Page 9 - Patropadesa (English)
P. 9

Preface




             Patropadeça (patra—letter; upadeça—instruction, advice) consists
             of selected correspondence with disciples and other devotees.
             Circa 1997, I considered that some of the content of my letters to
             individuals might be useful for others also, and thus I started to
             collect relevant texts with the intention of later publishing them
             as an anthology. Now, some fifteen years later, this volume is the
             result.

             This compilation is intended primarily for my direct disciples
             and others who are familiar and comfortable with my stringent
             approach to Kåñëa consciousness. Many of the letters featured
             herein deal with grave and sensitive topics and therefore offer
             insights into the practical application of the teachings of
             Kåñëa consciousness in today’s highly disturbed world. However,
             I have chosen not to include most of the polemic missives
             that I have written over the years regarding various contentious
             issues within  ISKCON, as I feel that such matters require
             comprehensive  analyses rather than decontextualized and
             incomplete perspectives. Nonetheless, this book is evidence that
             gurus in ISKCON must contend with many weighty topics and do
             not, as some persons seem to believe, merely bask in adulation.
             The several hundred letters presented herein represent only a
             fraction from the tens of thousands (including short notes) that
             I have written over the last two decades. Before about late 1994,
             almost all of the many letters that I composed were written
             by hand, and are now lost. Since then, and now practically
             exclusively, my correspondence has mostly been by email.

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