You can’t explain reality with just an inward only meditative practice such as Buddhism.You can only explain a misrepresentation of reality with such a cognitively biased practice.
Buddhism and Mainstream Science don’t understand the reality of consciousness and the individual’s relationship to it.
Its impossible to understand consciousness unless you acknowledge the SELF and the SELF’s experiential relationship to it.
I am not extremely versed in buddhism, but as far as i understand they perfectly acknowledge what you are saying.
They absolutely have a concept of “You have to have a self before you can forget the self.”
So… i mean… its kind of self evident.
If you forfeit reality in the search of reality that… yeah.
Though on the other hand, i dont think buddhism ever sought understanding of reality. Didnt buddhism want to escape material reality as a goal? Basically the point of the entire “faith” and exercise is to strip yourself of everything including your very ego. A return to complete balance and zero.
You might come to understand things about reality on your journey towards that goal, but… exploring reality has not much to do with buddhism as far as i know?