When you can calm the ego, then you can become the persona. The persona then becomes the real you without all of the survival mechanisms. You can't do them both at the same time because survival is the ego, persona is you. The persona does not need any safety because it is a living viable thing. You're going to be in one or the other.
Persona is the true identity.
You spend this reality being so uptight, so scared, so paranoid, so unsafe that when you leave here, you take all these images of unsafety with you. Most people's ultimate dream of safety is heaven, from a religious standpoint. Now, the process of getting there may seem a little scary, but death is where you find your ultimate reward. And so you create death just so that you can feel safe- the fear you have of the process is quite outweighed by the hoped for reward of safety. When you leave this planet, you take all of your unsafe feelings with you.