Journal of a Prabhupada Man, Entry #1"Impossible" is a word in a fool's dictionary.

June 24, 2003

Journal of a Prabhupada Man, Entry #1

By Sankarshan Das Adhikari

Thursday, June 19, 2003, Austin, Texas

What incredible mercy we've received from Srila Prabhupada! He wants us to make the whole world Krishna conscious. That's impossible, right? But Srila Prabhupada said that "impossible" is a word in a fool's dictionary. So we have to dedicate our entire lives to trying to accomplish the impossible. Talk about shooting for the rhino!

Srila Prabhupada explains this in the purport to Srimad Bhagavatam 4.12.36:

"A Krishna conscious being is always engaged in planning how to take all of suffering humanity back home, back to Godhead. Even if one is not successful in reclaiming all the fallen souls back to Godhead, still, because he is Krishna conscious, his path to Vaikunthaloka is open. He personally becomes qualified to enter the Vaikunthalokas, and if anyone follows such a devotee, he also enters into Vaikunthaloka."

So are we supposed to be Krishna conscious beings? Or is that for somebody else to do besides us because we are not qualified. Does Prabhupada want us to be Krishna conscious beings? The answer is obvious. Therefore we have to constantly absorb all of our thoughts, words, and deeds in purifying our own hearts and in the genuine attempt to inundate this entire material world in a tidal wave of Krishna consciousness even though we are totally unqualified to do so.

The hardest part is staying focused on these lofty goals while we have to plod through the nitty-gritty of everyday existence. To do that requires good focused japa and as much preaching as possible to each other and to those who are not Krishna conscious.

But what if I have a job and I have to absorb myself in it in order to cover my living expenses? Srila Prabhupada says that just as the ladies in Indian villages can balance a pot of water on their heads while they are simultaneously engaged in many varieties of activities, similarly one can work hard to earn one's living and at the same time remain perfectly fixed 24 hours a day in Krishna consciousness. This is what we have to do.

Back to my nitty-gritty. Today I'm bombarded with emails from the many non-devotees I've been cultivating. What a great preaching opportunity! All kinds of questions regarding the process of Krishna consciousness. But my email server is having problems and I can't send any outbound emails to answer their questions. I spend the practically the whole day on the phone with a computer technician trying to solve the problem. What frustration!

Those questions out there in my in-box are a great treasure chest of nectar awaiting me as soon as the computer problem is fixed. They are questions like these:

Who created God? How can I put absolute faith in Srila Prabhupada? How can I spread Krishna consciousness in my school? How can I get some japa beads? Send me information on how to practice Krishna consciousness at home. Do you believe you have a soul because the Gita says so or because you are practically experiencing your spiritual identity?

I'm happy knowing that by Krishna's grace, my preaching has effect. One college student I recently cultivated through correspondence came to meet me and then became an initiated devotee, Sevananda Das. He is very happily engaged in Lord Caitanya's movement and is making steady progress.

I am convinced there are literally hundreds and thousands of people like him just waiting to come in contact with a devotee to ignite the fire of bhakti in their hearts. We can see why Srila Prabhupada so much emphasized preaching. How can we think that no one is interested in Krishna consciousness? The whole world is out there waiting for us to present it to them in a manner that is suitable for their understanding. Then they will take it. We can see the entire globe united under the flag of Lord Caitanya during our very lifetimes. We simply have to keep our faith in Srila Prabhupada's words and make a big noise on his behalf that will attract the attention of everyone.

Signing out for now. Time to offer arati to Sri Sri Radha Damodar.