Navigating Nihilism: Grounding through Embodiment and Exploration

Britt Hartley is a certified spiritual director, meditation teacher, and leading voice in secular spirituality, specializing in religious trauma, deconstruction, and nihilism recovery. With a Master’s in Applied Theology, doctoral work in Open and Relational Theology (ABD), and training across Sufi, Mormon, and meditation traditions, she is the author of No Nonsense Spirituality: All the Tools, No Faith Required and a respected scholar on Gen Z and the future of American religion.

Britt Hartley: Website | Instagram | YouTube 

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"How can someone rebuild meaning, a sense of the sacred, and genuine connection after religion, without having to adopt beliefs they no longer hold?"

John Vervaeke is joined by Atheist Spiritual Director, Britt Hartley to explore what happens after belief falls apart. Britt shares her personal journey through suicidal nihilism and how mysticism, resonance, and play led her to rediscover meaning and orientation in life without needing to return to religion. John and Britt challenge the limits of therapeutic models, explore the difference between propositional truth and lived wisdom, and ask whether modern secular culture has lost the capacity to sustain sacredness. This Lectern is a philosophical act of compassion, bridging ancient spiritual technologies and contemporary existential pain. John and Britt offer pathways for transformation that bypass belief while restoring depth, connectedness, and awe.

Notes: 

• (0:00) Welcome to The Lectern

• (2:00) Meet Britt Hartley - Theological Background and Faith Crisis

• (5:00) The Descent into Suicidal Nihilism

• (10:00) Religion’s Collapse and the Meaning Crisis

• (15:00) Philosophical vs. Clinical Healing

• (16:00) Why Therapy ‘Fails’ the Nihilist

• (21:00) Religion, Secularism, and Building Your Own Path

• (26:30) Balancing Fundamentalism and Nihilism

• (31:00)  ”The most spiritual atheist and the most deconstructed Christian, the space in between those two people when you actually look at their life is just a hair.” - Britt Hartley

• (34:30) The Triple Transcendent and Sacredness

• (40:30) Mysticism and the Sacred

• (45:30) Building a Life Worth Experiencing

• (53:00) The Role of Play and Resonance

• (55:00) Embodied Knowing and Existential Shifts

• (58:00) Trauma, Depression, and Resonance Recovery

• (1:09:30) Exploring 'Holy Envy' and Interfaith Learning

• (1:12:00) The Transformative Power of Sufism

• (1:19:00)  Feminine Perspective on Religion

• (1:25:30) The Value of Tailored Spiritual Practices