"It's often difficult for adherents of the Western religions to understand exactly what transcendence is about. What in the world needs to be transcended and how will that bring salvation? In 25 words or less it's impossible to relate the goal of the Eastern traditions, so I'll just make one or two statements. What needs to be transcended is the ego. It goes by different names in various traditions: the false self, the lower mind, the player on the stage, the monkey mind, the veil, and that which experiences separation, to name a few. For in these traditions, the ego is the source of all problems, for it needs to think that it is in control and real. Union with God (Hinduism), the extinguishing of the ego (Buddhism), and at-one-ment with nature (Taoism) all see the ego as the thing in the way of attaining the spiritual potential each seeks to offer."
---> Gary F. Moring, M.A. The Complete Idiot's Guide to Theories of the Universe
