Lessons of Saturn: Overcoming Limitations on the Spiritual Path

Commentary on the text “Saturn”

The entire life of a sadhu is a striving for God, a striving for freedom. There are limitations on this path, and these limitations are connected with the planets, planetary influences, the chakras in our body, and deities. All of this is called karma. The path of a sadhu is the overcoming of various limitations.

The paradox is that limitations exist as long as we do not know our true nature, and they can be overcome only through knowledge of our divine nature. Jnana (knowledge of the divine nature), surrendering oneself to the divine nature, and eliminating ajnana—only this makes it possible to free oneself from limitations. Otherwise, limitations wield enormous power over us and over all beings. When we study planetary influences, it is a way to understand the nature of these limitations.

And so, we continue to study the influence of Saturn, the deity of Saturn (Shani Deva). Shani Deva Maharaj is present in our lives, just as Surya, Shukra (Venus), Budha (Mars), and other deities are. They invisibly influence our lives, determine our thoughts, actions, and destinies, and whether we want it or not, we are constantly engaged in a game with these deities.

The development of our consciousness consists in learning to play in such a way that it benefits and liberates us rather than constraining and binding us. Deities are very powerful opponents. At first, we lose to them, and therefore karma wields enormous power over us. But as we develop consciousness, we too become players who possess wisdom, and we can interact with these energies in such a way that they cease to harm, constrain, and bind us, and sometimes even begin to bless and help us.

The Principle of Time and Patience

“The effect of Saturn determines the timing of everything. Mars impels a person to sow a seed, whereas Saturn influences the timing and nature of the harvest. Mars is action-oriented; it is the effect of Mars that makes us sow, but how the seed germinates, becomes a plant, and bears fruit is the effect of Saturn. To cook rice for a meal, we must gather the rice grains, clean them, mix the rice with the appropriate amount of water, place it in a rice cooker, and put it on the burner. All this is the work of Mars. Then we must wait; waiting is necessary for the rice to cook. This function of waiting is Saturn. If we do not wait as long as necessary, we will not have good rice.”

To become a monk, one must train for 12 years. This is Saturn. To attain the experience of samadhi, one must practice for a long time and train in dhyana; it will not come immediately—this too is Saturn. Saturn imposes limitations on us; we move forward, overcome these limitations, and grow through this. We must understand the principle of time, the principle of patience, the principle of total acceptance of time, and humility. When we understand this, Saturn will remove these limitations.

Because this is how it works: the more impatient we are, the more hopes and attachments we have, the further the fruits of our realization are postponed. Conversely, the more we accept and abide in total acceptance, the more we receive it right now.

“If we know the proper timing, however, the right things will always happen in our lives. When we know things as they are, Saturn is a positive teacher. But if we do not know this, he stops us.”

What does it mean to “know things as they are”? Tathata, Sugatagarbha, true suchness, the nature of all awakened sugatas, the natural mind, sahaja-prajnana. The primordial state of the divine that underlies everything is that undifferentiated, quantum, transcendent state of the universe where time has not yet begun its course, where the universe has not yet been born, where the tattvas still remain in an unmanifest state—our face before birth.

For one who knows this point, Saturn is a benevolent teacher: he guides and helps that person. But for one who does not know it, he becomes a stern limiter. To many, the god Yama in the Bardo appears frightening and terrifying, while to saints he appears benevolent. It is one and the same god Yama. Yet he meets some with wrathful attributes and a fierce appearance, and they are brought before him in a noose by the yamadutas (Yama’s servants). Others he welcomes through the main entrance, greets with a namaste, asks, “How was your journey?” and shows them attention and respect. Still others do not see him at all, because they have fully recognized Yama’s empty nature and see him as emptiness, light, and the play of the energies of their own mind. All this is determined by karmic vision. In the same way, our karmic vision determines all the energies that exist in the universe.

The Sacred Function of Limitations

“When we cook rice, if we overcook it, we will not be able to eat it, and if we undercook it, we will not be able to eat it either. This is how Saturn sets the time and makes us aware of it. Thus, the process of learning is training under Saturn. Saturn keeps part of a person’s endeavors beyond their control until the ultimate order of things has been comprehended. He will not allow us to do certain things until we are ready for them.”

For example, a person has a dream, a desire, and very much wants to obtain or achieve something—perhaps some possession, a high position in society, or some siddhi, if they are a misguided sadhu. Saturn seems to show them the possibility, but does not give it to them. He says, “Until you develop the necessary qualities within yourself, do not expect it.” A person may strive toward it for years or decades, and Saturn will watch to see whether they possess the necessary qualities. They do not need to take any exams; life itself is the exam we take before him. As soon as the qualities appear, Saturn grants it; if the qualities are lacking, Saturn does not grant it.

“There are people who walk on water, like Jesus or Shankaracharya, but if we were to try, you know what would happen. Suppose we are sailing on a ship: we would not slip out of it to walk across the sea; we would think it foolish to do so, would we not? The feeling that walking on water is foolish is a limitation imposed by Saturn and Saturn’s protection. He protects us from walking on water by creating the feeling that it is foolish. If a child uses a knife or a razor, we immediately take it away, saying that it would be foolish to let a child handle a blade. Nature, too, withholds certain activities and things from us until it finds us fit for them. This is a most sacred function of Saturn. He withholds things and then gives them one by one as nature finds us fit for them.”

“The average person regards this as a limitation, as the influence of a cruel fate. We blame fate for what we are today, but in reality it is not cruel fate. For the time being, it is good for us to be as we are now. When we have mastered the next step, the next thing will be given to us. We do not know why certain things are not given to us, why our desires are not fulfilled. We think these things are good and therefore ask for them. But when we actually receive them, they may complicate our lives; we do not know what we truly need. Everything we desire is not necessarily what we need.”

It is important to understand this statement: “Everything we desire is not necessarily what we need.” In this respect, it is easier for monks, because they rid themselves of desires and try to ask for nothing other than God, service, and realization.

“Thus, nature withholds certain things from us not because she is cruel, but because she is gracious, and her approach is protective and maternal. Likewise, if everything we desire comes to us, it becomes a problem for us. Therefore, nature withholds it until we are ready to receive it—this, too, is a sacred function of Saturn. He does all the unpleasant work, acting from the standpoint of protection.”

Shani Deva is depicted as a lame old man. He takes bread from the hungry and the sword from the samurai. If Shani Deva’s darshan is not recognized, it is experienced as suffering and limitation. But if we abide in the nature of seeing reality as it is, we recognize this darshan as assistance on our spiritual path, as the cutting away of unnecessary hopes, the casting aside of the false, and the awakening of the true. Saints always recognize Saturn’s darshans as blessings, because they abide in the nature of all things, in the Supreme Source. And Saturn has no power over them.

One rishi meditated on the bank of the Ganges for a very long time, and his son meditated nearby as well. When he emerged from samadhi, many years had passed, and he saw that his son had turned into a skeleton. He thought that time had acted very unjustly and prepared to perform tapasya and curse time, the deity of time. He had remained in samadhi for ten thousand or a hundred thousand years and decided to expend all his tapas on cursing time, to punish it for taking his son away from him.

The deity of time (Mahakala) appeared before him with wrathful attributes, holding a skull, a cup, and a small axe in his hands, clad in armor and immensely powerful, and said: “This is foolish of you. You are a saint, a sage, and you intend to expend your tapas on cursing me? Even the gods cannot kill me, so what does your curse mean to me? Everything comes through time. Your son entered samadhi and experienced reincarnation many times, and now he is already walking around in another body. Why do you want to curse me without understanding what happened? I am merely a function; I perform the function of Brahma.” Then the saint felt ashamed and said: “Yes, you know everything, while we understand very little.” This is a story from the Yoga Vasistha that shows how little we understand about time. Time can be understood only when we understand the nature of consciousness.

Overcoming Saturn’s Dictates Through Total Acceptance

“Saturn governs the sense of time; it is also called Chronos—the snail of time. We want things to be done quickly, but he moves at a snail’s pace. Saturn forces us to adopt the right speed. A person experiences the cycles of time in their mind, and the more they expect from the objective world, the denser their conceptions of these cycles become. There is a point up to which a person is allowed to enter the objective world, and beyond it subjectivity begins.”

How can we overcome Saturn’s dictates? Through patience and humility.

“There comes a point in our evolution when we must choose whether to pursue the objective or remain in the subjective. An ordinary person tries to avoid uninteresting, unpleasant, and unhappy experiences. This reveals the weakness present in their psychic nature on the mental planes. The only way to rid oneself of this weakness is to face limitations directly and transcend them.”

Life brings many unpleasant experiences, but if we choose to avoid them, it is as though we are failing to learn our lessons. The teachings of Laya Yoga and Advaita, as well as Vedic astrology in its treatment of the principle of Saturn, tell us that nothing should be avoided. We should follow the optimal path, but when an unpleasant experience comes, we should not feel aversion.

Shoka-moha-bhaya (shoka is the unpleasant feeling that arises when we encounter something we do not like; moha is the hope that happiness is possible in the material world, in the external world, without wisdom; bhaya is fear, fear of the future and that our plans will not come to fruition). And when we dislike something, when we experience something as being wrong, we immediately begin to think, judge, and panic; it never occurs to us to accept it and practice total acceptance. Instead, we look for various ways to get rid of it. We simply want, out of selfishness, to turn a bad situation into a good one.

But if we want to know the single taste of the saints and siddhas, we must learn to abide in total acceptance and openness, so as to discover that bad and good are two sides of the same coin. We should not strive too intensely for the good. For if we strive too intensely for the good, we will run into the bad, because the good comes bundled with the bad. It does not come by itself; they come in a single package. Yet in our naivety we say: “Give us the good, give us the good.” “Here, take it!” “Ahhh, why is there something bad?” “Because they come in the same package!” This duality never occurs to us.

A novice in a Christian monastery began complaining about his fate. An older monk asked him, “Tell me, are you a sinner or not?” He replied, “Well, we are all sinners.” “No, are you personally a sinner or not?” “I suppose I am.” “Then why should everything go well for you, a sinner?” That is what he told him.

When we strive only for what is pleasant, we immediately become vulnerable and are also strongly affected by what is unpleasant, for good and bad go together fifty-fifty. When we reject what is unpleasant, we also become vulnerable. The teaching of the siddhas, Pratyaksha Advaita, Laya Yoga, says: “Abide in total acceptance.” As Sri Ramana Maharshi said when he was asked, “Is there pain in the Atman?” Ramana Maharshi replied, “The Atman is everything, every kind of experience; if there is pain, then there is pain.”

When something arises, we remain in contemplation, in awareness, in total acceptance. Instead of panically rejecting something, we do the opposite: we try to open ourselves wide, become receptive, and unite with it. A miracle of alchemy and transformation occurs: an unpleasant experience suddenly ceases to be so unpleasant, is seen as empty, and then, from emptiness, it is transformed into a deity, into pure vision, and becomes pleasant. We must constantly practice such total acceptance until the bad and the good become equal and acquire a single taste.

Notice how many different things we experience during the day that we do not like, although the things themselves are neither bad nor good. As the saints say, “There is nothing good; there is only what you like. There is nothing bad; there is only what you do not like.” We see the world through the prism of our judgments, but we do not see the world as it is. How, then, can we see the world as it is? By freeing ourselves from attachment to the good and aversion to the bad. Only saints see the world as having a single taste.

Saturn as the Cosmic Policeman

This is what Saturn teaches us. He says, “Until you learn this and attain the single taste, do not expect to become a saint. I will not let you; I will stand here and teach you for as long as necessary. If you do not learn in this lifetime, there will be another, and then yet another; I still will not let you pass.” Shani Dev is a very serious guru. He will teach you whether you want him to or not.

For example, I cannot teach you against your will. If you say, “I do not want to study Laya Yoga; I do not want to take the exam,” I will say, “No problem. You are a free soul; do whatever you wish. You came to me of your own free will.” But you cannot say that to Shani Dev. He will say, “Whether you want to learn or not, I am not asking—you will learn, and that is that.” Such is life, such is karma. Because we are in samsara, and in samsara life lessons are taught on a voluntary-compulsory basis. We came here voluntarily, but once we are here, no one asks us whether we want to learn or not—we will be taught.

A man was applying to a flight academy and then changed his mind. To avoid being admitted, studying there, and becoming a military officer, he wrote nothing and handed in a blank sheet. He thought, “Now they will give me a failing grade and reject me.” Suddenly, they told him, “You have been enrolled; you have been accepted.” He thought, “What is going on? May I see my exam paper? I did not write anything on it...” He looked, and on that blank sheet was written: “You are in good health, so if you cannot do it, we will teach you; if you do not want to, we will make you.”

Shani Dev acts according to roughly the same principle. He says, “If you cannot do it, I will teach you; but if you do not want to, I will make you.” That is why Jupiter (Brihaspati) is called the Guru, while Saturn is called the policeman—the cosmic policeman who compels us to obey the laws of the universe.

Accepting the Unpleasant as a Path to Growth

There is no way around it. We must try to accept the unpleasant, because by accepting it, we grow. That is why Saturn throws a person into the very experience that person needs.

When the disciple, of his own free will, begins to retrace the path of his karma, approaching a series of necessary experiences, Saturn’s influence upon his lower nature ceases, for its role in this has been fulfilled.

This means that when we encounter unpleasant situations, we should not run away from them; we should stand firm and work through them. Then we will be able to neutralize karma. Until we attain this state, Saturn will continue to wreak the necessary havoc until we accept it. He plays the role of a malefic, but the moment we are able to accept him, he will become our guide.

For a worldly person, he creates troubles only in those aspects of life to which the person is most sensitive. He will touch the points where we truly feel anxious. He will not touch other points, only your weak spots. Where you are strong, he will leave you alone, but where you are weak, he will touch you and say, “How do you like that?” If you like it, he will give you more and more and more, until he finally says, “All right, you have passed! You may proceed to the next hall.”

If a person cares too much about money, they will be troubled by failures and obstacles in financial matters.

Shani Deva’s Teaching Methods

Shani Deva carefully observes our predilections and attachments, identifies them, and strikes at the most unexpected moment. It is as though he were saying, “Look, you have become improperly attached here, you have identified yourself with this, you have created the wrong mindset; I will teach you.” But he has his own methods: he teaches through severance, through restriction. It is as though he were saying, “Understand my lesson.” He gives us a hint. He says, “This is all an illusion, but you suffer because of your attachments, so I will take away from you whatever you are attached to.”

As soon as we understand this, the entire problem goes away. A great many people suffer without understanding this, but when they change their mind—if they can change their mind—their restrictions and suffering disappear. Sometimes, to get rid of a problem, an illness, or a situation, it is enough simply to change one’s attitude, to change one’s mind.

How can we act in this case? We can understand that if the Teaching says that everything happens in our consciousness, then we can create a different consciousness, create a different bhava, a different sankalpa, and then the situation will also disappear. Ritual practices, yajnas, theurgy—all of them are based on this. We are trying to create a different mind, a different mood in the mind.

Similarly, if we are too strongly attached to someone, separation from that person will inevitably follow. Thus, a person is pursued by Saturn in one sphere of activity after another, until they outgrow all such mental attachments.

This means that Saturn will “evaporate” all the sticky material from a person. Wherever we become stuck, he will pursue us; as soon as all the sticky material is gone, he will say, “Good, you may continue.” But he does this in small doses; it is not done all at once—if it were done all at once, we would not be able to withstand it. So he does this every 30 years, when he conjoins our natal Moon.

How Saturn Exerts His Influence

How does Saturn act? He acts through time, he can act through the subtle world, and he can act through other people. For a time, people who carry Saturn’s influence enter our destiny, embodying this principle and saying, “Here, karma is being cleansed.” In fact, it is Saturn who has summoned these people in order to bring them into contact with us so that we can see our sore spots and cleanse them. For laypeople, it may simply be a next-door neighbor, a husband or wife, or a child, and when this period is active, he may impose restrictions on us in this way.

If, however, this is a sadhu, a holy person, a sage, then Saturn comes in a more favorable, dharmic form; for example, it comes in the form of vinaya—that is, vinaya is something you undertake yourself, voluntarily and joyfully. This is because you believe that you need tapasya, that you need certain yogic principles; you respect them and accept them yourself. Here Saturn no longer causes as much suffering, because you yourself respect these rules, and Saturn simply manifests in the form of rules and ethics, or it comes in the form of a retreat, when you voluntarily undertake a certain tapasya or restrictions in order to practice better. This means that Saturn is already becoming more favorable to you: it does not bring you suffering; it becomes the source of your wisdom.

Saturn as a Form of Yama

On a smaller scale, this also happens every seven and a half years. Saturn is one of the forms representing Yama—the lord of regulation, who rules... Saturn is one of his forms. Yama means Pluto; Pluto is a greater dimension of Saturn, and therefore it is said that Saturn is the son of Pluto. Yama is the lord of death, who appears repulsive to sinners but pleasant to the righteous.

When the lord of death appears, he seems so terrifying to us because we are afraid of dying, but to those who are truly filled with light, he appears as a good friend who looks brilliant, radiant, and even beautiful.

Morality is outlined by Jupiter and enforced by Saturn. He will compel us to be moral, or else give us one or two blows to make us so. Jupiter sets the rules of the game, while Saturn punishes us if we do not follow them.

Thus, we feel the presence of a police officer much more strongly than the presence of a legislator. The legislator says that when driving a car, we must travel on the right-hand side of the road; in Europe, that is the law. If there were no police officer, we might disobey it, but if we know that the police are effective, we will certainly stay on the right; otherwise, we might be inclined to drive on the left. This is how Saturn works—as a police officer. He is on the restrictive side of things in order to keep us on the right side of life.

Characteristics of Saturn’s Work

Saturn’s work is very slow, very deep, and long-lasting. He teaches us good lessons that are remembered for a lifetime. His grip is slow but sure. He slowly encompasses us. Saturn governs enduring things, permanent values, and plans of a very stable nature. It is a slow-moving planet and completes one circuit of the zodiac every thirty years. During its first revolution, it touches all the sensitive points of our horoscope and compels a person to gain sufficient experience.

In the physical body, Saturn governs the skin, teeth, bones, nails, and hair. For a disciple on the spiritual path, he plays a very significant role; he performs important work for us. Together with Mercury, he governs the throat center; at the higher levels of discipleship, the throat center is the starting point for many advanced initiations. Control over thoughts, words, and actions, contentment, endurance, experience, and unremitting effort make a person fit for the path of discipleship and build their antahkarana. This brings the outer person into alignment with the inner person, with the subtle side of their existence. This is called occult understanding, which leads to the realization of truth.