Buddhism: the Only Certainty is Uncertainty 

The only certainty is uncertainty—and death. Just add kindness and compassion. And that largely sums up Early Buddhism, as best we know it, long before the Long Walk to China and the tete a tete with Taoism, under low lights on dark days, with Bodhisattvas queueing up to add tea and sympathy to tinder lesions from unknown devils. The Buddha was a real person, yes, and all the pluralized buddhas came later, like magic, the ultimate fix for any philosophy hoping to become religion. 

Admittedly the Buddha himself was partially guilty for publicizing his deathbed hallucinations, but still, that is no reason to concoct fantasies. After all, if he really had the 100,000 past lives that he claimed, then he wouldn’t have even been Homo Sapiens now, would he? At a conservative twenty years per lifetime, that would be two million years, right? So, that is food for fantasy for the religion builders. And that’s what they did, creating Abhidharmic matrices on paper and multiple hells on temple walls.  

People sometimes need something supernatural to inspire them, and that’s what they got. But the basic discipline is still there, for those who want it, since the fantasies will always die even while the onlookers are asking why and the Monday morning quarterbacks have bigger and better ideas. Be kind. Don’t lie, cheat, or steal. Meditate if you can. Keep the dog locked up when he’s mean and restless, but well-fed when he’s good. The only secret to life is not to ask too much, and you won’t be disappointed.