Srila Gurudeva: I see that so many devotees now want to come and hear hari-katha, but due to their weakness of mind, they become controlled. Those who are trying to control them are acting against Vaisnava etiquette and are committing a great offense. If any person is giving an invitation to come and hear hari-katha, and another person warns people not to go and hear, then he is guilty of the biggest kind of offense. Neither in history, nor in the Srimad-Bhagavatam, the Mahabharata nor the Ramayana, have we ever seen Vaisnavas act like this. So this poison is now being given. You should know that whoever is giving this poison is not even a Vaisnava, what to speak of a qualified Guru.
If a so-called Guru is giving an order like this, he should most certainly be rejected. We are followers of Krsna-bhakti. If we see a person who is qualified to give us that Krsna-bhakti, then we should hear from them. Bhakti is not confined by any sectarian limitations. Wherever any bona-fide Vaisnava is speaking Hari-katha and Srimad-Bhagavatam, we should most certainly go to hear from them. If such a Vaisnava is present, and we do not go to hear from him, then we are guilty of offense. So, the explanations of sastra have become different now. Actually, the explanations have not changed, but the mentality of those who try to make them has. So I think that you should not obey these false instructions, regardless of who makes them. Even if your Guru says this, then he must be rejected. This is Vaisnava etiquette.
So hear, and take all these things in your heart. And whatever you are hearing, try to adopt it in your lives. If there is anything you are not realizing or understanding, you can ask any of the Vaisnavas to explain it, or you can come to me. I will try to help, without any discrimination on the basis of caste or creed. The maha-purusa devotees are not bound by any sectarian values or confined by any borders or walls; rather they are there for the whole world. Just as Krsna is of the whole world, so are Vaisnavas. If anyone is creating sectarianism in the name of spiritual life, then they are doing so without any reference to sadhu, sastra, or Guru.
[Spoken by Srila Gurudeva on February 1st, 1998, Malaysia, published as part of the Bhakta Bandhav Anthology, Volume 25]