Non-theistic Buddhism.
Do not believe in anything simply because you have heard it. Do not believe in anything simply because it is spoken and rumored by many. Do not believe in anything simply because it is found written in your religious books.
Do not believe in anything merely on the authority of your teachers and elders. Do not believe in traditions because they have been handed down for many generations. But after observation and analysis, when you find that anything agrees with reason and is conducive to the good and benefit of one and all, then accept it and live up to it.
---Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha
As the Buddha was dying, Ananda asked who would be their teacher after death.
He replied to
his disciple:
Be lamps unto yourselves
Be refuges unto yourselves
Take yourself no external refuge
Hold fast to the truth as a lamp.
Hold fast to the truth as a refuge.
Look not for refuge in anyone besides yourselves.
And those, Ananda, for who either now or after I am dead,
Shall be a lamp unto themselves
Shall betake themselves as no external refuge
But holding fast to the truth as their refuge
Shall not look for refuge to anyone else besides themselves
It is they who shall reach for the very topmost height;
But they must be anxious to learn.
I am of the nature to grow old. There is no way to escape growing old.
I am of the nature to have ill-health. There is no way to escape having ill-health.
I am of the nature to die. There is no way to escape death.
All that is dear to me and everyone I love are of the nature to change.
There is no way to escape being separated from them.
My actions are my only true belongings.
I cannot escape the consequences of my actions.
My actions are the ground upon which I stand.
--The Buddha
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The central idea of Buddhism is that everything changes and thus is the nature of life.
Buddha is revered as an enlightened man. He is not a god.
Did the Hindus get mad at Buddhists for being Hindu heretics? No, they just added Buddha to their pantheon. They said "Gautama Buddha is the Ninth Incarnation of Vishnu."
