What is Ego ? is it the same as Self ? How is selfishness related to ego ?

In spirituality, the human being is often conceived as being in the illusion of individual existence, and separated from other aspects of creation. This "sense of doership" or sense of individual existence is that part which believes it is the human being, and believes it must fight for itself in the world, is ultimately unaware and unconscious of its own true nature. The ego is often associated with mind and the sense of time, which compulsively thinks in order to be assured of its future existence, rather than simply knowing its own self and the present.

'I' is an illusion. Whenever we say 'I' it is referring to a manifestation in our bodies or minds that is reacting to a stimulus. This 'I' we take as all of ourselves, but it is not. One 'I' could buy something because 'it' wants it and then the next day another 'I' will regret it. In this sense we are schizophrenic, with no real or lasting identity.

Id like to point out something I thought was cool when I was taking a psychology course.

In English, when we say "big head" or "large ego"... technically those who have "large egos" are actually people with small egos. Get it? Its difficult to understand, I kind of forgot the exact explanation... but our language has swapped the two for some reason.

So, Neo is actually wrong about that bit.

Having a large ego is actually healthy and makes us confident contributors for ourselves and our society. Having a small ego makes us up-tight and arrogant and selfishly motivated... which is what people call "big ego"

Think of it as an ill-attempt at compensation, an over compensation... people with small egos come across as extreme.

Now, I might be a bit wrong about the details and explanation and whatnot... but trust me, "big ego" and "small ego" have opposite meanings that what society typically thinks of. My psychology teacher made it a point to mention this in class... and he was teaching and doctoring for several decades.

I think its a cool tidbit... do with as you please.

Ego is a limited consciousness born out of self-centred activity with huge mass of mental impressions.

When you say "I" I believe it's a combination of all three. "I am hungry" could one of all three speaking.

Egoism is where we always act in one's self interestes and the ego is believing we are the best, at least when it is large. The link comes when we begin thinking that we are too good to act for other people.

Ego is, 'I ness'. and is the cause of dualism. It is in the mind.