I went through many tests during those first few years, and Radha Gopivallabha were always there as support. The reciprocation I experienced from Them was immeasurable. From those days onward, They have always been an object of meditation. It is important to me that some from among the disciples feel, at least some degree, the same strong feelings towards these deities as I have.
June 18, 2006, Letter
There is a difference between revealing your mind to a friend, who is a friend on the basis of helping each other in Krishna consciousness, and to a "friend", whose friendship has been established on the basis of sharing a similar illusion. The latter may not only be powerless to stop you from doing something foolish, but also capable of encouraging you to do it.
June 17, 1997, Letter
If one loses faith in the process of chanting of the Holy Name of the Lord, the power of the Holy Name of the Lord, then they have to cry. Tears should come from their eyes. They should actually be praying and crying to Krishna "Please do whatever is necessary to restore my faith in the Holy Name of the Lord." These tears are the price one has to pay to stay under the protection of this internal potency. Without these tears in one's eyes and a further desire to pray for the Lord's protection, Prabhupada says that Maya can take you at any moment.
June 16, 2002, Kiev
When we speak about Krishna's relationship with His devotees, we are not talking about some temporary relationship that is simply manifest for some time and then His devotees die. No, there is no death for the living entity. There is no death for Krishna’s servants. Their relationships are eternal. But when the living entity forgets that relationship and he falls into material consciousness, he becomes absorbed with the reflection of this eternal relationship. He starts chasing after the reflection but it is not reality. It is like jumping into a lake to pick apples from the reflection from the apple tree.
June 15, 1996, Nikolaev
There is no enthusiasm in maintenance consciousness. The consciousness will simply degrade. But when there is devotion with mind fixed on Guru and Krishna, then the Lord will step in and help bring about results beyond all expectations. Ultimately all these results are up to Him. We are not the doers.
June 14, 2005, Letter
When a devotee understands that the Holy Name of the Lord can purify himself so that he can see Krishna with purified senses, then for him the Holy Name is everything. It is his only hope. It is his life line. It is his means for achieving the lotus feet of Krishna.
June 13, 2004, Moscow
The Vaishnava method of having a relationship means that you serve somebody. If you serve them, then you find that by serving them, then they reciprocate. That is our Vaishnava standard. If you actually want to get the attention of somebody, the way you can get his attention is by serving him. And if you really want attention, you serve him without any expectation of something in return, because that is the foundation of love.
June 12, 2005, Kiev
A Vaishnava is one who actually increases the hankering in the hearts of others to associate with Krishna. That is the power of a Vaishnava.
June 11, 1996, Krasnodar
It is not mechanical. At some point we have to execute our regulative principles of bhakti with a desire to achieve bhakti. It is this desire to achieve bhakti, when coupled together with our regulative activities in the association of others who have bhakti, that is what awakens bhakti. Bhakti comes from bhakti. It does not come from any mechanical activity. Mechanical activity has some beginning point in time, but bhakti has no beginning.
June 10, 2002, Sochi
Just like somebody may become attached to wealth, somebody may become attached to getting a position, somebody may become attached by enjoying another person. So, although they are in the position of master, they are not independent, because they are actually controlled by something material.
June 9, 1996, Rostov-on-Don