Mind, self 2

A selfless identity is a bit more complicated to handle than an identity with a self, if such a thing existed.
An animal is for practical reasons having a self. A cat is always a cat. It is no tiger or bird.
If we human beings had a self like that we could excuse all our actions with this argument: we are like this and we can not change it.
But as we are selfless, we can choose identity, more or less. Our identity is not given existentially, but often there are social and individual limitations.
Our mind has three roles. It is the giver of identity to a large extent, it is the experiencer of identity, and it expresses the identity.
This is potentially a very good construct. It means we can live in happiness for ever.
But it is also a very vulnerable construct. It can easily go wrong, and then we end up in eternal suffering.
One common fault is to strengthen the self rather than to see its freedom. We want to be richer and more powerful. We do not see this as the fault it is.
Another common fault is to misunderstand how to influence others. People with social problems are often treated in way that aggravates the problems. People without social problems are often given social problems, by political or religious dogmas.
The formula for happiness is too simple to be taken seriously. It is that we should treat others nice, because than our mind will give us the experience of niceness, and then we can treat others nice without any strain.
Most people feel that happiness must be earned by hard work, violence, incomprehensible challenges, superhuman feats, martyrdom, pain, sweat, suffering and the like, but that is another thing. It has nothing to do with happiness. It is caused by believing in self rather than selflessness.