Although the Acharyas declare that bhakti is very easy to practice, there is one point at which it becomes extremely difficult. Aspirants start off with great enthusiasm but find themselves struggling hard at this one point. What is it?

The desire for self-happiness.  For countless lifetimes, the soul has desired to either 'take and take' or 'give and take'. But the only formula for progressing on the path of divine love is to 'give and give' without expecting anything in return. This is the first lesson of bhakti and must be stamped in our minds.

For people who have not yet experienced the bliss of God, it is easier to change and develop selflessness at early stages of bhakti. At later stages if somebody's formula is to 'take and take', that person is unable to develop selflessness. That is the reason why great yogis and munis do austerities for ages because they had developed sanskars of selfishness.

Naradji, in the Narad Bhakti Darshan states that bhakti is free from desires. But this is where most people are stuck. They go to the temples, mosques, churches, and gurudwaras, not for bhakti but to seek boons for material well-being.  If we wish to receive divine love from God, we have to stop begging for the worldly happiness. In fact, we have to even stop asking for mukti or liberation.

Due to the lack of knowledge, people pray to God, "Hey bhagavan, mujhe tar do, meri mukti ho jae." "Oh Lord! Please grant me liberation." They don't understand that this desire for liberation is also the desire for self-happiness.
 
Somebody asks for worldly happiness so that his misery of poverty can end.  It is a material desire to end the suffering of poverty. Likewise, somebody asks for liberation so that all his miseries in the world can end. The motivation of both the people remain the same - to end their miseries. Both the desires are selfish.

Therefore, the desire for mukti is totally against the concept of bhakti and the bhakti acharayas have condemned it extremely strongly.

Maharaj Chitraketu in the Bhagawat, says, "Swarg, Narak and Mukti, they are all equal!" Why? Because pure love for God is not present in any of these!

Chaitanya Mahaprabhu said, "Moksha Vanchat Kaitav Pradhan!" The desire for moksh is a blemish on the path of Divine Love Bhakti, because it is 'self-seeking'.
 
Hence, on the path of bhakti, we don't desire worldly happiness or even liberation.  We only desire one thing - Shree Krishna's happiness.  In other words, our only desire on this path should be to please Him, i.e. to give Him Happiness.

People start wondering that if they desire only Shree Krishna'a happiness, what will happen to their own happiness. The fact is that when we give happiness to Shree Krishna, He will multiply it manifold and give the happiness back to us. This happiness that he gives us, is the happiness of Divine Love and is the sweetest of all!

It is so sweet that Brahmaji desired to become a blade of grass in the land of Vrindavan to relish it and Uddhavji actually became a blade of grass!

This philosophy has practical application in our everyday lives. People wonder if they will have to renounce the world to practice bhakti. The answer is no, you will only have to learn to desire the right thing. Earlier, whatever you did was for a personal desire to earn wealth, respect, fame, etc. Now on the path of bhakti, whatever you do, it should be to simply please the Lord.

Therefore, to engage in Bhakti does not mean that you should become like a stone and sit down. Arjun was a warrior, before he heard the Bhagavad Gita, and after he heard the Bhagavad Gita, he was still a warrior. He was the best warrior on the battlefield. The difference however was that earlier he was fighting out of his own greed to be the King of Hastinapur, but later on, he was fighting for the glory and pleasure of the Lord!

So, when we desire to serve God with everything, our desires become perfectly oriented, and we experience the highest bliss, which is the bliss of the soul.