What Is the Safest Refuge of an Identity That We Can Take for That Time That We Still Identify?

So we saw what the problem is. The problem is that we take ourselves to be something, you see? Now, has anyone fully dropped that anywhere in this room or anywhere? So because no one has fully dropped that, you see, when we look at their life over a lifespan—moment to moment, of course, it is completely possible to fully drop that, and that is where the true insight of what you truly are is available. But this Maya, this place, this hallucination seems to be so compelling that even the greatest sages, moment to moment, may identify with the mind. And therefore, we can say that nobody in this human condition has fully dropped that identification.

So that 'somethingness' that we take ourselves to be, especially when it takes the form of spiritual pride—that 'I'm better because I'm spiritual' or 'I have spiritual accomplishments' or 'I'm a spiritual achiever' of some sort—or even the fact that 'I'm a spiritual seeker' can become a source of pride, isn't it? That 'all of you are chasing all these materialistic things, but I am chasing God,' you see? So that can make it seem special. So what to do with that somethingness? What is the most accurate depiction of this 'me' that we can find in the human condition? So what am I saying? If we are going to take ourselves to be something, what is the safest 'something' that we can take ourselves to be?

Yeah... yes... yes...

But I'm saying besides the truth of who you are, you see? Everyone takes themselves to be something other than the truth, especially when life pushes our buttons. So, 'I Am' is the truth of what you are. That which is 'I', which is 'Am-ing', is the absolute reality of what you are, you see? But because nobody in the human condition remains empty 100%... and suppose that you are the greatest sage and you take yourself to be only your reality, you see? Therefore, you don't pick up any falseness, any avidya.

So, suppose that 99.9% you are open and empty, you remain in the Unborn, you see? That 0.1%, if you take yourself to be something super special—'Mahagi Maharaj'—you see, then that can actually undo the other 99.9%. Because with that 0.1%, you can cause enough trouble in the world and to your brothers and sisters that they actually may turn away from God rather than towards God, you see? So if it can happen in the lives of the greatest sages, in our life it is much more; it is not 99.9 versus 0.1. So what is the safest refuge of an identity that we can take for that point, whatever percentage of time that we still identify?