Guru's Anger is Grace

Sri Saradamma

It is good for the devotee to fear the Guru. I laugh and play with devotees but I also sometimes get angry with them. If they get too familiar with me over a long period of time, their egos flourish. An occasional outburst of anger is always good for curbing the ego, and since devotees never know when such outbursts are coming, the mere threat of such an outburst keeps them all apprehensive. This is good. Worry is good in devotees as it makes them think about God more.

A devotee may make a joke at my expense and I may laugh. Another devotee may make a similar joke and I may react with anger. The irrationality of it all, and the inability of devotees to predict what they can safely say or do, keeps everyone on their toes and egos under control. Please understand though that I do not choose whom to get angry with. These outbursts all come spontaneously from the Self; they come because they are necessary for the devotee's spiritual progress. The more angry I am with a devotee the more is my love for him.

Being friends with a jnani is difficult; being humble is essential. The power coming from a Self-realized person will bring the ego up. At these times the devotee will see the jnani as being angry, but it is only a reflection of the devotee's inner state.

If the devotee can recognize this and be humble bringing his ego down, then more grace will flow to him and he will be spiritually cleaned. He will then generate more love for the Guru and more peace will come. If the ego is strong, the Guru will continue to seem angry, the devotee's own mind will be in a state of restlessness, and love for God will not grow.

The anger of the Guru is, in fact, a special form of grace.

To follow the path that Saradamma followed successfully, one must accept everything that the Guru does or says. Questioning the Guru's actions require an assertive ego, whereas true surrender requires that one humbly accepts every order and decision of the Guru.

Whatever the Guru does is correct. The Guru is the Self and he cannot do wrong, even though his actions may well appear to be wrong in the sight of the world.

If a devotee sees the Guru's actions as bad and thinks badly of the Guru, bad power will come to the devotee. If you think that whatever the Guru done is correct, then good power will come. If the Guru says jump in a well you should jump, even if you can't swim.