Hello Tony,
Yes there are billions of galaxies that can be seen, each one containing billions of stars.
Do you think that intelligent life exists all around?
Yes indeed OB. Baha'u'llah has confirmed this.
"Know thou that every fixed star hath its own planets, and every planet its own creatures, whose number no man can compute". – Baha'u'llah, Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, pp. 162-163.
In his commentary on this passage, Shoghi Effendi writes: "Regarding the passage on p. 163 of the 'Gleanings'; the creatures which Bahá'u'lláh states to be found in every planet cannot be considered to be necessarily similar or different from human beings on this earth. Bahá'u'lláh does not specifically state whether such creatures are like or unlike us. He simply refers to the fact that there are creatures in every planet. It remains for science to discover one day the exact nature of these creatures". - Shoghi Effendi, Lights of Guidance p. 478 (There is more written and more clarity given on this topic)
So no doubt a future united humanity will be able to traverse these worlds. Interestingly, it has been suggested that the means and science to indertake interstellar travel is not granted by God until humans mature enough.
So to briefly expand on this interesting subject, I have copied this from the "Baha'i Forum" where a poster named "Earth" replied to a thread on the topic of 'Peoples' on other planets.
".... Now for the really interesting bit. While 'Abdu'l-Bahá has encouraged mankind to travel to the stars, Shoghi Effendi revealed this has a precondition attached to it. Namely no species of human are permitted to gain access to the technology to interstellar and intergalactic travel until their home solar system has achieved a condition of profound unity. This is because no human species is permitted to pose a risk to other humans living in the cosmos. Put another way, we cannot travel to the stars until we have achieved the Most Great Peace on our homeward.......
......Now for something even more interesting. Enoch Oiling originally assumed this would mean all humans would naturally be able to understand and bond with each other. But this was not Shoghi Effendi's outlook. He explained to Enoch Olinga that we would be able to understand and relate to some species of humans, but some would remain totally alien to us. But the really important point to understand here, is because all species of human that have obtained such technology have been taught the Divine wisdom that they cannot employ malice against each other. It stands to reason that the older races of humans will naturally be far more advanced than the newer races of humans...."
That kind of shows you where we are at as a human race OB.
Great science requires a greater unity of mind.
I hope all is well with you and yours OB, health and happiness for you always.
Regards Tony
