The self refers to the totality of an individual’s conscious experiences, ideas, thoughts, and feelings with regard to herself or himself. These experiences and ideas define the existence of an individual both at the personal and at social levels. It represents the characteristic ways in which we define our existence and how our experiences are organised.

The most important distinction between the Indian and Western views is the way the boundary is drawn between the self and the other. In the Western view, this boundary appears to be relatively fixed. It holds clear dichotomies between self and other, man and nature, and subjective and objective. The self and the group exist as two different entities with clearly defined boundaries, where individual members maintain their individuality.

In contrast, the Indian view of self is characterised by the shifting nature of this boundary. At one moment, the self expands to fuse with the cosmos or include others, and at the next, it seems completely withdrawn and focused fully on the individual self. The Indian view does not make such clear dichotomies.

Furthermore, in the Indian culture, the self is generally not separated from one’s own group; rather, both remain in a state of harmonious co-existence. In Western culture, they often remain at a distance. That is why many Western cultures are characterised as individualistic, whereas many Asian cultures are characterised as collectivistic.