~ Author's Note ~
A few years ago I wrote a book or, given its modest size, a booklet which I somewhat pathetically named “A Book of Concern”. In its original form, it had been written in a language other than English and, when translated, didn't differ much from the original text in terms of structure, topics covered, etc. Well, the English edition might have got some awkward phrasings and other linguistic vices, a discrepancy only natural when writing not in the mother tongue. As English persists to be my second language, the new edition isn't warranted from having some inadequacies as seen by native English speakers either. That is to say, if they happen to be reading these lines and intend to thumb down to the very last page, let them be patient and condescending with me.
On another note, there will be no bibliography of sorts, and all references and citations, except for the names of their authors or literary sources, would hardly bear any other traces of relevant information to help track them down. For one thing, in the age of Internet that wouldn't be too laborious a task on the part of the reader. Yet, the main reason for this deliberate neglect – this is not an academic write but, rather, an intimate monologue, an attempt to communicate something of great importance and is to be treated as such. The reader is invited to mostly rely on his or her common sense and 'gut feeling' than any outward signs of legitimacy that proper formatting would suggest. In this regard, the new version of the book is no different from the older.
Technicalities aside, as some four years passed by, I decided to revise and expand the book for it to include something that hadn't been well articulated or was purposefully left out in what has now become the older version. I am mostly keen to elaborate on what I personally see as the way out of seemingly inevitable life's woes, something I mention passingly and rather sheepishly there. This time, I will be 'going bold' as circumstances seem to be more pushing. What I mean by all this will be mostly laid out in the last chapter, in a dessert sort of way. Should the reader be now tempted to jump straight to that part, most likely he or she won't be able to appreciate it without having digested 'the main course' first. Besides, some changes are going to be made throughout the text. Reworked, it would be worth a look in its entirety.
“A Book of Concern”, essentially, was and is an attempt to provide a common foundation and reference point for various spiritual and philosophical traditions in general and individual spiritual development in particular. At the heart of the book lie my personal inner experiences, insights, familiarity with religious, philosophical, and psychological thought, observations, comparisons, and reflections that have been going on for years. For one thing, these must have translated into some sort of validity. In a way, I am embarking on an ambitious mission of a peacemaker wielding, at the same time, a sword – that of discrimination – which would hardly be pleasing to some. Whether I am blessed as it is made clear with regards to peacemaking in the Bible, this I know not.
If the reader hasn't been put off with all my intimations and pretense thus far, let our journey across pages continue.
2020