That's what I personally feel too -- some few necessary components combine to give the illusion of self. I would add to this, though, the ability to perceive in

That's what I personally feel too -- some few necessary components combine to give the illusion of self. I would add to this, though, the ability to perceive input from our senses and becoming an "observer", thus creating the separation of oneself from the universe: the self is who observes, everything else is the universe. This distinction of self from the universe is also talked about in Buddhism as being a massive flaw of human understanding. In reality, all of us are one with the universe and arise from it.