Spiritual Discipline

I looked back at the last time Saturn transited through Aries. It entered Aries shortly after my birthday in 1996 and exited in March of 1999. This time period was a very significant period of my life. It marked the start of my life overseas during which time I visited Meherabad in India with my then wife Sylvia. My appreciation and knowledge of Meher Baba deepened and culminated in Bhau Kalchuri's visit to Singapore in 1999. I also travelled to China and Nepal with students from the school at which I was teaching. I'm sure I've reviewed my Saturn's transits before but I'll push on as if I hadn't and maybe compare the two time-separated reflections later.

Saturn's first transit through Aries took place from March of 1969 until May of 1969. This was again a very important phase of my life. It marked the start of life beyond school. In 1967, I inadvertantly came across mention of Meher Baba in a book by Paul Brunton, titled "A Search in Secret India". It had been lent to me by my good friend Steve Ross and remember sitting in the sun at University and reading it. The next year, I attended a talk by Bill LePage about Meher Baba. That cemented Baba's name in my memory and proved the trigger to my acquisition of the book "God Speaks" in 1981. Academically this period was rather dismal but I made good friends during this time and was slowly growing into adulthood.

So the two previous transits of Saturn through Aries marked transformative phases of my life and both involve Meher Baba, the first laying the groundwork for my later epiphany and the second consolidating this same epiphany. Perhaps third time around there will be further developments in my relationship with Meher Baba. The presence of Neptune in Aries at the same time certainly makes this a possibility. However, it plays out I must embrace these dual influences and perhaps "Spiritual Discipline" is a good phrase to describe their very different energies. Lately I've been in a very negative state of mind but I have snapped out of it in the last couple of days and I need to ensure that I don't relapse.

I'm not sure what "spiritual discipline" entails but my physical discipline has certainly improved. I'm doing my usual round of exercises at least once and sometimes twice a day. This upcoming Saturn transit offers the opportunity to really make concrete skills and proficiencies that I've dabbled in but never fully mastered.