Bay Area

Siddathrata was never ever just a man in Buddhism. There are verses where he talks about coming back to earth to help humanity. Must be dozens of distinct fairytales about his birth alone let alone his physical form.

If you met a being that came from heaven to save humanity, was budded off a women's side instead of normal birth or C-section, who walked as a newborn while flowers grew in his footsteps, who as an adult could spin his hands 360, could warp time and space to avoid knife stabs, whose ears were so long he could suck them, who had webbing that glowed between his super long fingers, soles of feet like a turtle shell, stood 7 cubits tall, could will falling boulders away from himself without even noticing, a natural palm pattern of a thousand spoke wheel, could summon a 7 headed snake as an umbrella, could meditate for 40 days without stop would you call that being human?

This part of the world is a lot like the west before monotheism took over. They have loads of gods. While true that some writers tried to emphasis his humanity they are few and far between.

If Buddhism is not a religion I truly do not know what a religion means. All those people at the temples I have been to, making offerings, engaging in OCD like rituals, seeking blessings, praying, chanting, seem like they were doinf religion to me.

You are correct. Buddhism is indeed more akin to a philosophy to find meaning in life and to act in a way that minimizes suffering to yourself and others through compassion.

Although there is a lot of mythology regarding reincarnation and energies, but the old nature of Buddhism makes it so not everything is clear crystal whether it was stated by Buddha or not. Moreover, like Hinduism, a lot of things explained by the Buddha were metaphors that explain processes that are hard to explain unless you have a clear understanding of science that didn't exist back when Buddhism was founded, or were analogies to better explain them. Stuff like the cosmic wheel, energies, that sort of thing.

Additionally, many myths were created around the image of Buddha that were embellishments added at a later date, not just to the teachings, but to the man himself. You could say that if some Buddhist believes in something that it is part of Buddhism, but Buddhism is a personal journey that each person must take themselves and see. The Buddha always said that each one of us must take that journey and learn the things he learned himself. He is no prophet, nor god, but a man who understood part of the rules of the universe and that each person could too. This is why Buddhist teachings take the form of koans. Small, confusing tales meant to make you think deeply upon certain characteristics of the universe, to help you reach the same conclusions as he did by yourself. "If two hands make a clapping sound, what is the sound of one hand ?" This is one such koan, what does it teach you about life, society and the universe? It's not quick and easy. You're supposed to sit and think about it. Even if i tell you what i think it means, you'll only understand my perspective on it based on my life experiences. Your lesson might take a different explanation than mine based on your own life, which is why koans have no universal solution. They're meant to replicate thought patterns and realizations that are bespoke to each intelligent being. No one can spoonfeed you Buddhism. It requires agency, thought and doubt.

This is why the Dalai Lama said that if science proves Buddhism wrong, Buddhism adopts the scientific explanations. Buddha was a man that came across some fundamental insights into being happy. Sooner or later these insights will be discovered and proven by science, much like the benefits of meditation were, and will be explained in scientific terms. Meditation helps you focus and being at peace because it reduces the activity in the Default Mode Network of the brain. Buddha could not explain the default mode network. He probably didn't know what those words even meant. But he knew that "Meditation brings wisdom. Lack of meditation leaves ignorance. Know well that leads you forward and what holds you back."

I can understand the weariness of some people about religion. I can understand the distrust about Buddhism. Yet i can appreciate that everyone has their own internal journey and doubting Buddhism is an integral part of it. I too began by thinking Buddhism made no sense, until it did. Because of this exact reason, there are no heretics in Buddhism.

1. And 2. You once again misunderstood the fact that Buddhism is not a system of government. It is a religion that is more akin to a philosophy. It is impossible to follow the Buddhist religion and cause terrors, because Buddhism is centered around compassion and acceptance. Buddhism never set any guidelines to create a system of government, in fact, governments are in themselves anti thetical to what Buddhism is meant to accomplish. Buddhists were, since times immemorial, monks who lived out of charity. Buddha explains how ownership creates suffering, for everything you own, you have to obtain, then you have to defend. Buddha himself was a ruler who gave up ruling. So whatever Buddhist "kings" did was beyond Buddhism.

3 . Buddhism has no problem. Buddhism measures success in joy and lack of suffering. You measure success in material possessions. Those people living in poverty live happier than you living in abject luxury, for if they lose everything, they will still lose nothing. To me it seems pretty successful. To understand why they are happy, even though they don't have a perfectly insulated and heated home, a Tesla car, they don't eat Ribeye every week and make 100k a year while working on their corporate insurance job, is a journey that you yourself will have to take to understand. I can understand that being a western citizen and always measuring things in profits can make this journey quite confusing, but Buddha himself was the wealthiest man of his kingdom and his teachings show us that he was no more special than any of us.

Eastern religions, like Taoism and Buddhism, teach that in this life, taking more than what you need is pointless. When you die, you take nothing. It's like buying a street legal car with the engine of a Ferrari. If everyone has the same amount to spend on a car, why spend it on an engine that is more than you need for the task ? Instead, followers of these religions spend their time not in obtaining more wealth that will be irrelevant once they die, but in developing themselves, mentally and spiritually, which is what they believe is what you take with you once you die.