Jai Prema Shanti - Victory to Love and Peace

'Bhakti Yoga' is the devotional path of union with 'Divine consciousness' or the pursuit of 'Self-realisation', in which a 'yogi' or 'spiritual aspirant' develops a devotional relationship with a Guru or an already 'Self-realised' being. The philosophy supports a general practice of harmlessness, equality and 'selfless service', as some of its central tenets. There is an ancient tradition of this throughout India that remains to this day.

On her first visit to South India in 2011 Bennetts found herself staying in the Sri Premananda Ashram in Tamil Nadu. The atmosphere was like nothing she had ever experienced before. Both confused and elated as she walked about a sort of garden of paradise in which people greeted each other with the expression "Jai Prema Shanti" or "Victory to Love and Peace". Bennetts felt a deep sense of safety and perceived that the 350 or so children inhabitants that would have otherwise been 'destitute' did so too. One of the sources of this sense of safety and peace was the belief that there was an omniscient, omnipotent Swami, Saint or 'Man of God' watching kindly over us, teaching through our daily experiences how to become one with or awaken to the Divine.