Dear Beloved Beings,
I send each one of you my love, deep care, and healing energy this new year. To me, love is a deep commitment to one's own evolution and the evolution of others. That kind of love is called Prema in Sanskrit. Unlike English, Sanskrit has close to 300 words for different kinds of love.
Prema is a spiritual love that helps us align with our Anandamaya Kosha (Bliss body/field). By aligning with the Anandamaya Kosha we have access to Prema which begets bliss. Some call it ecstatic love but unfortunately the rave drug ecstasy might give you a different association and illusion of its expression. Hence I prefer the word bliss.
My Sankalpa (intention aligned with the highest) or new year wish is that all of you experience this most expansive love or Prema in your life consistently this year. That is why we do Sadhana (highest truth aligned practice).
This concentrated or deep love melts the armours of the heart, making us vulnerable, open and receptive to the divine and right living. The emotion is refined in the crucible of accepting, embracing, refining and transforming our karma (fruits of our conscious and unconscious actions, thoughts and words). With Prema, negative ego dramas fall away and we glide into union with our highest.
Prema comes from the root Sanskrit word Preman and Pri which means “to please.” Therefore we act, think, and say things that please divinity. Prem, Premaa and Priya are derivatives of Prema and common Indian names that exude universal love.
I was speaking to a cousin in the U.S yesterday and we were laughing our heads off, even though the content was not funny. She was sharing her many challenges and I was sharing dark family stuff as well. We were not laughing at each other, but at life's idiosyncrasies with the foundation of Prema, thus enabling Vairagya (detachment). That is what endears her to me and vice versa.
Prema, Prema and Prema. That is the bond that keeps the Arkaya team together as well: Ross, Sadie, Kiana, Patricia, Paul and others. That is the thick thread that draws people to the courses and teacher training. It is what defines all my close relationships / friendships: PREMA. That is my being and reason for being.
Despite life’s challenges, irritants, pain, grief, and betrayals; May we always anchor in Prema this year and each year.
Let Prema be your prayer. Krishna, an incarnation of the divine, loves butter. He would often be chided by his mom for dipping his hands into the butter pot, as a child. May all our cells, organs and systems be basted in love this year.
Prema is pronounced like pray and ma with a short ‘a’ that sounds like the “e” in butter.
Please find how to pronounce Prema here:
Please find out how to pronounce Prem, Premaa, and Priya here:
With Prema,
Yogacharini Maitreyi