From “By Your Anxiety” in Among Friends, Volume 2 #3 (1993):
“If I were to boil down what I want from my disciples, it would be that I am asking them to improve. That is the thrust of my own attempts in devotional service, to always try to improve and deepen my Krishna consciousness. I don’t ever want to think that I have improved enough. Inspiration for improvement comes from hearing. No matter what stage we are in in our lives, we can always hear something and then aspire to improve ourselves.”
“One time some devotees asked Prabhupada, ‘How can we please Krishna?’ Prabhupada answered, ‘By your anxiety.’ It was such an unusual and unexpected answer that the devotees laughed nervously. Prabhupada then said, ‘If you have a sense that I did something wrong, I did not serve nicely, then you can improve. But if you think, “I did everything nicely, I am already advanced,” then how can you improve?’ Krishna can enjoy everything we offer Him without our help. He is pleased by our anxiety and eagerness to improve.”
“When a disciple shows that anxiety or eagerness to improve and takes help from the spiritual master, then the guru-disciple relationship deepens to the point where the guru and disciple can discuss kṛishṇa-katha. When that happens, it’s pleasing both to the guru and the disciple. Prabhupada says in his purport to Bhag. 10.1.4: ‘For kṛishṇa-katha, topics about Krishna consciousness, there must be a speaker and a hearer, both of whom can be interested in Krishna consciousness if they are no longer interested in material topics.’”