Buddhism distilled
I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Gautama the Buddha put forth a substance theory or if you prefer a less challenging term, he puts forth an essence theory. Incidentally, for me, this puts Buddhism into the realm of science insofar as the Buddha directly cognized a unique substance. Let's not forget what the broad definition of science is. It is "knowledge or cognizance of something specified or implied" (O.E.D.).
More specifically, such an awakening by Gautama whereby he became the Buddha was the cognizance of an all pervading substance which was not composed or asankhata/asamskrita, in contrast to the composed. It also implies that the universe exists within a spiritual medium which is mind-like. Even our most subtle thoughts occur within this enveloping medium, the substance or essence of which is only Mind (cittamatra).
About his ministry, to make a long story short, the Buddha tried to show composed things have no actual substance or essence. They are empty and illusory. More importantly, he taught that our psychophysical body is not the first-person or our authentic self, the self being the immediacy of substance which, in our unawakened human condition, we are unable to recognize. Because of this, we are unable to distinguish our real self from our composed psychophysical condition which is the false self or anâtman. This further leads to our rebirth into composed states where again we are unable to recognize our self in this encompassing deception.
In this context, the importance of meditation cannot be overstressed. To put it simply, meditation, when accomplished, is the awakening to the universal substance that Gautama cognized. The adept has passed through all fluctuations of mind to arrive at pure Mind itself which is irreducible. At this arrival, one sees that Mind is free of suffering which has always been oneself. One no longer blindly journeys (samsara), incomplete and ignorant (avidya) clinging to a false self which is composite.
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