Prema: Love Before Loss

Prema, or divine love in bhakti tradition, asks us to pour love forward rather than backward into regret. Mirabai's devotion to Krishna was total and present, even amid separation and longing. In anticipatory grief, prema invites a radical reorientation: instead of grieving what will be lost, we actively love what is here now. This is not denial of future loss, but a deliberate choice to meet the person fully in each moment. Prema becomes a daily practice—singing to them, serving them, witnessing them—that honors both their presence and the impermanence of all things. By loving fiercely now, we create a treasury of presence that cannot be taken, even when the body is gone.