Volume-2: Introduction

 

The events in this diary are factual. One of my Godbrothers, Ālālanātha Prabhu from New Zealand, once said that I am one of the best storytellers he knows. However, I assure the reader that there is no exaggeration herein. Although many of these pages are filled with the realities of material existence—birth, disease, old age, and death—I didn’t go looking for these things but found them naturally in my travels as a preacher in Kṛṣṇa consciousness. In chapter 29 of the Kṛṣṇa book, Śrīla Prabhupäda says, “A preacher has to face many difficulties in his struggle to preach pure Kṛṣṇa consciousness. Sometimes he has to suffer bodily injuries, and sometimes he has to meet death also. All this is taken as a great austerity on behalf of Kṛṣṇa.” Because of the tragic nature of some of the events, the reader may find parts of the diary unpalatable. But the events are history and cannot be ignored. What is important is to see how the devotees always remain Kṛṣṇa conscious and take shelter of the Lord. Their activities are instructive for all of us who live within this temporary material world and desire to go back home, back to Godhead.