Should I discuss spiritual knowledge with a stranger at the time of satsanga?

[An online spiritual discussion was conducted on December 19, 2020, in which several devotees participated. Some of the questions of devotees answered by Swāmi are given below.]

[Śrī Bharath Krishna asked: If I am in a situation wherein, I have to choose between participating in a rare and excellent satsaṅga and preaching spiritual knowledge given by You to a stranger who might never meet me again, which should I choose? For example, let us assume that I am travelling in a train at the time of our usual online Saturday Satsaṅga. During that journey, I happen to meet a fellow-passenger who shows interest in spirituality. It is an opportunity for me to convey Your knowledge to him. He might get a lot of benefit from it. Personally, I will be happy to join our usual satsaṅga instead of discussing with that fellow-passenger. What is the right thing to do in such situations?]

Swāmi replied: It is better to participate in the online satsaṅga so that your fellow-passenger will also develop an interest to know about the satsaṅga. He will listen to the satsaṅga and get attracted. He will also listen to the subject being discussed in the satsaṅga, which is equal to the preaching of spiritual knowledge that you wanted to give him. You can give him the address of the website and the YouTube channel. You can also give him your phone number and ask him to discuss with you in case he has any doubts.

Before preaching spiritual knowledge to anyone, creating interest in them towards spiritual knowledge is essential. The way of introducing spiritual knowledge is very important. While introducing, it should not appear as if you are interested in preaching spiritual knowledge to the public. The introduction should come up naturally in the context of the conversation. It should not appear as if the context has been artificially created by the preacher due to the preacher’s interest in preaching to others. After creating interest in the person in that manner, one can preach to him. The person should first be served with an appetizer like tomato soup. Once the person develops an appetite, food should be served to him. Even if the person already has developed an appetite, this introduction-soup will increase his appetite even more, which is also good.

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