Abstract:

Ego (or self in another sense) is not only a problem for both philosophy and psychology, but also a significant topic that mystical traditions deal with. It is simply because the ego is a concept which is related to all dimensions of the existence of individuals. It is also related with the formation of knowledge which determines the structure of human mind and the processes which provide a background for human behaviours. All these show that the ego is one of the most basic concepts which determine how to locate an individual on an existential ground. Within this respect, it is crucial to analyze the elements of ego to fully understand how human beings acquire knowledge and make sense of her own existence. In another respect, in mystical traditions the ego is discussed more deeply and elaborated in such a manner that the spiritual dimension is also considered. Similarly, in the tradition of Islamic mysticism, sûfîs used several notions related to the ego and explained these notions in such a way that includes both physiological and spiritual aspects of human beings. In this work, we will discuss five of these notions on an epistemological and ontological ground so that we can shed some light on the essential character of sûfî ego.

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