Ahhh

The thinking mind isn't comfortable with the empty nature of our unadorned awareness. So it gathers anything it can find, in order to cobble an avatar together, to act as a stand in for our most basic and enduring being. But, as most quickly learn to prioritize their cognitive capacities over all else, the stand in typically winds up getting credit for being the lead. This is, of course, based on the premise that there is consciousness that exists independent of the body/brain.

However, the onus isn't all on the individual. Being born into a culture that's already succumbed to this delusion, we're taught to accept the falsehood from the onset. Many would look at you as if you were whacked out of your gourd were you to tell them the truth. In fact, they likely wouldn't be able to fathom what you were talking about, because it runs so contrary to the foundations of their self and world views.

We need to have our identities, if we are to act with purpose and direction. Scientists would never make brilliant discoveries after years of research, if they didn't adopt the quest for knowledge as a part of their purpose. Artists wouldn't hone their skills without a sense that expressing the unspeakable was integral to their being. Suffering is curtailed because some embody their charitable nature. And societies are built around the components of people assuming roles.

But our identities aren't nearly as consistent as most assume they are, and shouldn't be guarded or taken too seriously .

Thoughts, feelings, beliefs, aspirations, etc. are constantly changing. Yet most cling to the illusion that their mental activities represent their continuous and stable beings. If this were the case, then, over the course of your life, there have been a great many “yous” inhabiting your body. (Which is also in a constant state of change.) If you review your life, without a fog bias, you'll likely recognize that only the "watcher" has remained relatively unchanged. But most are lost in their mindscapes and go through their lives on auto pilot, essentially sleep walking, as the engrained patterns of their minds repeat themselves, ad nauseum.

It doesn't take any magical powers to step back from our mental activity and rest in that quiet space. It just takes the sincere intention and a bit of practice. And through practicing that, we learn to not take the mental happenings personally.

It may appear and/or feel scary, initially. But it's kind of like looking at the bubbling water in a hot tub and assuming that it's boiling. Once you climb in and get acclimated, it's really quite pleasant. Ahhh.