Siddharta Gautama

Buddhism: The religion based on the teaching of Siddharta Gautama, known as the Buddha (ca 624-544 BCE). He refuted the idea of man's having an immortal soul and did not preach of any Supreme Deity. Instead he taught that man should seek to overcome greed, hatred and delusion and attain enlightenment through realizing the Four Noble Truths and following the Eightfold Path. Prominent among its [Buddhism's] holy books is the Dhammapada. Buddhism arose out of Hinduism as an inspired reform movement which rejected the caste system and the sanctity of the Vedas. It is then ... not part of Hinduism. Buddhism eventually migrated out of India, the country of its origin, and now enjoys a following of over 350 million, mostly in Asia.

(S.S. Subramuniyaswami, Dancing with Shiva, Himalayan Academy: India * USA, 1997, p. 698).

Comment   So far as I have found out, Gautama not so much 'refuted' the idea of man's having an immortal soul as could not accept the descriptions known to him by which any such ideas were represented. In other words, he "couldn't make sense" of those propositions.
    Ditto regarding any Supreme Deity. 'Whereof one cannot speak, thereon one must remain silent' seems to have been a principle with Gautama Buddha. Was he, perhaps, the first pragmatist ?
    The literature being copious and divergent one could do well to avoid errors (sometimes blatant in some recent publications) on these issues — which can be often as actual as ever. (WPT).

Dancing with �iva : Hinduism's contemporary catechism / Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami. 4th ed. Publisher India : Concord, Calif., USA : Himalayan Academy, c1993. xxxv, 968 p. : ill. port. ; 22 cm. Rishi collection Title and chapter headings also in Hindi. Includes bibliographical references (p. 951-957) and index.