Discussing buddhist concepts to non-buddhists

TheJourney

It's awesome, and funny to me. I can discuss the philosophy and thoughts behind buddhism without ever mentioning that i'm a buddhist, and so many of the deep thinkers, such as some of the people you'll find at any philosophy and spirituality forum, will love what I have to say. There's no need to proselytize and make them buddhists, but just helping them see some of the truths of buddhism helps bring wisdom and love to the world, and that can't be a bad thing.

ShiftPlusOne

I had to see a counsellor recently (in order to be able to get a deferral on an exam). I noticed a Buddha statue on her desk and told her I had the same one. Then when I told her the problem she started addressing it using Buddhist teachings, but without Buddhist terms or mentioning Buddhism. Eventually she said "you might want to try meditation", so I told her I do meditate and that it has been helpful. After that she started using Buddhist terms and analogies.

I found it interesting that the counsellor was addressing the problems in a way that was entirely Buddhist, but without mentioning Buddhism at all.

Mountains

I've experienced similar situations. It's amazing how universal the dharma is if you take away the "Buddhism" of it. It's amazing how much of it is shared with other philosophies as well - proving that the divisions are totally man-made.