It can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack when the focus shifts away from deities and toward direct experience. Zen centers—such as the San Francisco Zen Center or Thich Nhat Hanh’s Plum Village—offer regular sits and retreats rooted in Soto and Rinzai traditions, all without a theological framework. On the East Coast, Insight Meditation Society (IMS) and Spirit Rock host vipassana retreats led by teachers like Gil Fronsdal, whose approach strips away dogma to reveal moment-to-moment awareness.

Since the pandemic spurred a boom in secular mindfulness, hybrid sanghas have sprouted from Tokyo to Toronto—Zoom meets in-person sits that blend convenience with community. Meetup.com often lists “secular mindfulness” or “modern dharma” gatherings in city libraries and yoga studios—just a stone’s throw from daily routines. Apps like Insight Timer and 10% Happier double as virtual sanghas, offering live classes, guided sits and community chats whenever wanderlust or work schedules intervene.

Online forums paint a broader map. DharmaOverground.com hosts lively discussions around practice and ethics, while the Secular Buddhist Association rolls out newsletters, regional meetups and webinars all year long. Following leading voices helps too: Stephen Batchelor’s Secular Buddhism, Martine Batchelor’s Zen reflections and Rob Burbea’s teachings on emptiness often come bundled with links to study groups and local satsangs.

Social media tags like #seculardharma or #nontheistmeditation connect to daily practice videos, book clubs and informal Q&A sessions. Once a year, the International Conference on Mindfulness convenes scholars and practitioners working outside religious frameworks—an excellent opportunity to network live or online. Even college chaplaincies sometimes host philosophy-backed meditation circles that welcome anyone curious about Eastern-inspired, non-deity practice.

With these pathways—brick-and-mortar centers, digital platforms and hybrid communities—the journey into nontheist spirituality reveals itself less as a labyrinth and more as a well-trod trail waiting to be explored.