Ma wrote this wonderful puja & prayer about shame on 12/7/04. This is a place of deep pain for many of us in the glbt community. This prayer is a gift to help us understand ourselves better and come to place of celebrating our own beauty. Please feel free to share this with others who might appreciate it.

Namaste,

One of the most powerful of the negative emotions is shame.

Shame is the connecting karma to the karmic spaces of life.

Shame can become one's whole center of living if you let it.

Many times it paralyzes and keeps people with their heads down, unable to live in the world.

Many times shame comes from anger, either your own anger or the anger of others.

Many times I have watched those with shame become physically sick.

I have seen many damaged and made to feel bad about themselves through shame.

This emotion can and does steal one's dignity.

Now your Guru Mother is going to talk about Her own anger.

Oh yes, I do have anger at the injustice of life and the non-understanding that many people have for those whose lifestyles may be different from their own.

This anger has a movement to it, if you do something about it instead of just complaining.

Anger brings about shame, yet shame can bring about anger just as easily.

Withdrawal becomes a defense that people put up like a brick wall, ready to hide from the shame that they have inflicted on themselves, or that which they have allowed others to do to them.

Rage is then born, and can be born at any age.

I have had people literally despising themselves.

I could go on and on about shame taking over one’s life, yet it is not so much knowing about shame, it is how does one overcome it?

When you enter into spiritual life the Guru holds you in Her silent embrace and loves you deeply as you are at this moment.

This is called unconditional love.

It enters into every cell of your being, and you can get a little break from the all-consuming shame.

Think this very moment, “What am I ashamed about?”

And in the same moment, think, “My Ma loves me.”

It is not that “My Ma loves me if,” it is “My Ma loves me.”

Many people who came to our intensive have been writing me about this past weekend and how wonderful it was.

Yet all it was is the Mother's love for Her children.

The nervous system floats in this love and begins to breathe more deeply.

The rage that comes from shame that comes from anger brings one to a shame-bound moment, keeping them out of the present.

Those who are stuck in the Karmic Space of Abuse of Power are the ones who bring about pain in others.

If you can say over and over that your Ma loves you, or nature loves you, or that your beloved loves you, you begin to acknowledge that you are in the presence of a Higher Power.

Simple deep breathing shows the heart that you can have some control.

By becoming and allowing yourself to become the feminine part of yourself, you will find that you are nurturing yourself.

Because you judge yourselves so harshly, it is hard to hear positive comments about yourselves; yet you allow yourselves to be brought to a place of shame, simply because it is familiar.

How much I want you to celebrate your own beauty is beyond words.

Yet how can you celebrate when you are filled with rage, and through this rage you are saying, “Stay away from me, I do not want you to see me; stay away so you cannot judge me.”

The power of rage will drive people away.

Yet unconditional love can reach deeper than any reactions you can have toward others.

I want you to feel the heat of the Hot Ash of the Heart.

Just begin breathing in and out with awareness.

See if you can feel the heat of passion of the breath.

Do not worry if you do not feel anything; just breathe.

When you find yourself in a situation where someone is putting you down, begin to say your mantra, “My beloved loves me”, to yourself.

Whisper it to your heart.

See how this works.

It takes lots of practice, yet I promise you it will work.

You also need to hesitate before you judge a simple comment by making it into a criticism.

Here you turn the volume down on your own anger and your negative thoughts.

Try this, and let your Ma know how you are doing.

When you are told over and over that you are no good, you begin to take that thought until it becomes an action.

The action is prejudgment of yourself and others.

My chelas, there is no reason for you to feel lonely.

The joy of living in a spiritual interfaith community is that interfaith springs out into every dimension.

Interfaith is not just about the different religions.

Interfaith must hold everything that everyone is in the moment without judgment, and in this way you are feeding your hearts and the hearts of others.

I will continue to teach of shame and the Karmic Spaces.

For now read the words from the Guru Mother over and over, putting your own Beloved anywhere you want to feel passion.

My Pujas and Prayers go out to the Mother Laxmi, the great Mother of prosperity, abundance, heart and health.

I ask the Mother to begin the process, which is beyond the mind, to take from any of you the shame and self-doubt.

This is my Puja and this is my Prayer.

I love you all so very much and hold you tight in my arms.

I love you.

Love, Ma

For more information about the Kashi Rainbow please email Dhumavati@kashi.org