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[You find the second part of this lecture here.]

by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

"By rendering devotional service unto the Personality of Godhead, Sri Krishna, one immediately acquires causeless knowledge and detachment from the world."

—Srimad Bhagavatam 1.2.7

Those who consider devotional service to the Supreme Lord Sri Krishna to be something like material emotional affairs may argue that in the revealed scriptures, sacrifice, charity, austerity, knowledge, mystic powers, and similar other processes of transcendental realization are recommended. According to them, bhakti, or the devotional service of the Lord, is meant for those who cannot perform the high grade activities.

by His Divine Grace A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

The material existence of the living being is a diseased condition of actual life. Actual life is spiritual existence, or brahma-bhuta (SB 4.30.20) existence where life is eternal, blissful, and full of knowledge. Material existence is temporary, illusory, and full of miseries. There is no hap- piness at all. There is just the futile attempt to get rid of the miseries, and temporary cessa- tion of misery is falsely called happiness. Therefore, the path of progressive material enjoyment which is temporary, miserable, and illusory, is inferior.

[Part of IPM's Freedom Newsletter January–March 2008]

by A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada

Second Chapter of "The Science of Self Realization"

om ajnana-timirandhasya
jnananjana-salakaya
caksur unmilitam yena
tasmai sri-gurave namah

"I was born in the darkest ignorance, and my guru, my spiritual master, opened my eyes with the torch of knowledge. I offer my respectful obeisances unto him."

The word ajnana means "ignorance" or "darkness." If all the lights in this room immediately went out, we would not be able to tell where we or others are sitting. Everything would become confused. Similarly, we are all in darkness in this material world, which is a world of tamas. Tamas or timira means "darkness." This material world is dark, and therefore it needs sunlight or moonlight for illumination. However, there is another world, a spiritual world, that is beyond this darkness.

by Srila Prabhupada

Introduction by Kaunteya Das

I just discovered and read "Contribution of Lord Chaitanya to the People of the World" from the section "Books, Essays and Articles (pre-1967)" of the Bhaktivedanta Vedabase (FOLIO). I am not sure how Srila Prabhupada planned to use it, but it appears as having been an article, or an outline for an article or a speech, specifically designed to encourage the people of Allahabad, Uttar Pradesh, India, to "take shelter under the lotus feet of Sree Chaitanya Mahaprabhu" to "awake the dormant sleeping lion," the embodied soul, afflicted by the maladies of nescience. He cajoles them, simultaneously truthfully and tactfully, reminding them of the true glory of their city, "the birthplace of the seeds of transcendental Love of Godhead as they were implemented here first in the heart of Srila Rupa Goswami." 

It's interesting how Srila Prabhupada refers to words by Jawaharlal Nehru, a previous resident of Allahabad (he once visited Srila Prabhupada's pharmacy and asked for a donation for his political activities, which Srila Prabhupada granted) who at that time was Prime Minister of the Republic of India (post that he held from 1947 to 1964). Srila Prabhupada links Nehru's analysis of the ills of humanity to Lord Caitanya's previous (and of course more complete and farseeing) appraisal of the same situation. Srila Prabhupada seems to attempt to appeal to people's natural allegiances and somehow connect that to Lord Caitanya's remedy, the chanting of the holy name.