You've probably heard of the concept of ego. The idea is that the ego reacts to thoughts and observes itself and thinks it is the self, but beneath the ego is t

You've probably heard of the concept of ego. The idea is that the ego reacts to thoughts and observes itself and thinks it is the self, but beneath the ego is the true self-- whatever it may be. So the ego in this case would be a tool. There's also the idea that thoughts don't come from the ego, or the self, or what-have-you; the idea that the "I" does not have thoughts, that perhaps thoughts are randomly generated and something compels us to follow one thought or another, so that we think an "I" is having a thought.