Agnosticism
When I was a very young child, starting around the age of 4, my dream was to be a nun. I just wanted to go around singing to people and healing them, have a personal relationship with god, and wear a fashionable veil. That bubble was burst when I found out I wasn't Catholic. So I figured preacher might be a better fit anyway. That bubble was
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1. Life entails suffering. (I don't find this morbid or depressing at all. I find it comforting. The idea that pain or suffering is an aberration is partly why it hurts so much.)
2. Suffering is caused by desire (really, it's more clinging/clutching, attachment, etc - not that it's bad to enjoy what is enjoyable, or love people, or have fun in life...If we can get our minds around the idea that things are designed to be transitory by their nature, we won't struggle as much when the natural ebbs and flows happen.)
It's worth exploring and studying. Plus, it's not a deistic religion at base, although some of the traditions have expanded into a more traditional "gods and angels" kind of framework. But it isn't necessary. The Buddha was not a deity, he was a man. Many miracle stories sprang up after the fact, and there is a rich mythology, in the Tibetan tradition especially. But the Buddha never spoke of gods or afterlife or any of that, so it's not part of the core teaching. So someone can be a theistic Buddhist, or an atheistic Buddhist.
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