Will Anger Block You From Spiritual Growth?

IN RESPONSE TO A FEMALE PATH COURSE QUESTION: "Will my anger block me from having spiritual growth?": 

According to the Devi Gita, Tamasic Bhakti is spiritual worship performed with the emotion of anger, with the purpose of destroying enemies or harming other people, as opposed to Rajaistic Bhakti (worship done for fame, money, beauty) or Sattwic Bhakti (worship done to purify sins or achieve liberation). When a person is worshipping with the Tamasic mindset, it is more efficacious to speak the mantra aloud and very quickly as opposed to whispering (Rajas) or internal recitation (best for Sattwa). The mood for Tamasic worship can be considered to be analogous to what is felt on individuals who are sitting at a bar. You speak loudly, with an unstable sexual center and usually with polluted hands and mouth from smoking, food, or alcohol (Ucchista), and avoid Achamana or any purifying washing, as is done for normal worship. Profanity and dirty talk are also forms of worship and, in truth, just as good as sweet, poetic devotional hymns. Ucchista Matangi and Ucchista Ganesha both can be used to control others and are worshipped in this state. 

If a person wants to learn the art of controlling or harming others, there are many different deities that can assist one in learning how to worship with this mindset-- but the master of the most extreme forms of Tamasic Bhakti is Rishi Pippalada. He is the seer of the Dhumavati mantra, a Goddess who is meant to be worshipped without bathing, and often naked or while soaking wet in a cemetery or cremation grounds. He is also the seer of the Karna Pishachini (ear demoness) who is worshipped with feces and urine and also without bathing. Whenever a person is reciting any mantra, it is important to connect to the seer who achieved enlightenment through that mantra. In Pippalada's case, he actually achieved self-realization through Tamasic Bhakti and hence, he is the seer of these two mantras, which use this mindset in order to achieve this purpose. Pippalada was born in a mysterious circumstance. In one version of his birth, his mother had sexual intercourse with her husband's dead body on the funeral pyre. This was enough to produce a young boy, who was abandoned at the base of a Pippal Tree. Because he ate the Pippal fruit and was raised by the tree spirits and Chandra, he came to be known as Pippalada. Pippalada wanted to know why he did not have parents and so asked about his father. Chandra, the God of the trees, explained that his father had died to give his bones to the Gods in order for them to be used to craft a powerful weapon. Pippalada became very furious and blamed the death on the Gods and took a vow to destroy them. He began worshipping Shiva by trying to see his 3rd eye. When he was able to see it, his worship was so powerful that he generated a horrible demoness and asked it to devour the Gods. It then began devouring everything including him. He then forgot about destroying the Gods, as doing this would help his status as an orphan. Pippalada achieved enlightenment and one pointed concentration from his desire to destroy who he perceived to be his enemies (the Gods). From his motivation to destroy them, this spurred him to achieve one pointed concentration and this is why in truth, all motivations for worship are actually paths to liberation. This is why the Dhumavati mantra is so good at destroying enemies, both internal and external, and also why Karna Pishachini is, contrary to the popular belief, a very wonderful form of Devi for anyone who has this type of mindset.

A person should be honest with themselves and what truly motivates them to perform spiritual practice. If you want to be beautiful and famous and will sit for 4 hours or more daily until this is achieved, well, you are also going to have the side benefit of self-realization whether you want it or not. If you are willing to sit at midnight until the morning sunlight creeps over the horizon chanting for your enemies to be destroyed, well, you can be certain that all duality within yourself will also be destroyed. It is best to worship according to your true nature and genuine intentions, and most people who would make excellent sadhaks simply do not perform any worship because they believe that only the Sattwic mode of worship can have results. If this were true, then there would not exist upasana for deities using Tamasic or Rajaistic Bhakti or Devotion. Each deity is suitable for a different type of person depending on what their mind dwells on naturally. Whatever your intention in life, you will find a deity or patron who will teach you the ropes of whatever you are wanting to accomplish. This is why in regards to your chosen deity, you must be very selfish and choose the one that appeals to your most decadent and sincere desires, which your mind naturally runs and races towards without effort. In every other area of life, we are told to not be selfish and base our life choices on the welfare or desires of others. We have to make sacrifices for our family, country, society, etc. But in regards to what you contemplate, this is your choice alone-- and you should ruthlessly contemplate exactly what you alone desire, as a person can only achieve self-realization from their own effort & passion. In this way, we see that the "guru" is everywhere and in everything, taking whatever form we desire, to give us exactly what we want and much more. If you want the Guru to be beautiful women then Guru becomes it, if you want Guru to become a demoness who whispers secrets of others in your ear, then the Guru obliges. This is why Jesus said "Therefore I say unto you, What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them." Here, he explains quite succinctly the power of worship and prayer, and the supremacy of the human will, which, if it is utilized, can grant any desire. Ultimately it does not matter what you contemplate, only that you do it with one pointed concentration. This alone leads to success in whatever you want to accomplish. Eventually, you transcend the 3 gunas all together and abide completely in the state of Para Bhakti, which is total bliss for no reason.