Secular means of this world, not the afterlife—not doing it for heaven or hell, rooted in this material world. From the Mandarin translation, it’s “世俗,” back-translating to “lay” governance, like lay people. It’s worldly, but doesn’t mean experts or priests are left out. It’s possible to have a secular/lay core as the engine of innovation, where spiritual/religious norms are useful to it. “Lay governance” has better associations than atheism, which some English speakers align “secular” with. Worldly semantics are richer for bridging.