user7784: I've never had any religion throughout my childhood and adolescence, and at the age of 18 I had my first contacts with buddhism; It seemed fascinating, and I kept reading about all the things I could find about it. Everything just seemed right, because I was truly convinced by this idea that the truth lies within, and I just saw the buddha as someone who had found it. It seemed to be the "no trust-my-words religion". 
Recently I bought a buddhism book. It was an interesting reading, but somethings were discussed that I haddn't seen with this emphasis: karma and rebirth in other worlds. 
The thing is that, after that, I became VERY skeptical when I learned that those things come from hinduism. It seems to be the religion that existed before buddhism, and it has karma, it has the samsara, the liberation (which is a little different), the worlds, the gods... And it's just seems as though the current culture at the time and location buddhism took place influenced buddhism itself, poisoning it with the same kind of dogmas other religions have - man-made dogmas, made up truths.
In short, my problem is that following buddhism started to seem like following christianity, or islam - just another religion that it's followers think they are right and everyone else is wrong. Why is buddhism any different? It seemed right, now it feels overwhelming and almost crazy. I want to follow buddhism, but those hindu concepts make it become yet another trust-my-word religion. I'm seriously disappointed. 

user738: This is what happens when you create too many expectations of something that is only in your mind. Why don't you take whatever you read with a pinch of salt and figure it out for yourself? Buddha advised people to practice for themselves. If buddhism was somehow influenced by other religions, then it cannot be original, and therefore it is not truthful <-- how did you arrive at this conclusion? Buddha himself said that he figured out a few things that was already found with a few differences in understanding and not the original. He explained it more scientifically and simply to regular people with a few practices (and in Pali instead of Sanskrit) so they could practice it. Regular people don't get the flowery language of the Vedas. 
And the caste system in India was not stupid. It was meant to create well defined roles for people for all walks of society for all professions. It is the perception of the invaders of India that changed the whole landscape. Sounds like you need more reading to back up your claims. 
I came across another answer which said something about learning say, a topic like Calculus. You would go to a textbook and pick up information and build from there. You wouldn't for example, say, HOW did this author know what Calculus is? HOW do they know the proof for something?  

user6994: It is not that I suggest you to actually negate rebirth (that would be disparaging Buddha Dharma), but you do not have to admit it either. And while not dwelling on the notion of rebirth itself, you might find the space to take a step back and look at your own mind, so as to come to know "Why do I react in this way? How do I relate to rebirth in this way? Why does it make me feel the way it does? why do I see my not accepting rebirth as a problem? Why is accepting rebirth a problem for me?"
You can even try to determine why truth is important to you, why doubt makes you feel restless, and so forth. The descriptions of doubts and its functions that we find in the abhidharma is for us to come to know that.
Karma pushes us to look where we look, and to pay attention to this and not that. So, knowing that, you can approach the notion of karma in this meditative (yogic) way. Check what you look at when you open your eyes... check how you look at things, what kind of world you see, and what do you see when you look at the world.
I would advise you to adopt that practical stand. Ask yourself "where do my dislikes, liking, tendencies come from ? from where do my pleasant and unpleasant feelings come from? how come that I tend to look in that direction and in this way? how come I pay attention to this and that while not paying attention to other things?"
Do your dislkies, your liking, and so forth, arise without a cause? If they manifest in dependence upon causes and conditions, what are theses causes and conditions? Really, karma was taught for us to pay attention to the course our mind takes... the rivers in which it flows (a river which we ourselves dug)... and to help us set a positive, wholesome course for it to take. If Dharma is no antidote, it is not Dharma.

user295: 
Everything just seemed right, because I was truly convinced by this idea that the truth lies within, and I just saw the buddha as someone who had found it.

Buddhism is about the psychology of suffering in life and the way to overcome it.

karma and rebirth in other worlds

Karma is that each action will have a reaction in a the future. E.g. if you seek a life of crime then jail time may follow though many who do not expect to be caught.
We have to at least believe in this world. There is the human realm and the animal realm which we can directly see. The possibility of other worlds seam illogical just for some time leave them aside. As you see many and verify much of what the Buddha though through pratice then you can start believing them and also perhaps which might be beyond your experience and you might not be able to experience everything the Buddha experience himself. If the belief does not come, belive what is logical and what you experienced. One of the main ways to experience there aspects of the teaching beyond the normal sphere of comprehension is through mediation.

It seems to be the religion that existed before buddhism, and it has karma, it has the samsara, the liberation (which is a little different), the worlds, the gods

Hinduism had these aspects but Buddhism is completely different. A lot of things which are at the core of Hinduism was rejected by the Buddha. He accepted what was true.
Leave aside that may not be logical for the time being and pratice until you have verified facts through your experience. Experiencing the teaching will reinforce your belief.

user-1: Your question is based on a false premise. Hinduism did not precede Buddhism; it followed it. Hinduism dates from 200 BCE approximately. The Buddha died about 400 BCE. It is the Hindu pretension to antiquity that is "made up." See Wikipedia, "Classical Hinduism," s.v. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism#Origins. Be careful that your disappointment is not with Buddhism, but with your own erroneous beliefs about what Buddhism is.

user7803: One of the beauty about Buddhism is "Don't just believe, but find the truth by yourself" (as I paste below).

The Kalama Sutta states (Pali expression in parentheses):

Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing (anussava),
nor upon tradition (paramparā),
nor upon rumor (itikirā),
nor upon what is in a scripture (piṭaka-sampadāna)
nor upon surmise (takka-hetu),
nor upon an axiom (naya-hetu),
nor upon specious reasoning (ākāra-parivitakka),
nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over (diṭṭhi-nijjhān-akkh-antiyā),
nor upon another's seeming ability (bhabba-rūpatāya),
nor upon the consideration, The monk is our teacher (samaṇo no garū)
Kalamas, when you yourselves know: "These things are good; these things are not blamable; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness," enter on and abide in them.'



7784: <p>I've never had any religion throughout my childhood and adolescence, and at the age of 18 I had my first contacts with buddhism; It seemed fascinating, and I kept reading about all the things I could find about it. Everything just seemed right, because I was truly convinced by this idea that the truth lies within, and I just saw the buddha as someone who had found it. It seemed to be the "no <strong>trust-my-words</strong> religion". </p>

<p>Recently I bought a buddhism book. It was an interesting reading, but somethings were discussed that I haddn't seen with this emphasis: karma and rebirth in other worlds. </p>

<p>The thing is that, after that, I became VERY skeptical when I learned that those things come from hinduism. It seems to be the religion that existed before buddhism, and it has karma, it has the samsara, the liberation (which is a little different), the worlds, the <strong>gods</strong>... And it's just seems as though the current culture at the time and location buddhism took place <strong>influenced buddhism itself</strong>, poisoning it with the same kind of dogmas other religions have - man-made dogmas, made up truths.</p>

<p>In short, my problem is that following buddhism started to seem like following christianity, or islam - just another religion that it's followers think they are right and everyone else is wrong. Why is buddhism any different? It seemed right, now it feels overwhelming and almost crazy. I want to follow buddhism, but those hindu concepts make it become yet another trust-my-word religion. I'm seriously disappointed. </p>
 738: <p>This is what happens when you create too many expectations of something that is only in your mind. Why don't you take whatever you read with a pinch of salt and figure it out for yourself? Buddha advised people to practice for themselves. <code>If buddhism was somehow influenced by other religions, then it cannot be original, and therefore it is not truthful</code> &lt;-- how did you arrive at this conclusion? Buddha himself said that he figured out a few things that was already found with a few differences in understanding and not the original. He explained it more scientifically and simply to regular people with a few practices (and in Pali instead of Sanskrit) so they could practice it. Regular people don't <code>get</code> the flowery language of the Vedas. </p>

<p>And the caste system in India was not stupid. It was meant to create well defined roles for people for all walks of society for all professions. It is the perception of the invaders of India that changed the whole landscape. Sounds like you need more reading to back up your claims. </p>

<p>I came across another answer which said something about learning say, a topic like <code>Calculus</code>. You would go to a textbook and pick up information and build from there. You wouldn't for example, say, HOW did this author know what Calculus is? HOW do they know the proof for something?  </p>
 6994: <p>It is not that I suggest you to actually negate rebirth (that would be disparaging Buddha Dharma), but you do not have to admit it either. And while not dwelling on the notion of rebirth itself, you might find the space to take a step back and look at your own mind, so as to come to know "Why do I react in this way? How do I relate to rebirth in this way? Why does it make me feel the way it does? why do I see my not accepting rebirth as a problem? Why is accepting rebirth a problem for me?"</p>

<p>You can even try to determine why truth is important to you, why doubt makes you feel restless, and so forth. The descriptions of doubts and its functions that we find in the abhidharma is for us to come to know that.</p>

<p>Karma pushes us to look where we look, and to pay attention to this and not that. So, knowing that, you can approach the notion of karma in this meditative (yogic) way. Check what you look at when you open your eyes... check how you look at things, what kind of world you see, and what do you see when you look at the world.</p>

<p>I would advise you to adopt that practical stand. Ask yourself "where do my dislikes, liking, tendencies come from ? from where do my pleasant and unpleasant feelings come from? how come that I tend to look in that direction and in this way? how come I pay attention to this and that while not paying attention to other things?"</p>

<p>Do your dislkies, your liking, and so forth, arise without a cause? If they manifest in dependence upon causes and conditions, what are theses causes and conditions? Really, karma was taught for us to pay attention to the course our mind takes... the rivers in which it flows (a river which we ourselves dug)... and to help us set a positive, wholesome course for it to take. If Dharma is no antidote, it is not Dharma.</p>
 295: <blockquote>
  <p>Everything just seemed right, because I was truly convinced by this idea that the truth lies within, and I just saw the buddha as someone who had found it.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Buddhism is about the psychology of suffering in life and the way to overcome it.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>karma and rebirth in other worlds</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Karma is that each action will have a reaction in a the future. E.g. if you seek a life of crime then jail time may follow though many who do not expect to be caught.</p>

<p>We have to at least believe in this world. There is the human realm and the animal realm which we can directly see. The possibility of other worlds seam illogical just for some time leave them aside. As you see many and verify much of what the Buddha though through pratice then you can start believing them and also perhaps which might be beyond your experience and you might not be able to experience everything the Buddha experience himself. If the belief does not come, belive what is logical and what you experienced. One of the main ways to experience there aspects of the teaching beyond the normal sphere of comprehension is through mediation.</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>It seems to be the religion that existed before buddhism, and it has karma, it has the samsara, the liberation (which is a little different), the worlds, the gods</p>
</blockquote>

<p>Hinduism had these aspects but Buddhism is completely different. A lot of things which are at the core of Hinduism was rejected by the Buddha. He accepted what was true.</p>

<p>Leave aside that may not be logical for the time being and pratice until you have verified facts through your experience. Experiencing the teaching will reinforce your belief.</p>
 -1: <p>Your question is based on a false premise. Hinduism did not precede Buddhism; it followed it. Hinduism dates from 200 BCE approximately. The Buddha died about 400 BCE. It is the Hindu pretension to antiquity that is "made up." See Wikipedia, "Classical Hinduism," s.v. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism#Origins" rel="nofollow">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism#Origins</a>. Be careful that your disappointment is not with Buddhism, but with your own erroneous beliefs about what Buddhism is.</p>
 7803: <p>One of the beauty about Buddhism is "Don't just believe, but find the truth by yourself" (as I paste below).</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalama_Sutta#Discerning_Religious_Teachings" rel="nofollow">Kalama Sutta states</a> (Pali expression in parentheses):</p>
  
  <ul>
  <li>Do not go upon what has been acquired by repeated hearing (anussava),</li>
  <li>nor upon tradition (paramparā),</li>
  <li>nor upon rumor (itikirā),</li>
  <li>nor upon what is in a scripture (piṭaka-sampadāna)</li>
  <li>nor upon surmise (takka-hetu),</li>
  <li>nor upon an axiom (naya-hetu),</li>
  <li>nor upon specious reasoning (ākāra-parivitakka),</li>
  <li>nor upon a bias towards a notion that has been pondered over (diṭṭhi-nijjhān-akkh-antiyā),</li>
  <li>nor upon another's seeming ability (bhabba-rūpatāya),</li>
  <li>nor upon the consideration, The monk is our teacher (samaṇo no garū)</li>
  <li>Kalamas, when you yourselves know: "These things are good; these things are not blamable; these things are praised by the wise; undertaken and observed, these things lead to benefit and happiness," enter on and abide in them.'</li>
  </ul>
</blockquote>
