Hey stud,
I think you may be judging Buddhism a little too quickly, man. Don't get me wrong, today Buddhism is pretty fucked. A bunch of bald, red robed sycophants bowing and scraping to a Dalai Lama who doesn't understand the doctrine over which he presides. It has definitely been hijacked- like everything else.
But I think Buddhism started from a place that was so much purer than other "religions," that the enemy's taint has only scarred it on a minimal, surface level- at this point. I wouldn't even call it a religion. When I read the teachings, it feels much more like an "Owner's Manual for the Human Mind."
Other religions are founded on the principle that you must worship and prostrate yourself before some "Invisible Man in the Sky." You must surrender to this being's will and accept whatever fate it has chosen for you. Buddhism turns this philosophy on its head. We are not doomed to endure whatever fate some "deity" has decided for us. We have the power to alter our minds in a way that allows us to circumvent fate and change a life of suffering into a life of bliss.
The Buddha once said "I know what you fucking idiots are gonna do. The minute I die, you morons are gonna start making statues and paintings of me. You're gonna start sacrificing goats in front these goddamn statues in the hopes that it'll cure your herpes. Don't do it! It was never about me! It's about the teachings, asshole! So I forbid any one of you dipshits from making a statue of me." I think that's engraved on a temple wall somewhere.
And so you know what they did? The minute he died, they started carving sculptures of an empty pair of sandals. Depictions of "nobody" riding a horse or "nobody" sitting under a banyan tree (wink, wink, nudge, nudge)- conforming to the letter of the law, but not the spirit. Contributing to the state of affairs Buddhism enjoys to this day.
(I realize that the same "commandment" has been given by false gods everywhere. And for all I know, the dude could have been a lizard. However, I respect a philosophy that says "Don't just worship me. Don't blindly follow me and attribute everything good that happens in your life to me. Look at what I said. Try it out and see for yourself.")
You're right, in that Buddhism begins with the premise that "Life is Suffering." But what I think you're not appreciating is that its whole philosophy is that this suffering is unnecessary and can be ended. Buddhism is an analysis of how suffering is created and the tactics a person can employ to minimize or eradicate it.
Pema Chodron speaks eloquently about Buddhist philosophy (2 min, 30 sec):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buTrsK_ZkvA
The "virtues" in Buddhism are called "The Eightfold Path." They are called things like "Right View," "Right Intention," "Right Speech," etc. They are a recognition that most suffering is self inflicted, and we can "clean up" the way we think about things and the way we act and speak in the world so that we become creators and spreaders of joy, rather than pain.
I don't agree with some of the things Buddhism preaches. I think it has the tendency to lean toward the denial of healthy pleasures in the hope of avoiding the suffering that can result from them (like sex). I wanna be enlightened, but I ain't gonna torture myself to get there. And I don't think you have to.
I think you may have thrown the baby out with the bath water on Buddhism, dog. No one person or philosophy is right about everything. And as far as the big "religions" go, I think Buddhism's got 'em all beat- HANDS DOWN.
You are far more powerful than they will ever tell you.
