In plain words
We must long eagerly for the Prema of God; that is true tapas. So they said, “Waiting with longing is tapas; rebelling is tamas.” Tapas does not mean merely leaving house and home, leaving wife and children, going off to the forest and sitting there. Tapas means giving up the wicked feelings in the mind and waiting with outstretched neck for the grace of God; so in this Prema is the chief principle. There is nothing beyond Prema. In the world, everything can be achieved through Prema. So we must make the proper effort for such Prema.
The principle of Prema is Bhakti
To offer to God one's mind, one's wishes, everything, and to long eagerly for His grace: that is true Bhakti. One meaning of Bhakti is attendance on the Lord. Service is the second meaning. The third meaning is friendship mixed with awe. Bhakti is that which is never separate from God. At no moment, in no age, in no place, in no circumstance should there be the least separation from God. Today your Bhakti, such as it is, is confined to a pūjā room alone. It is confined to a temple alone. As long as we are in that temple, as long as we are in that pūjā room, our Bhakti and surrender run at full speed. All is perfect calm. But leave that place, and off we go, huffing and hissing. This can never be true Bhakti.
Bhakti is the principle of Prema that is beyond our vows, our rules, our time, our place and our actions. It must never fall under the sway of place, time and circumstance. At all times and in all states we must foster the principle of Prema that is divinity. That is why they said, “Yogīs at every moment.” We must make the proper effort to experience such sacred Prema, to receive it, and to share out again among many the Ānanda we have received.