"Whole," "true," or "universal" self

Our whole self is the force or quality of life that enables conscious thought to arise, and it includes that personal, conscious self, but it also includes the force that functions beyond any conscious thought. The whole or universal self is the force that functions to make the heart continue beating and the lungs continue breathing, and it is also the source of what is referred to as the subconscious. 

This inclusive self is at heart the creative power of life. It is related to what the Judeo-Christian tradition calls the creative power of God. That power - what is immediately alive and also what is created - that is self too. If you want to use God as your referent, it is crucial to receive God as a pure creative power, as being fresh and alive and working in and through yourself: no matter what I do or think, God is in all things and is working through me.

Whatever is alive - that is jiko, or universal self. All of this - thoughts and feelings, desires, the subconscious and the beating heart, the effort that enables other lives to function and the creative power of life itself - is what I mean by the self. Saying "whole" or "true" or "universal" self is a way to try to include all the actual reality of life and what I am saying here is that the actual reality of life is not something separate from the actual reality of your own life.

page 29 Opening the hand of Thought by Zosho Uchiyama