Monday, April 14th, 2003
Sri Chaitanya Saraswat Math, St. Petersburg, Russia.

A Krishna Conscious Catechism
To know, to love, and to serve

At the evening class, one of the Russian devotees asks if I was attracted to God in my youth. At the risk of sounding conceited, I have to say, yes.

My mother was a devout Catholic who taught us to pray and recite novenas at an early age. She took us to church every Sunday, and to Benediction during the week. On Saturdays, we all went to confession. I loved it; I became an altar-boy at the age of six.

I attended catechism classes twice a week. I still remember my little blue catechism book, and the first two questions in the book:

Q: Who made me?

A: God made me.

Q: Why did God make me?

A: God made me to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him in this world, and forever in the next.

This was so wonderful. I tried so hard to love God. I wanted so much to serve Him...

I read the bible so many times, I asked our parish priest so many questions, but alas, I could not find much information about God, other than that He was some benevolent old guy who lived in the sky... and try as I might, I could not really love that...

So, when I was sixteen, I left the Catholic Church, disappointed.

When I first came in touch with Krishna consciousness I was elated. Here was so much information about God: who He was, His name, His form, His relatives, His friends, His pastimes...

Once you know who God is, you cannot help but love Him (Krishna means "All-Attractive"). And when you love Him, you naturally want to serve Him. This is so Krishna conscious! Why did God make me? God made me to know Him, to love Him, to serve Him in this world, and forever in the next.

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