I'm not trying to be contradictory. I just want clarification. I didn't know the goals of Buddhism was to understand the nature of reality. I thought this was left to speculation and has nothing to do with cessation of suffering and reaching enlightenment. I personally, yes I would love to have empirically experienced truths rather than truths that simply make sense in theory. I am practicing and trying and I am putting faith into the Buddhist teachings I'm learning while I practice what I learn. Thanks for your input!