Ram Dass illuminates the trap that many of us fall into as we grow up - which is the idea that we are our thoughts.
The more accurate view would be, "I am and I think.”
Thinking is a power that we have - “Intellect is a great servant but a lousy master.”
Most of us live almost entirely within the projections of our thinking mind.
Intellect is only one way of knowing the world, but the intuitive mind and heart is a more profound way of "knowing" the universe than the analytic intellectual linear mind.
The more you think inwardly and self reflect, the more you become an object to yourself until the whole universe is made up of objects.
We need to change the relative power positions of "intellect" and “intuition" so that we develop greater balance and freedom to grow on the spiritual path.