A Great Question

What is the Self?

Whether there is an enduring self, and if so whether it is individual or universal.

Framing

Every tradition of unitive knowledge has to say what it is that knows, and what it is that is transformed. The answers divide traditions that otherwise share much. The Upaniṣads teach a self that is the inmost witness of experience, and say of it “that thou art”; the Buddha taught that no such self can be found, and that the belief in one is a root of suffering.

Even among those who affirm a self, the disagreements run deep. Is there one self in all beings, or many? Is the self pure consciousness, or a person with will and love? Is it identical with the ultimate, a part or mode of it, or a creature eternally distinct from it? And what of the self we know, with its memories and character: is it the true self, a veil over it, or nothing at all?

This question gathers the main answers side by side, each in its own terms. They are not stages toward one view, and the differences between them are real.

Perspectives

Voices from several traditions, each in its own terms. They are set side by side to be compared, not ranked.

Advaita Vedānta, Śaṅkara
Scholarship
The self (ātman) is pure consciousness, one in all beings and not other than Brahman. The individual person is that one self as mistakenly identified with a body and mind; liberation is the end of that mistake, not the end of the self.
Sources: The Vedânta-Sûtras, with the Commentary by Sankarâkârya; Who Am I?
Viśiṣṭādvaita, Rāmānuja
Scholarship
There are many real selves, each eternal and conscious, each part of the body of Brahman and wholly dependent on it. The self is distinct from Brahman yet inseparable from it, and in liberation it keeps its individuality.
Sources: The Vedânta-Sûtras, with the Commentary by Râmânuga
Yoga, Patañjali
Scholarship
The self is the seer, pure consciousness (puruṣa), distinct from the mind and everything else in nature. The mind’s activities only seem to belong to it; when the mind is stilled, the seer abides in its own nature.
Sources: The Yoga-System of Patañjali
Buddhism
Scholarship
No permanent self can be found among the aggregates of body, feeling, perception, formations and consciousness; clinging to a self is a root of suffering, and seeing its absence is part of liberation.
Sources: Mūlamadhyamakakārikā
Christian Mysticism
Scholarship
The soul is a creature made in the image of God, with God dwelling at its centre; the mystics describe a journey inward to that centre, in which the soul is united with God in love without ceasing to be a creature.
Sources: The Interior Castle

Essays that take up this question

That Thou Art6 November 2026Few sentences in any scripture have carried more philosophical weight than the teaching given to Śvetaketu by his father.

Reflect

What remains when every concept we have of the Self is examined?

Cite this entry

Chicago (bibliography): “What is the Self?” Question. The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society. Last modified November 7, 2026. https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/questions/what-is-the-self.
Chicago (note): “What is the Self?” question, The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, last modified November 7, 2026, https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/questions/what-is-the-self.
MLA: “What is the Self?” The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society, 7 Nov. 2026, www.unitiveknowledge.org/questions/what-is-the-self.
BibTeX: @misc{questions-what-is-the-self, title = {{What is the Self?}}, howpublished = {The Library, Unitive Knowledge Society}, note = {Question. Last modified November 7, 2026}, year = {2026}, url = {https://www.unitiveknowledge.org/questions/what-is-the-self} }

What is the Self?

Framing

Perspectives

Advaita Vedānta, Śaṅkara

Viśiṣṭādvaita, Rāmānuja

Yoga, Patañjali

Buddhism

Christian Mysticism

Essays that take up this question

Reflect

Concepts involved

Traditions

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Authors