I absolutely agree with your sentiment that scripture alone is insufficient! I wrote this paper during my MA in Buddhist Studies in an effort to search for doctrinal descriptions of the liberated state, particularly with regards to actual mind stream.

I do feel as though many Buddhist texts on the whole are much less dogmatic and much more candid - especially the early suttas and the theragata (poems of enlightened monks) - althought I am certainly biased!

At the end of the day - lived experience vs. theory will always be at odds, I agree with your pointing this out. What I always love finding are high-level convergences of accounts accross traditions such as advaita/buddhism/etc...

Thanks for the thoughtful comment :) If you havn't already read I AM THAT by Sri Nisargadatta I would highly recommend it as it provides another first person account of the liberated state