Buddha rejected religion, concept of god and scriptures, no one called the Buddha an atheist, instead the Hindus accepted him as an Avatar.

Buddha rejected religion, concept of god and scriptures, no one called the Buddha an atheist, instead the Hindus accepted him as an Avatar. J.Krishnmurthy with all his theosophical grooming and upbringing openly condemned priest craft, but accepted by the seeking  world, as man of wisdom. There is no need to condemn any religion or god or scriptures, but there is a need to know the truth, and reject the untruth, after verifying thoroughly. Seeker of truth should never accept anything as truth without verifying the validity of any claim, and accept only the un-contradictable truth.  

That why Buddha said:- 

Do not believe a spiritual teaching just because:-

1. It is repeatedly recited,
2. It is written in a scripture,
3. It was handed from guru to disciple,
4. Everyone around you believes it,
5. It has supernatural qualities,
6. It fits my beliefs anyway,
7. It sounds rational to me,
8. It is taught by a respectable person,
9. It was said to be the truth by the teacher,
10. One must defend it or fight for it.

However, only when it agrees with your experience and reason, and when it is conducive to the good and gain of oneself and all others, then one should accept the teachings, and live up to them." ....Buddha.

People read so many scriptures and indulge in tedious meditation. Finally they come to know that the true self is formless soul or consciousness (Atman).  Consciousness is ultimate truth or Brahman. Soul or consciousness, the innermost self was already present in him even before reading scriptures and before doing the meditation.

In pursuit of truth one becomes aware of the fact that the true self is not the body [I], but the soul or consciousness, which was already, was before all this practice or effort. And all these practice based on the false self is a waste of time and effort.  And by practicing   all these egocentric practices he did not achieve anything other than hallucinated realization.

When Upanishad itself declares:-   sarvam khalvidam brahma - all this (universe) is verily Brahman. By following back all of the relative appearances in the world, we eventually return to that from which it is all manifest – the non-dual reality [ Chandogya Upanishad].  

Then it is no use going roundabout way, trace the Brahman which is the formless substance and witness of the universe, which is in the form of mind.  By tracing the source of the mind or universe one will be able to realize the Brahman. 

 The true Self is not perceptible to the senses. It is perceived by Reason. It is not perceptible as a thing with form and attributes. To those whose attention is fixed on the body and the world, it is very difficult to attain Self-knowledge. It is also very difficult for them to see the consciousness as self. The attention towards the universe [mind] should be lessened by realizing the self is not the body. The attention has to be focused on the formless substance and witness of the universe [mind] should be increased. So long as the attention is directed towards the universe, the experience of birth, life and death will prevail as reality. But when the attention is directed towards the formless witness, the ignorance vanishes and sense of duality will disappear. Then there is unity in diversity. 

What is the state of the ego or physical self when it has realized that the self is not the body? Such souls have attained their pristine condition. “Self” is not visible to the physical eyes. “Self” is not to be found in the world as a thing, entity or an object. Self is above these, has neither beginning nor ending.

 A waking or dream has a beginning and an ending. Since soul is in the form of consciousness is invisible to the physical eyes; soul or consciousness is without beginning and ending. Soul or consciousness   is always constant. Just as space is homogeneous everywhere, so is the consciousness the same everywhere.