, you know, running this whole operation we have here with which is basically my attempt to understand what everyone really believes. But anyway, thank you guys so much. I appreciate you supporting the show as always. And yeah, man, I can't wait to talk to you guys again sometime soon. Peace be with you. The world moves fast. Your workday even faster. Pitching products, drafting reports, analyzing data. Microsoft 365 Copilot is your AI assistant for work built into Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and other Microsoft 365 apps you use, helping you quickly write, analyze, create and summarize so you can cut through clutter and clear a path to your best work. Learn more@Microsoft.com M365 copilot Limu Keymo and Doug Here we have the Limu Emu in its natural habitat, helping people customize their car insurance and save hundreds with Liberty Mutual. Fascinating. It's accompanied by his natural ally, Doug. Limu is that guy with the binoculars watching us. Cut the camera. They see us. Only pay for what you need@libertymutual.com Liberty Liberty Liberty Liberty Savings Ferry Unwritten by Liberty Mutual Insurance Company and affiliates. Excludes Massachusetts.