Serious and sincere, by Haripada dasa
Srila Prabhupada always said that the devotee must be serious and sincere in his practices of Krishna consciousness, this also applies to mothers, serious and sincere means that one does not cheat 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 gets too entangled in the following six activities, his devotional service is ruined;
(1) Eating more than necessary, or accumulating more funds than required;
(2) trying too hard for worldly things that are very difficult to obtain;
(3) talk unnecessarily about worldly matters;
(4) follow the rules and regulations of the Scriptures only for the sake of following them and not to advance spiritually, or reject the rules and regulations of the Scriptures and work independently or capriciously;
(5) associating with worldly-minded persons who are not interested in cultivating Kṛishna consciousness; and
(6) coveting worldly achievements, and there are six principles that are conducive to the performance of pure devotional service:
(1) be enthusiastic,
(2) exert yourself confidently.
(3) be patient,
(4) act according to the regulative principles [such as śravaṇaṁ kīrtanaṁ viṣṇoḥ smaraṇam: hearing, chanting and remembering Kṛishna,
(5) abandoning 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 jot), is a mundane sound vibration, 3- see the charanamrita, or the water that washes the Deities as simple flowing water and 4- see the devotees from the material point of view.