You do not feel everything you intellectually understand.
Your personality and nervous system act like a filter.
They shape what you notice, what feels important, what emotions become strong, and how much closeness you can experience without shutting down.
If parts of your personality are guarded, rushed, numb, ashamed, or afraid, you can understand something intellectually without fully feeling it.
Why does spiritual growth take work?
That is one reason spiritual growth takes work.
You can believe the Creator is good while your nervous system still expects danger.
You can believe He is near while emotionally living as if you are alone.
You can understand that your choices matter while still reacting automatically through people-pleasing, avoidance, freezing, or aggression.
Is spirituality about escaping your personality?
Spirituality is not escaping your personality.
Part of spirituality is refining your personality so more truth can become emotionally real.
That means learning to respond with calm instead of panic, honesty instead of people-pleasing, compassion and boundaries instead of shame, and trust instead of constantly trying to control everything.
As those skills grow, your awareness of the Creator can become deeper.
How does awe begin?
Awe begins when you emotionally notice:
“I am living before the Infinite Creator right now.”
That awareness contains wonder, because His wisdom and the depth of reality are far beyond what you can fully understand.
It contains humility, because you are not the Source, you do not see the whole story, and reality is not under your control.
And it contains healthy fear, because your choices are real and matter.
How does appreciation deepen awe and love?
Then appreciation can deepen both awe and love.
You begin noticing not only Who you are living before, but also the goodness you are receiving from Him.
Love can contain joy because some of that goodness and closeness are already revealed.
That intimacy can also contain sadness because you want to know Him more, feel closer, and see more goodness revealed.
That sadness can become longing.
And sadness can deepen awe too, because wanting more goodness revealed can make you look more deeply at the Creator, His purpose, and what your choices can help reveal.
Why is spiritual growth more than believing harder?
So spiritual growth is not simply believing harder.
It is helping more of your personality become able to live inside what you already believe.
As fear becomes healthier, shame becomes humility, people-pleasing becomes genuine care with boundaries, and control becomes trust, your nervous system can notice more.
More wonder.
More awe.
More appreciation.
More joy.
More longing.
More love.
Refining the personality expands what you are able to experience in your relationship with the Creator.
Questions people ask
Why can I believe something and still not feel it?
Because understanding something is not the same as feeling it. Your personality and nervous system act like a filter, shaping what you notice and how strong an emotion becomes. When parts of you are guarded, rushed, numb, ashamed, or afraid, a true idea can sit in your mind without reaching your heart.
Does spiritual growth mean escaping your personality?
No. Spirituality is not escaping your personality. Part of spirituality is refining it, so more truth can become emotionally real. That refining is emotional skills work: responding with calm instead of panic, honesty instead of people-pleasing, compassion and boundaries instead of shame, and trust instead of trying to control everything.
What does awe actually feel like?
Awe begins when you emotionally notice that you are living before the Infinite Creator right now. That awareness holds wonder, because His wisdom and the depth of reality go beyond what you can fully understand. It holds humility, because you are not the Source and you do not control reality. And it holds healthy fear, because your choices matter.
Which emotional skills help you feel more?
Four practices run through this post: calm instead of panic, honesty instead of people-pleasing, compassion and boundaries instead of shame, and trust instead of constant control. As those emotional skills grow, and as fear becomes healthier and shame becomes humility, your nervous system can notice more wonder, awe, appreciation, joy, longing, and love.
Explore the NextSelf Blog. Start with this post explaining the world of souls. And my Youtube. Content is published to this facebook first and a few days later, to the blog.
The blog lists all the difference patterns to study, understanding patterns is how one can develop 'Daas' [felt knowing].
Update: As awe, trust, and love deepen, they can allow greater openness and intimacy with the Creator. That intimacy can include sadness when you notice how much more of His goodness can be revealed.