It should be quite clear that biologically one cannot be half pregnant... One is either pregnant with new life or one is not.
When we are talking about the new life of Dharma the same criterion applies.
You cannot give homage to Identity and at the same time play an Awakening game.
You either decide to take the Dharma path, which is demanding and difficult, or you do not. Those with intelligence believe that their intelligence is so strong that they can choose and pick Dharma elements to follow and build their own Awakening, but that is not the case. Cognitive Intelligence, which is after all mundane, has not the qualities of Natural Intelligence.
Natural Intelligence accepts cognitive intelligence as a tool not as the master.
There are those too who cannot let go of their worldly cravings... They quote Dharma, but really they do not want the changes that the Dharma demands.
You cannot walk in the Transcendental world and at the same time embrace the world of Happiness and Sorrow.
This is a fundamental lesson.
It is far better to see where you really stand and as a first step see that your mind is setting up a "half-pregnancy trap."
Seeing that, then the thing to do is actually develop this mundane path of Happiness, Enjoyment, Excitation and Exhilaration, until a different and deeper motivation arises.
However, one must in that case define the limits of Identity which controls these quests or that deeper commitment to a higher level will not arise.
There is no shame to this decision, for if conducted correctly this Path of Mundane Happiness can open the door correctly to a Natural State.
But that means that once deciding to follow this Mundane Path you must beware of the evident trap of becoming behaviorally "half-pregnant" here also.
That attempt to be half-pregnant means that one rejects the Identity only when it is expedient.
THE RELIGIOUS APPROACH
Most religions do not produce the true spiritual liberation that they claim, surrounding themselves with this tainted halo. What they try to teach is a weak "mundane path." It is the path of sinning and repentance... It produces Identity-governed socially and spiritually correct behavior without a true transcendental foundation. Without perhaps that being its intention, it promotes a "half-pregnant" approach.
It does acknowledge the difficulty of the transcendental path but wishes to allow limited social Identity correct external behavior. So they introduce a mind-controlled Compassion and Love, which is a behavioral imitation of Natural Compassion and Benevolent Affect.
While the idea is basically sound, the results are not, for punishment for crime is never a solution and neither is reward that tempts Identity.
THE MUDANE DHARMA PATH
Far better is the Dharma Mundane path, which modifies the base of the problem of Identity control and does not close the door to an available later change to a transcendental path.
But one has to beware of this trap of half-pregnancy in which there is a constant battle with Mara's daughters of Confusion, Acquisition, Aversion and Fixation, who gradually gain ground without those upon the Mundane Path being aware.
The principal task here then is to set a firm limit to conscious Identity involvement and gradually reduce the Identity presence (not simply ignoring it) without erroneous force or resolution. It must be a gradual power reduction that occurs with clear conscious decision. It is not easy, and certainly a guide is necessary and a great deal of discipline and clear introspection.