Preserving our identity

It seems like in life we do a lot to preserve our identity or who we think we are. A lot of us in life feel defined by our past experiences and we seem to value them whether they seem good or bad because we think we have learned through them and/or and got stronger from them. It seems that we waste a lot of energy trying to keep our identity alive so I have to wonder why do we try so hard to keep it?

If our identity was so important why do some of us have the ability to lose it from a memory problem?
Even with the prospect of death, we fear losing who we think we are, hoping that we live on.

I guess it's largely due to conditioning.

If people were conditioned to simply enjoy their lives and not care whether one shall be remembered in good stead or not, life would be much easier.

Originally posted by Ralphy
It seems like in life we do a lot to preserve our identity or who we think we are. A lot of us in life feel defined by our past experiences and we seem to value them whether they seem good or bad because we think we have learned through them and/or and got stronger from them. It seems that we waste a lot of energy trying to keep our identity alive so I have to wonder why do we try so hard to keep it?

If our identity was so important why do some of us have the ability to lose it from a memory problem?
Even with the prospect of death, we fear losing who we think we are, hoping that we live on.

Identity is fine. Identity is a gift. False identity is the direct result of materialism, and it is dangerous. You can't get rid of your identity. You can only change it. You don't need to preserve it, because it will always be there regardless. You can get rid of your false identity. Your false sense of self is generated by the imbalanced desire for material things and material acquisition.

Who we think we are isn't who we are. Who we think we are is usually a label put on a materialistic concept such as, "I am a lawyer" or "I am wealthy". We think like this and in this way and we forget who we really are as part and one with nature as human beings. We surround ourselves with material things in such a way that we don't see what is natural. We clothe ourselves in materials so that when we look at someone or someone looks at us, they are looking at something that is not us that they associate with being us. Like "I wear this, so I am this" or "I drive this, so I am this" or "He wears that so he is (some label)". We do it so much that we forget that we are nature. Forgetting that you are nature and placing yourself in a false position somewhere above it is the unbalanced way of materialism and is directly responsible for all negative thinking, emotions, and circumstances.

We surround ourselves in materials to the point we become the materials. We then forget we are part of nature and we proceed to do unnatural things.

Think about it. Look at another human, and what do you see? Do you see nature? Or do you label him/her by what he/she is wearing, driving, and/or where they live? It is an unfair and unbalanced world we live in simply because we believe it is something other than what it is.

We create power, control, greed, war, jealousy, envy, poverty, grudges, hatred, imbalance, violence, fear, anxiety, anger, distrust, theft, intolerance, boredom, stress, enemies, adultery, etc. all by partaking in the materialistic way.

There's no question about it. If people want salvation from all of their problems, materialism must be eliminated.