Meaning of the Self and Psyche Through Eastern and Western Eyes 

Let’s begin with an unusual question: If you were not your name, your culture, your job,  your social media account or maybe even your thoughts; who would you actually be? Feeling a bit uneasy? That’s the point. Every day we wake up and slide into our identity like a coat. ‘I am Me’, we say. But who exactly is this ‘Me’. That is the mystery psychologists as well as philosophers have been obsessed with for ages. So do not worry as you aren’t the first person to stress out over this.  

Now, lets take a mental road trip- from your therapy couch in Mumbai to a meditation cave in the Himalayas. In this article we will be exploring what the “self” really is, through  the Western as well as Eastern lenses.  

The Western Psyche

In this, you are mostly your own mind. Imagine an interview setting where you have been asked by the interviewer to introduce  yourself to which you reply by listing your ambitions, your likes, dislikes, traumas etc. In the western aspect, that is the ‘self’. Your personality, Your past and Your plans. Now let’s look at it through ideologies of different professionals in the field.  

1. According to Sigmund Freud, you are a walking tug of war between your ID [that works on your pleasure principle], your ego [which works on the reality principle],  and your superego [working on the moral principle]. Freud believed that the self is a result of negotiation. You are constantly struggling between managing your desires, fears, reality and societal expectations- like a coach of a very chaotic team. It is for sure not a very glamorous situation, but it is logical. We all live with inner voices pulling us in different directions. 
2. Fast forward to the 1950s, we see Carl Rogers entering with a gentler lens, emphasising ‘You’ but better. He did not see himself as a battlefield of opposing thoughts. He believed that your “self” is like a seed, which over the period turns into a plant that wants to grow towards the sun, if only the environment allows. He believes that humans are, deep down, good creatures. Their journey is to become their authentic self, dropping all the masks and finding the real ‘you’ under all the assigned roles and filters. Sounds somewhat familiar? Well, it should, because that is fully trending over self-help books and Instagram reels.  
3. Now let’s take a turn on Jung’s Road. Carl Jung says that there is much more under the surface. He believed that your “ego” is just the tip of the iceberg. Under it lies your shadow [dark desires- stuff you don’t like to admit], and even deeper, your collective unconscious- shared human archetypes, like the Hero, the Persona, the mother, etc. So, to Carl Jung, discovering who you are, that is, your ‘self’, is not just personal, it’s mythological. Pretty amazed, right??

The Eastern Psyche

“What if you’re not a self at all?” Picture sitting cross-legged beneath a Bodhi tree, or strolling through a serene Zen garden. Someone glances at you and says, “Who are you?” You begin to reply, but they smile and reply: “No, not your name. Not your story. Who are you without all that?” Boom. Identity crisis level: Zen Master. 

1. Hinduism: The Self That Is Everything 

In Vedantic Hinduism, you are Atman—not your body, not your mind, but the eternal soul that lies underneath it all. And that soul is Brahman—the ultimate reality, the universal consciousness. So, whereas Western psychology attempts to construct and refine the ego, Hinduism invites you to go beyond it. The ego is a costume you forgot you were wearing. Meditation, yoga, and detachment are all methods of shedding that costume and remembering: You were divine all along. It is not just about becoming yourself but also about remembering your ‘true’ self. It is about being, remembering and maintaining who you truly are. 

2. Buddhism: There Is No Self. 

According to Gautama Buddha, the self is like a fictional book. There is no unchanging, permanent “you.” You’re a bundle of momentary experiences, like flickering scenes in a book. Your mind just plays them in any particular sequence, so it feels like a “you” is there. This is what is called Anatta, or “non-self.” And oddly enough, realising this phenomenon brings deep peace to oneself. It gives a weird sense of relief in our mind, realising that there is a concept of “non-self”. If there is no enduring self to protect, you release, and you feel free. You stop suffering. It’s as if you shed a heavy burden, you didn’t even know you were carrying. Zen monks would tell you, “Trying to find the self is like trying to bite your teeth.” You laugh. You stop. You kind of get it. This metaphor conveys a profound truth of human existence and the different ways cultures have tried to understand and make sense of it. 

East vs West

Western philosophy—especially modern psychology and self-help—is all about the self as something to develop, understand, and improve. We process old wounds in therapy; we think and work through journaling; boundaries protect our headspace; and self-reflection takes us to self-knowledge. The goal is integration, healing, and functioning—a cohesive identity that  can cope with life’s issues. This model assumes the self is there and is worth it, something that can be “worked on.”.

Eastern philosophy, on the other hand, in schools like Buddhism, Advaita Vedanta, and  Taoism, challenge this. It suggests that the self is not something fixed but an illusion—a  continuous process or even an obstruction to liberty. Suffering, for this perspective, arises not due to the self being fragmented, but due to our believing in the idea of having a self in the  first place. The path of peace, then, is not healing the self, but release from identification with it. Meditations, mindfulness, or inquiry into the self, create the insight that we are not thought, nor even identity. 

So, who exactly in this case, is correct? 

The answer is- Both. 

Western approaches help us to operate more efficiently in the world. Eastern approaches help us to see beyond it. Freedom and healing aren’t opposing ideas—they’re serial or even concurrent. You might first need to heal your wounds before you can begin to begin to move past the  idea that there’s a “you” who ever got hurt. Or, in moments of deep peace, you might notice that there was never anything to fix in the first place. One path leads to integration. The other to dissolution. Together, they offer wholeness.

Let’s translate this to real life through some examples 

Example 1: Anxiety 

• Western take: Anxiety is your ego reacting to uncertainty. Get therapy, learn coping, and look to childhood causes. 
• Eastern take: The self that is anxious is not. Sit, breathe, look. Look at the anxiety arise and pass—it’s merely weather in the sky of awareness. 

Example 2: Breakup 

• Western: Look into your attachment style, journaling, no-contact, and heal your identity. 
• Eastern: Bear witness to the pain without resistance. It’s only temporary. You’re not the one who was loved or rejected—you’re the witness to it occurring. 

Example 3: Existential Crisis 

• Western: Midlife makeover! Get a life coach, find your passions. 
• Eastern: There never was a fixed self to begin with. Let go. Life is a dance—come and  join the dance.

Read More from Us

• Comparing Freud, Jung and Adler’s Views on the Unconscious 
• Motivation in Psychology: Theories and Applications
• Drive Theory: Understanding the Force  Behind Motivation 
• Placebo vs. Nocebo: Can Belief Heal Or Hurt You?

FAQs

1. If there is no self, then who’s reading this?

That’s the million-dollar Zen puzzle. You can call it awareness, presence, consciousness. Eastern schools of thought would say: don’t worry about defining it. Be it. 

2. Is one way better than the other?

Not really. Western perspectives enable you to live and flourish in the world. Eastern  perspectives enable you to discover inner peace outside of it. And, actually, the two  together—therapy and meditation—could be the best mental health match ever. 

3. “Do I have to give up my identity to grow? 

Not at all. But knowing that your identity is fluid, not fixed, gives space to grow. You can wear your roles lightly, without being trapped in them. My final thoughts regarding this are that maybe, just maybe, you are both. The Mirror as  well as the Reflection. Maybe you are the stories you tell yourself. Maybe you are the stillness, the state of quiet, between those thoughts. 

Maybe you are the one asking questions, but also the one watching those questions come to light. The “self” does not necessarily have to be something you own or even discover sometimes. It  is something you relate you; you identify yourself with, something you unpeel with every life  circumstance, every day, every interaction you have with someone, every achievement and  every failure. It is something you move with, freely, as if dancing to the rhythm of your own  mind’s music.  

Western psychology hands you the mirror to look into your own “self” and introspect. Eastern wisdom gently suggests you that: maybe you’re also the space around the mirror. And sometimes, not knowing something, is the first step towards the top of the deepest  knowledge.