Ego

The terms ego and self are variously viewed as equivalent or distinct, although in some cases one or both are held to be meaningless terms.

A new-born child is said to have no self sense and therefore to perceive no separation between the body and the environment, nor to view events as occurring objectively. This state of non-differentiation is gradually left behind as the child develops, and life may be thought of as a move from the sub-conscious to the self-conscious state, as the ego develops.

Ego is viewed as a source or objective of motivation, as the organizing centre for behaviour and experience, and as the totality of experiential content and behaviour patterns relating to the individual's own person. It is also viewed as a part of the psychic structure (contrasting with the id and the super-ego) permitting adaptation of reality and as the decisive component of the psyche. It gives continuity and consistency to behaviour by providing a personal point of reference. The term can be used to describe that part of the growing human personality that tends, under suitable conditions, to become integrated into a unit. It can also be described as an individually characteristic centering of the personality.

Beyond this view is the second stage in the life cycle when, after the development of the self-conscious ego, a super-conscious state of transpersonal unity is achieved.