Page 10 - Patropadesa Vol. 2 - Eng

viii PREFACE

my stringent approach to Kṛṣṇa 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 Kṛṣṇa 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.

As can be seen from some of the earlier entries in
Patropadeśa, previously I often composed extensive replies to
philosophical, polemic, and practical queries. But nowadays
I prefer to respond verbally whenever lengthy answers are
warranted. Modern technology makes for easy dissemination
of such replies.
The perspectives and advice contained in this volume were
offered to different individuals under varied circumstances
and hence should not necessarily be considered universally
applicable to all my disciples. Moreover, usually what I state
in letters is unlikely to represent the whole gamut of my
outlook on any given topic. Another important point is that