The quest of the Buddha was about resolving the provocation of ‘existence itself in its totality’; not individual parts of it – suffering, love, religious doctrines, whatever - but the totality: why is there such a thing as existence, and what’s it for? Buddhist religion East & West (ie meditation, mindfulness & all the other guff) doesn’t understand this and, like other religions is more concerned with transactional human interests than ultimate metaphysical questions, but there are a few (westerners) who try to get back to elemental basics. So the debates about nihilism & ‘what is nirvana’ & ‘consolation’ & 'suffering' are (or ought to be understood as) misguided, as the Buddhist quest is not about such issues (or any conceivable variations thereof), but is wholly concerned with the provocation underlying the experience of existence as a whole. This then is about the elements of pure metaphysics, not about improving supposed religious sensibilities & sensitivities.