Page 9 - Patropadesa (English)

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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