How can one turn a bad quality like anger towards God?

[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on January 09, 2021, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]

[Ṣrī Ganesh asked: I have learnt from You that we can use our so-called bad qualities in the right direction, in the service of God. For example, if we have lust, we can use it to appreciate the beauty of God. But how can one turn our anger towards God? How can we express anger towards God? Would such expression of anger towards God not be out of jealousy, which, in turn is rooted in the ego?]

Swāmi replied: When the devotee is unable to attain God’s grace, he or she becomes angry. Here anger means the pain-mixed emotion that one feels for not being able to attain His grace. This is the good face of anger. The bad face of anger is the anger due to jealousy, which is rooted in the ego. Every quality, whether it is said to be good or bad, has both good and bad faces. You must only use the good face of each quality. Anything in the direction of God is always good and anything in the direction of the world is always bad. The Gopikās reached Goloka, the fifteenth world, which lies even above the abode of God through their illegitimate love towards God Kṛṣṇa. On the other hand, Dharmarāja performed many religious sacrifices in which he did legitimate charity to sages. Yet he was only able to reach heaven (Svarga Loka), which is only the third world above Earth. The direction decides whether the quality is good or bad. In the same lock, the key turned in one direction results in locking (bandha), whereas, the same key turned in the opposite direction results in unlocking (mokṣa). Both God and the world are diagonally opposite to each other, as per the Veda (Dūramete…—Veda).

Keywords:

| Shri Datta Swami | How can one turn a bad quality like anger towards God? | Dharmaraja Krishna moksha Duramete