"The fear was that when he falls asleep, in the morning when he awakes again, how he will recognize that he is really himself? So many people…he had always slept in his room, alone, so there was no problem because there was no possibility. Of course, he was always himself, but here with so many people sleeping around, a crowd, he may get lost. It's okay while you are awake, you can continue remembering yourself, but while asleep you may miss, you may forget, and in the morning you may be confused; you may be lost in the crowd.

"Seeing him so worried and sitting on his bed, somebody asked, 'What is the matter with you? Why don't you go to sleep?' He explained his problem. The man laughed; he told him, 'This is very simple. Look in that corner; some child has left his balloon. Bring it and tie it to your foot so in the morning you will know perfectly that it is you if the balloon is there.'

"The fool said, 'That's right.' And he had to sleep, he was so tired, so he fastened the balloon with a string to his foot and went to sleep.

"The man played a joke: in the night, when the fool was snoring, he took the balloon off his foot and fastened it to his own foot. In the morning, when the fool looked around, he started crying and weeping. A crowd gathered, and they asked, 'What is the matter?'

"He said, 'Now I know perfectly that he is me, but who am I?'

"Now this is the problem.

"The ego is because you don't know who you are. So a name, an address, a certain face that you have seen reflected in the mirror, in the photographs, the album – these all help. They are balloons fastened to you.

"If suddenly one day in the mirror you see that this is not the face you have always been accustomed to seeing, you will go mad – the balloon is missing. The face is constantly changing, but the change is so slow that you never recognize it. Just go back home and look at the album of your childhood."