Why are we "trapped" in cyclic rebirth? If we are trapped in Cyclic Rebirth, we are then being held against our will..
If we are being held against our will, who or what has set this trap?
If I escape, where am I escaping to?
As with all of my questions, I am seeking a person who has experienced and truly knows the answer. Hopefully, and with respect I am not seeking mere recital of texts ☺️
Who is that &quot;we&quot; which is trapped?
It seems to me that these questions are based on the assumption of an &quot;I&quot; who can be found separated from the conditions that made the perception of &quot;I&quot; or the constituents of beings possible. There seems to be a differenciation between the &quot;we&quot; and the &quot;trap&quot;.
If the conditions are not there, no phenomena [whose arising and persistence depends on those conditions] will come to be.
As the Buddha said, there's a middle way between the extremes of existence and non-existence, namely, dependent origination.
SN 12.15

“Kaccāna, this world mostly relies on the dual notions of existence
and non-existence.
But when you truly see the origin of the world with right
understanding, you won’t have the notion of non-existence regarding
the world. And when you truly see the cessation of the world with
right understanding, you won’t have the notion of existence regarding
the world.
The world is for the most part shackled to attraction, grasping, and
insisting.
But if—when it comes to this attraction, grasping, mental fixation,
insistence, and underlying tendency—you don’t get attracted, grasp,
and commit to the notion ‘my self’, you’ll have no doubt or
uncertainty that what arises is just suffering arising, and what
ceases is just suffering ceasing. Your knowledge about this is
independent of others.
This is how right view is defined.
‘All exists’: this is one extreme.
‘All doesn’t exist’: this is the second extreme.
Avoiding these two extremes, the Realized One teaches by the middle
way:
‘Ignorance is a condition for choices. Choices are a condition for
consciousness. … That is how this entire mass of suffering originates.
When ignorance fades away and ceases with nothing left over, choices
cease. When choices cease, consciousness ceases. … That is how this
entire mass of suffering ceases.’”

EDIT: I think a big part of this issue arises from confusion in the use of language. From reading the question, it seems to me that two problems are present: assigning human-like features to processes and entities which are not human (for instance, when stating that &quot;truth is playful&quot;); and taking metaphors as explanations or descriptions of reality and its parts and processes (for instance, when stating that &quot;suffering is a trap&quot;, maybe suggesting that &quot;we&quot; are inside something, which can be a reification
of the perception of identity).
I'd suggest to keep analysing your own question, trying to clarify to yourself the words you use and the implications underlying such meanings. Clarity of the use of language can dissolve problems, a lot of times.
Kind regards!