Matter is not forever, no matter how many permutations and combinations are presently present. There are too many questions here:
What is matter ?
The "eternal recurrence" ala Nietzsche and Schopenhauer (very Eastern) as mentioned along here, gives no recognition to Time which is a real entity(s).
Speaking to "Time" in the Eastern view reveals a never ending repetitive cycle(s) culminating into an evanescent obliteration . There is no "you" in this meandering of cycles for "you are that" according to Brahma, all outside is you and all inside is you but in the Eastern perspective you are "lost in space" as a finger on a body., without consciousness or individual activity.
"Go forward, Oh Man " for if one approaches the Western perspective, a worked through look which contain the Eastern view we have the idea of "Time" as witnessed by The Old and New Testaments in which we have:
" the son of Nahum, the son of Esli, the son of Nagghi,.....etc. back to the "Son of God" in the Luke bible and to the "son of Abraham" in the Matthew gospel, etc...
Time is considered here as in the West mankind is seen to have a "memory" to which stands tall our individuality. The East says, in effect, "no memory or memories" so that in this "eternal recurrence" we are again a "finger" of the evanescent storm but definitely not any particulate storm.
In Western esotericism, which does not depend upon the East, standing within its own right, knows that the individual man carries with him into the afterlife his biography and in doing so states his individuality by repeated earthly incarnations. Man has a biography. like it or not and in this Time is paramount and his memory is root of his being.
A little side issue which clarifies somewhat; a child learns his given language such as Greek; This doesn't mean that in the next life he will know Greek but in the learning of Greek he will accomplish "powers" or "abilities" to which he carries with him as gifts of his earthly sojourn.
The "memory" of man becomes his "supersensible body" to which as a soul/spiritual being he , in the humility of creation, knows and becomes his "self", a harbinger of the Love within the Freedom of Man.