by Haripada dasa

Srila Prabhupada always said that the devotee must be serious and sincere in his
Krishna consciousness practices. This also applies to mothers. Serious and sincere
means that one does not deceive himself or others. In other words, one is not a
hypocrite, we in a practical way show Srila Prabhupada and God or Krishna that
we are serious and sincere when we practice verses 2 and 3 of the Nectar of
Instruction.

There it is said that when someone becomes too entangled in the following six
activities, your devotional service is ruined;
(1) Eating more than necessary, or accumulating more funds than required;
(2) trying too hard for worldly things that are too hard to get;
(3) talking unnecessarily about worldly subjects;
(4) follow the rules and regulations of the Scriptures solely for following them and
not to advance spiritually, or reject the rules and regulations of the Scriptures and
work independently or whimsically;
(5) associate with people of worldly inclinations who are not interested in
cultivating Kṛishna consciousness; and
(6) covet worldly achievements.

And there are six principles that favor the performance of pure devotional service:
(1) be enthusiastic, (2) strive with confidence. (3) be patient, (4) act according to
regulative principles [such as śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam: hearing,
chanting and remembering Kṛishna, (5) leaving the company of nondevotees, and
(6) following in the footsteps of the previous ācāryas. These six principles
undoubtedly ensure the complete success of pure devotional service.
In the Padma Purana it is said that so that we are not inhabitants of hell, we have to
be very careful with these 4 things,

1- see the Deity of Krishna as if it were a stone,
2- consider that the chanting of the Maha-Mantra Hare Krishna, Hare Krishna,
Krishna Krishna, Hare Hare / Hare Rama, Hare Rama, Rama Rama, Hare Hare (the
H is read as J for j), it is a worldly sound vibration,
3- see the charanamrita, or the water that washes the Deities as simple running
water and
4- see the devotees from the material point of view.