In Aetherius Society teachings, various religious figures come from different planets, and throughout history Cosmic Masters such as Buddha, Jesus and Lao Tzu have come to Earth to teach mankind the right way of living. They are regarded by the society as Avatars. Krishna, for example, is from Saturn, which is the home of a "Cosmic Hierarchy" or "Interplanetary Council", while Jesus and Buddha are from Venus. The society therefore claims that these religions sprang from the same source and their principles were identical. These beings are, however, spiritual beings on another dimension or plane, as the idea of corporeal intelligent life on the other planets was known to be unlikely in the 1950s. The society's concept is that these beings exist on a 'spiritual level' by maintaining a 'higher vibratory rate' which can be lowered, and this explains the reported blinking in and out of UFOs. The society also refers to the vimanas found in Vedic and Hindu texts, and to the Star of Bethlehem, as UFOs and examples of peaceful aliens that have been visiting to teach humanity throughout our history.