In psychology

Psychology

Psychology is the study of the mind and behavior. Its immediate goal is to understand individuals and groups by both establishing general principles and researching specific cases. For many, the ultimate goal of psychology is to benefit society...

, 'Ego' is presumed as one of the three parts of psychic apparatus

Psychic apparatus

The term psychic apparatus denotes a central, theoretic construct of Freudian metapsychology, wherein:...

 defined by Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud

Sigmund Freud , born Sigismund Schlomo Freud , was an Austrian neurologist who founded the discipline of psychoanalysis...

's structural model. It is also defined by various religions across the world where slight differences also occur in their conceptions. Hinduism

Hinduism

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...

 and Buddhism

Buddhism

Buddhism is a religion and philosophy encompassing a variety of traditions, beliefs and practices, largely based on teachings attributed to Siddhartha Gautama, commonly known as the Buddha . The Buddha lived and taught in the northeastern Indian subcontinent some time between the 6th and 4th...

 have least differences in defining various psychological terms such as self, ego, soul, etc.

Definition (Advaita and Dvaita philosophy; and Dvaitadvaita)

"It is the spontaneous identity of an individual to represent (itself)." According to religious scriptures, it is the characteristic of living beings with a higher level of consciousness that includes humans. Reflection of ego with 'name' is commonly observed in all living beings; that is how they recognize and represent themselves. Ego is also considered as 'identity over identity', e.g., name to a person where name is the secondary identity used by, or for, the person (primary identity or 'self') to represent. It (ego) exists in the state of consciousness.

Ego (Ahamkara) and Self (Jeevatma)

Although ego is generally accepted as a synonym of self

Self

The self is an individual person as the object of his or her own reflective consciousness. The self has been studied extensively by philosophers and psychologists and is central to many world religions.-Philosophy:...

, religious doctrine says otherwise. Jeevatma is the spontaneous identity part of some self, inherent of all living beings. Ahamkara is the human ego. Jeevatma's truest representation cannot exist

Exist

Exist may refer to:* eXist, an open source database management system built on XML* Existence* Energetic X-ray Survey Telescope, a proposed hard X-ray imaging all-sky deep survey mission...

 of itself in some nowadays, because since it is eternal, it is presumably incorruptible, and perfect; whereas ahamkara is more temporal"any created thing" here or "to do" now. The spontaneity of Jeevatma exists in consciousness with ahamkara, but also subsists with sense organs and feeling in an unconscious responsiveness.

In Bhagavad Gita

Bhagavad Gita

The ' , also more simply known as Gita, is a 700-verse Hindu scripture that is part of the ancient Sanskrit epic, the Mahabharata, but is frequently treated as a freestanding text, and in particular, as an Upanishad in its own right, one of the several books that constitute general Vedic tradition...

, Shri Krishna says to Arjun that ahamkara must be removed. Veda Vyasa and their religious scriptures also enforce the merging of anyone's jeevatma existence to a supreme soul (paramatman), and anyone's ahamkara existence to its creator.

Ego and consciousness

Higher level of consciousness is seen in humans and (exceptionally) up to certain extent in some animals, e.g., elephants. Humans are the only entities where ego is observed apparently and up to variable extent in the state of consciousness dividing them further into egoistic, egotistic, egomaniac, etc. 'Spontaneous identity to represent' disappears in all living beings when ego merges with self in the state of unconsciousness and is not recovered until consciousness; though in cases of humans it may occasionally appear in dreams

Dream

Dreams are successions of images, ideas, emotions, and sensations that occur involuntarily in the mind during certain stages of sleep. The content and purpose of dreams are not definitively understood, though they have been a topic of scientific speculation, philosophical intrigue and religious...

but that is spontaneous and not a part of will (or determination).