You might not be able to explain it precisely. Maybe it started with a book that found its way to you at just the right time. Maybe it was a quiet moment where everything felt strangely connected. Or maybe it’s simply a persistent feeling that there’s something more to life than what you’ve been told — a pull toward questions your rational mind can’t quite answer.
If you’ve been feeling called to explore spirituality, this experience may be more significant than you realize. Leon VanderPol identifies it as the fourth signal of awakening and personal transformation — a natural stage in the human journey that often arrives wrapped in confusion, resistance, and uncertainty.
Why This Call Arises
Feeling called to explore spirituality doesn’t usually announce itself with clarity. It often begins as a subtle restlessness, an existential questioning, or a growing dissatisfaction with the surface-level answers that once seemed sufficient. The career that looked right on paper starts to feel hollow. The beliefs inherited from family or culture begin to feel borrowed rather than true. Something inside you is asking for more — not more achievement, but more depth.
According to a Pew Research study on spiritual identity, a growing number of people describe themselves as “spiritual but not religious” — suggesting that this kind of inner seeking is not an anomaly but a widespread cultural shift. Many people are feeling called to explore spirituality not because someone told them to, but because something within them is insisting on it.
This is worth noting because the call often arrives with self-doubt. You might question whether you’re being naive, whether this is “real,” or whether you’re simply going through a phase. Leon’s perspective is that this call deserves to be taken seriously — not as a phase, but as a signal that a deeper process is underway.
Resistance and Confusion Are Normal
For people who haven’t previously identified as spiritual — or who grew up with rigid religious frameworks they later rejected — feeling called to explore spirituality can be especially confusing. There may be resistance: “I’m not that kind of person.” There may be skepticism: “This feels irrational.” There may be fear: “If I go down this path, will I lose my grounding?”
Leon normalizes all of these reactions. Resistance to spirituality is often a sign that it’s genuine — because the ego, the part of us that manages identity and control, perceives this call as a threat. Spirituality invites you to question the very foundations of who you think you are. Of course the ego pushes back.
The confusion is also natural. Feeling called to explore spirituality doesn’t come with a roadmap. Unlike career development or academic learning, there isn’t a clear path from A to B. The journey often begins with not-knowing — with sitting in uncertainty long enough for inner guidance to begin to emerge.
From Conditioned Beliefs to Direct Experience
One of the most important shifts that happens when someone begins feeling called to explore spirituality is the movement from conditioned beliefs to direct experience.
Most people’s early relationship with the spiritual or the sacred is inherited — formed by the beliefs of their family, their culture, their religious upbringing (or lack thereof). These beliefs, whether accepted or rejected, form a kind of mental framework through which the spiritual dimension is filtered.
The fourth signal of awakening involves moving beyond this framework. It’s a shift from concepts about spirituality to actual experience of something deeper. This might happen through meditation, through time in nature, through a profound human connection, or through moments of unexpected stillness where the ordinary world suddenly feels luminous.
Leon describes this as a movement from thinking about spirit to sensing spirit — from the head to the heart, from belief to knowing, from secondhand information to firsthand encounter.
The Role of Books, Teachings, and Practices
When feeling called to explore spirituality, many people instinctively turn to books, teachers, courses, and spiritual practices. This is a natural and often helpful response — the intellect wants to understand what’s happening, and there is genuine wisdom available in the world’s contemplative traditions.
Leon encourages this exploration while also offering a caution: the intellect can become a destination rather than a doorway. It’s possible to accumulate spiritual knowledge endlessly without ever entering the experience itself. Reading about meditation is not meditating. Understanding impermanence conceptually is not the same as feeling it in your bones.
The invitation is to let intellectual exploration serve as a bridge — to use it for orientation and inspiration, but not to mistake the map for the territory. At some point, the call to explore spirituality becomes a call to practice — to step beyond understanding and into direct, lived engagement with whatever is emerging.
From Followship to Inner Sovereignty
As the spiritual journey deepens, an important shift occurs: the movement from followship to what Leon calls inner sovereignty.
Early on, there’s a natural tendency to look outside yourself for answers — to follow a teacher, adopt a tradition, or align with a community. This is part of the learning process and can be valuable. But the deeper invitation of feeling called to explore spirituality is ultimately the development of your own inner guidance.
Inner sovereignty doesn’t mean rejecting all teachers or traditions. It means developing the discernment to know what resonates with your own deepest truth and what doesn’t — regardless of how authoritative the source. It means trusting your own direct experience more than anyone else’s interpretation.
This is a profound maturation. The spiritual journey begins with seeking and, if allowed to unfold naturally, evolves into a quiet, sovereign relationship with your own inner knowing.
When Separation Begins to Dissolve
As the heart opens and direct experience deepens, something subtle but significant begins to shift: the sense of fundamental separation starts to soften. The boundary between self and other, between inner and outer, between “me” and “life” becomes more permeable.
This isn’t a philosophical position. It’s a felt experience — a growing sense of connection, of belonging, of being part of something larger than your individual story. Feeling called to explore spirituality, when followed honestly, often leads here: not to a new belief system, but to a lived experience of deeper connection and unity.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does it mean to feel called to explore spirituality? It typically begins as a subtle inner pull — a restlessness, existential questioning, or growing desire for something deeper than surface-level living. It’s a natural signal of personal transformation, not a phase or a weakness, and it deserves to be taken seriously.
Is it normal to resist the spiritual call? Yes. Resistance is extremely common, especially for those who haven’t previously identified as spiritual. The ego perceives this call as a threat to its established identity and naturally pushes back. Confusion, skepticism, and self-doubt are all normal parts of the process.
How do I start exploring spirituality authentically? Begin with what draws you — whether that’s reading, meditation, time in nature, or contemplative conversation. Use intellectual exploration as a bridge, but don’t stop there. The real journey begins when you move from learning about spirituality to practicing it — from concepts to direct experience.
If this resonates with where you are, you may also find insight in our articles on what transformation feels like at first and healing in transformation. Explore the Center for Transformational Coaching for more on the journey of awakening and growth.