I think it's worth remembering that Gautama did not create Buddhism. He passed on and people that came after, continued teaching in his stead. So to say that Bu

I think it's worth remembering that Gautama did not create Buddhism. He passed on and people that came after, continued teaching in his stead. So to say that Buddhism was very accepting of preexisting Indian beliefs doesn't say anything about what he actually taught after his liberation. For a number of reasons I don't think he himself incorporated pagan beliefs. If I laid out all my arguments, this answer would probably turn into an article. For the sake of brevity, I'll only pick three. First, most teachings that aim at orienting seekers toward a realization are non-conceptual, they're not intellectual. They don't ask you to believe in anything, but to orient to your own senses in the present. They require your direct participation. The work is about getting the mind out of the way of direct experience, which is antithetical to orienting it toward even more beliefs. The mind needs no extra motivation for stories, that's its job. The second point ties in with the first. The mind loves to intellectualize, to conceptualize. It wants to understand realization, since it cannot experience it. So eventually, some people will try to teach from a conceptual framework. It's in this form that the teachings will actually be either transmitted to or apprehended by the vast majority of "practitioners". This is where you'll also notice some ambiguity between original teachings and doctrine. In the morning you're taught to inquire into the nature of the I and to focus on your senses; then in the evening you're on your knees, chanting in front of a statue. Finally, did Gautama deny the supernatural? I think that the answer is probably yes and no. Yes, because as I explained, I don't think he actively included them in his teachings. No, because it would be as pointless as convincing a 2 year old that Santa doesn't exist. How fruitful would it be for a teacher whose aim is to help you realize, to spend their time debating concepts, when you might just wake up any instant and see things for yourself?