Krishna does not always immediately relieve pain, though we should never think that it is because He wants us to suffer. He wants no one to suffer – not even those who are envious of Him, what to speak of His devotee. We must see that the root cause of our suffering is our forgetfulness of Him.
Now is the time to train your mind to see all this as Krishna’s mercy.
January 5, 2007, Letter
Our nature is to be subservient. The difficulty is that the masters of this world are very hard masters and as much as we serve them with imperfect motives, then it is simply prolongs our temporary connections with these temporary designations.
January 4, 2009, Boston
Certainly devotional service means voluntary. It cannot be forced. This voluntary spirit has to be awakened, the desire that I want to do this. Krishna will not force us.
January 3, 2009, Boston
When the Lord is actually pleased by the service rendered, then we actually begin to experience our real desires. Until we actually get that experience of devotional service, then we don’t know anything else accept these material desires which are born from the envy desire to enjoy separately from the Lord.
January 2, 1997, Kiev
Until actually we come to this platform (pure goodness), we see that ultimately we sometimes we experience distress as a result of our hard labor. But this is the symptom of the mode of passion, that is why we are feeling this distress, because we are still influenced by this passion which is wanting to enjoy the result ourselves.
January 1, 1995, Moscow
This is how a devotee becomes detached. He becomes attached to Krishna. Only a devotee can be attached to Krishna; He can never be known by nondevotees. In order to become attached to Krishna, we must know something about Him. Just like if we want to develop love for somebody, then how can we love somebody if we don’t know anything about them?. Obviously love is developed by understanding how wonderful a person is. How he deals with us, and deals with others, and how is his behavior, his likes and dislikes? So in order to develop our attachment to Krishna, we must understand that we must learn something about Krishna.
1990, Kiev
Therefore the pure devotee is one who actually knows the value of time. That is actually given as one of the symptoms of one who is situated on the platform of ecstatic devotional service, that he never wastes a moment of time. He always utilizes time as the impetus for advancing or accelerating in devotional service, because he knows that even one moment wasted can never be purchased back.
December 30, 2007, Budapest
We should try to cultivate these qualities and not blaspheme others, not criticize others, to give respect to others, respect to everyone and never looking for respect for oneself, then one will be able to chant Hare Krishna constantly, and by the grace of the spiritual master, in association with vaishnavas who fully realize the importance of chanting the Holy Name and if we chant in their association, then certainly we will be able to realize the goal of this chanting.
December 29 2010, New York
When the sun rises in the sky everyone begins their activities. In the same way, when the Holy Name of the Lord is actually awakened within one's heart, it awakens him to his eternal activities in loving devotional service, which is the ultimate goal of chanting. If one wants to achieve the ultimate goal of chanting, he must receive the Holy Name of the Lord from the right source.
December 28, 1997, Kaunas
Steadiness means that not only does one have to be determined, but one is able to overcome the obstacles that come before him. Whenever there is an obstacle or a test a devotee does not lose sight of the ultimate objective to actually go home back to Godhead. He is very careful to not become diverted by so many other material desires which manifest as one continues on the path of Krishna Consciousness.
BG 3.8 -12