Ken Wilber talks about vertical and horizontal spirituality. As I understand it horizontal spirituality uses religion to translate the world around us and to console us. Vertical spirituality is world shattering (it shakes up our world) and is transformative. The horizontal spirituality legitmates and the vertical spirituality authenticates. To me transformative would be the death of all we know and allows us to transcend, to experience a complete rebirth.

Even in the East where transformative religions abound the actual percentage of people involved in authentic transformative spirituality is 0.00000001 percent of the total population. It is much less in the West.

My question is, why do so few take the transformative path? Where do atheists fit in this picture?

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The transformative path takes work. Its like any other discipline, if you want to take advantage of it, you have to put something into it, Most people like things done for them, which is why horizontal expressions, like Christianity, are very popular.

Atheists, IMO, have actually transformed through the mythic horizontal level of spirituality. That view comes from a study and rejection of the conclusions that level asserts, but it also helps constitute the rational horizontal level of spirituality. Just as the mythic level has many expressions other than Christianity (Islam, Judaism, Hinduism), so does the rational level (agnosticism, deism, humanism). Asking the atheist to transform through the level he/she loves is just as difficult as asking the Christian to transform through the level he/she loves. Leaving each level is a kind of death, as well as rebirth. Leaving behind one's old way of being is not an easy or sometimes desirable thing to accomplish.

-TC

The Vertical path takes only Willingness
Everything is done for you
This is why the "yoke is light"



An inheritance is not earned

It is Given


God does not take back what is given

Its your inheritance

All you need do is accept it


Untill then you simply waste time which to the infinite is irrelevant