The Ego

[Śūnyatā]

In your own words, how would you define "the ego" (sakkaya-ditthi)?

Gratefully yours,
Śūnyatā

[gendun]

A couple of points..it may not be useful to translate sakkya-ditthi as "ego".
There is a risk of confusion with western psychoanalytic models.
Secondly it might be useful to think of sakkya-ditthi not as a noun , not as a thing, but as a verb..an action.
Specifically as an act of identification with the kandhas/skandhas.

[rachmiel]

Ego: The web of interactive mind-based reflexes acquired from pre-lifetime (nature) and lifetime (nurture) experiences that, together, generate a sense of individual persistent identity.

Or: A bit of undigested beef.

[m0rl0ck]

I would define it as an imaginary construct invented by western psychology. Freud, for gods sake, seriously?

[rachmiel]

> I would define it as an imaginary construct invented by western psychology.

An imaginary construct with a (faux) life of its own!

[Cittasanto]

In your own words, how would you define "the ego" (sakkaya-ditthi)?

Gratefully yours,
Śūnyatā

A combination of parts mistaken for something they are not.

[Śūnyatā]

Or: A bit of undigested beef.

I love this analogy! Is this why self-view can give you a bad case of heartburn?

[Jason]

I tend to view our ego or sense of self as the product of a mental process that arises due to the presence of clinging (upadana) in the mind with regard to the five aggregates, a process that acts as a condition for the birth (jati) of the conceit 'I am,' the self-identification that designates a being (satta).