Buddhist Romanticism

On the individual and the universe:
2) The questions of whether or not the universe is infinite, and whether or
not it’s One, are irrelevant to ending suffering and stress. In fact, to insist
on the Oneness and infinitude of the universe is to stray away from the path
to the end of suffering (§6; §25). Although it is true that causation in the
universe is not deterministic, the universe itself does not have a purpose. To
insist that it has a purpose and meaning allows for the idea that suffering
serves a purpose, thus making it harder to see that suffering is best brought
to an end.
3) To hold to a definition of what one “is” as a human being stands in the
way of abandoning the suffering that every such definition entails (§17;
§20). Not all human drives can be trusted—most come from ignorance—so
there is a need to be heedful in choosing which desires to fulfill and which to
resist. And, in fact, human beings do have freedom of choice. But because the
universe has no purpose, they have no duty to further its growth.
On the ultimate religious experience and the spiritual illness it cures:
4) Human beings suffer from the craving and clinging that lead to
becoming and that result from ignorance of how suffering is caused and how
it can be brought to an end (§3; §25).
5) Along the path to the end of suffering, a meditator may experience a
feeling of unity with the universe and a feeling of unity within. The
Dhamma agrees with Romanticism that this feeling is temporary and
inconstant. However, this feeling is not the highest religious experience
(§23). There are many possible religious experiences. The Canon notes that
teachers prior to the Buddha had mistaken the various levels of jhāna, or
mental absorption, as the highest possible experience, but that these levels of
concentration are all fabricated, and thus fall short of the highest goal. The
highest experience is unbinding, which is not a feeling, but goes totally
beyond the six senses (§§45–47; §54).
6) Unbinding is transcendent, an unconditioned dimension outside of
space and time (§§48–49; §51).
7) The freedom attained with unbinding is thus free from all limitations
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