Darin:
When I approach it intellectually I have no trouble in seeing through the illusion. What troubles me though, is that it doesn’t even feel counter intuitive. It is clear, simple and obvious. So much so that I feel I must be missing something. I don’t feel as though the earth has disappeared from beneath my feet. Where is the fear, the sense of loss, the abyss?
The intellectual approach is a bit tricky, though interesting. You can play with it while also doing vipassana or some other meditation or contemplation practice. More drops wearing away at the stone.
Suggestion: Notice, discern, find the emptiness in the "you" that is troubled regarding the quality of "your" insight into "yourself"? You can look for this emptiness intellectually, but also in meditation.
I posit that the reason why I haven’t experienced the typically described reactions to the insight of not self is that I can only see it intellectually Is some greater shift (higher level) required? Any thoughts or comments would be welcomed
Hmmm. The map is not the territory. Your life is not contained in the description of another person's life, so it's no use trying to re-live those (it is useful to recognize similarities, when they arise, though) Try to get more of those glimpses, and gain familiarity with them. Then you will be able to speak more from experience and less from what you want to experience.
The shifts can be profound, but they never (in my experience) resemble expectations. So the less you are trying to experience what you expect to happen, the more you can pay attention to what is actually happening.
Helpful? If not, please ask more questions.
Cheers,
Florian