Ego

... Conditioned by the mind, the Self appears to be mortal, finite, limited. The Self clothed in the mind is the ego, jiva.

This ego, thoughtlessly assuming an independent and separate existence for itself, naturally sees the whole world as mighty, endless array of things and beings, of circumstances and situations-all of them inimical to itself. It feels lonely, in its loneliness it is overwhelmed by fear. To assure its own security, the ego thereafter builds mighty phantom-fortresses around itself with frail wealth, impermanent name, flimsy fame, disloyal relations, and undependable friends, and maintains a thousand treacherous relationships with a million things and beings. But still, the ego feels insecure, freightended, lonely, unhappy, and altogther etirely cheated!
...


from chapter 13 "The Other Shore of Samsara"
Meditation and Life by Swami Chinmayananda http://www.chinmayamission.org