Do spiritual practices need to be practiced?

Many spiritual and esoteric teachings teach the liberation of the soul from the shackles of the body and rapprochement with one's spirit and promote a corresponding way of life. Often it is accompanied by renunciation of all worldly things and gazing inward, as a result of which enlightenment appears.

Spiritual enlightenment is pleasant, it causes euphoria and sublime pleasant feelings, which is reflected even in the appearance of the person - the face becomes kind, relaxed, light, as if the light comes from within the person.

But there is a big spoonful of tar: to get these effects first you have to believe. Spiritual enlightenment is only possible if you believe unconditionally in your chosen spiritual teaching.

And that's where the unpleasantness comes in: ​

• What if all this is not true and it's just a game with the peculiarities of one's brain. Maybe a person's brain learns to produce joy hormones by itself, without external influences?
• To believe, a person must let this teaching into the core of his personality, and thus accept it as a part of himself. And he will no longer have the opportunity to look critically at this teaching, what if it is false?
• What if spiritual enlightenment is an illusory goal? Maybe, having received these cool sensations, a person will stop in development, as the brain no longer needs to strive for anything, the brain will receive the confirmation of success and euphoria as a proof of the right choice. This can have a negative impact on finances, relationships with people, skill development and so on
• Will spirituality lead to anything at all? Perhaps, engaging in spiritual practices, a person will prefer to go to a monastery, get seclusion, go to India and the like. But is all this really necessary?
• Why are spiritual practices associated with meditation or prayer (as a kind of meditation)? What will I find there? Maybe what I'll find is just my "inner self " and it's not worth devoting my whole life to?
• Esoteric teachings often criticize the mind. But how so?! It is the mind that created our entire man-made material world! Why should we abandon it in favor of the soul? Why can't we combine the two?

A lot of questions, but there are no answers. Answers will appear only when a person unconditionally believes in spiritual teachings, but it is impossible to understand anything on the shore.

Applying spiritual practices and reading spiritual or esoteric texts, the strings of the soul are touched, there comes a short impulse of enlightenment and realization, as well as religious ecstasy. And this is the stimulus for further immersion in spiritual teachings and belief in them, as the brain perceives such an effect as a positive confirmation. But after some time, if you stop practicing these practices, the brain does not find anything special in them.

Do not think that I am criticizing spiritual teachings as such, but all these questions remain unanswered and look suspicious. I just recommend to be critical of all kinds of teachings.