Buddhist Atheist?

I've been asked about how being a Buddhist Atheist works a number of times recently. It easy really. First off, Buddha wasn't a god of any kind. He never even claimed to be anything other than human. Sure, a lot of his life story has most likely been altered due to generations of retelling, but that doesn't actually matter, you can be a Buddhist and not believe Buddha ever existed. It's not the person that actually matters, it's the teachings.

One major way that Buddhism differs from religion is it's attitude towards science. The Dalai Lama once said “If scientific analysis were conclusively to demonstrate certain claims in Buddhism to be false, then we must accept the findings of science and abandon those claims.” When was that last time you heard the pope say anything like that? Buddhism is actually grounded in reality, if anything, it's all about reality. I recommend reading The Universe in a Single Atom by The Dalai Lama for a more in depth look at the subject.

I could go further but i'm not here to give a lesson on Buddhism nor do I believe myself qualified to do so. If there's enough interest I may write more about it in the future. My main point here is that Atheism and Buddhism are actually quite compatible and I recommend reading more into it if you are interested.