If someone says a deity has arrived while I am worshipping, must I immediately go out to receive them?

You do not need to stop what you are doing simply because someone says so. First understand whose perception it is, whether you yourself know what is happening, and how the request relates to what is before you.

Early on, while I was worshipping the Bodhisattva at our centre, a friend suddenly said that He Xiangu had arrived and told me to hurry outside to receive her. We did not worship the Eight Immortals there at the time, and I knew nothing of this arrival. I asked the friend to wait and continued finishing what I was doing. When the friend became angry because I had not complied, I said, ‘You are the one who sensed it. You can go and receive her.’

This was not an intentional lack of respect. Another person’s perception cannot directly become an instruction that I must obey. Even a message I receive myself needs to be explored and considered from different sides before I judge it. Ask clearly what it is pointing out rather than immediately changing course because someone urges you.