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The Nectar of Devotion
Kṛṣṇa, we must be prepared to give up something which we may not like to give up, and also we have to accept something which we may not like to accept.), 7) residing in a sacred place of pilgrimage like Dvārakā or Vṛndāvana, 8) dealing with the material world only as far as necessary, 9) observing the fasting day on  Ekādaśī , and 10) worshiping sacred trees like the banyan tree and others.
These ten items are preliminary necessities for beginning the discharge of devotional service in regulative principles. In the beginning, if a neophyte devotee observes the above-mentioned ten principles, surely he will quickly make good advancement in Kṛṣṇa consciousness.
The next set of instructions is listed as follows: 1) One should rigidly give up the company of nondevotees. 2) One should not instruct a person who is not desirous of accepting devotional service. 3) One should not be very enthusiastic about constructing costly temples or monasteries. 4) One should not try to read too many books, nor should one develop the idea of earning his livelihood by lecturing on or by professionally reciting  Śrīmad-Bhāgavatam  or the  Bhagavad-gītā . 5) One should not be neglectful in ordinary dealings. 6) One should not be under the spell of lamentation in loss or tribulation in gain. 7) One should not disrespect the demigods. 8) One should not give unnecessary trouble to any living entity. 9) One should carefully avoid the various offenses in chanting the holy name of the Lord, or in worshiping the Deity in the temple. 10) One should be very intolerant towards the blasphemy of the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, or His devotees.
Without following the above-mentioned ten principles, one cannot properly elevate himself to the platform of  sādhana-bhakti , or devotional service in practice. Altogether, Śrīla Rūpa Gosvāmī mentions twenty items, and all of them are very important. Out of the twenty, the first three—namely, accepting the shelter of a bona fide spiritual master, taking initiation from him and serving him with respect and reverence—are the most important.
The next important items are as follows: 1) One should decorate the body with  tilaka , which is the sign of the  Vaiṣṇavas . (The idea is that as soon as a person sees these marks on the body of the  Vaiṣṇava ,