@Kim Burchett I was raised Catholic, and due to the culture, I had come to associate it with bigotry and intolerance. I also saw a lot of beauty in science and mathematics and how it described the universe, even if these theories were as of yet incomplete, and I had no reason to embrace anything other than a fully materialist worldview. But it gnawed at me how I was supposed to happily go about mundane life when we couldn't seem to explain why anything exists at all or how to cope with the unanswerable. So I looked towards Eastern spirituality because it struck me as contemplative, philosophical, and more willing to engage with these existential questions. (And yes, one could argue that there are niches of Abrahamic/Western religions that share this too, but I wouldn't know where to find that in the States.) At first, I began learning about Zen Buddhism, since it still seemed compatible with a secular worldview, but it seemed a bit too sterile and renunciatory for my liking, even though I still really enjoy the recorded teachings from the Buddha himself. I happened to learn about deity yoga and tantra from Dr. K's (Alok Kanojia) YouTube channel, and from there I found Wallis and Nish. I think what drew me to tantra more was that it is affirming of the full spectrum of experience and doesn't readily split things into a "pure/impure" dichotomy, and the nondual teachings align with how I have already felt about existence. It accepts the ugly as divine as well. I have found it to be the most valuable worldview and framework to me so far.