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Theravada Buddhism, and The Buddha's teachings actually stress that Buddhism is not nihilism or asceticism[1], and it not about materialism. Instead, Buddhism takes the Middle Path and does not encourage either extreme. Buddhism at its core is about realizing the transience of life. It is about realizing how we are all interconnected and how our reality is formed through our interactions with the world. We suffer because we are overly attached to transient objects and ideas. To be free of this suffering, we must realize the ultimate reality and nature of our world. We must fully let go of our attachments, and instead immerse ourselves in the reality that is now. The transient reality that we and others have created. The reality that is constantly shifting and constantly evolving.

[1] Much has been written about emptiness and nothingness in Buddhism, with one prominent example being Nagarjuna, whose argument was in summary: if you cannot be empty of an individual self, then that means you have an individual self. If you have an individual self, you exist regardless of causes. If you exist regardless of causes, then you affect anything since everything changes you in some way. Therefore, you are empty of any individual self, and instead only have a causal self.