Ego inadequacy is one of the issues that we call “diamond issues” in the Diamond Approach. It is a universal issue, which is not due to specific personal history but is a consequence of the nature of ego. A diamond issue is an ego issue that results from identification with ego. Its presence is inseparable from ego identifications, regardless of how pathological or healthy the ego structure is. Only the severity of the issue is determined by the particular personal history. Guntrip has a deep and detailed understanding of the issue of ego inadequacy, but he does not go all the way to seeing it as an issue for all egos.

Since it is a process of moving from ego to Being, the process of inner realization deals largely with diamond issues. All the major emotional issues and conflicts we have discussed in this book are diamond issues. They are characteristic of ego structure, and do not necessarily reflect mental pathology. Of course, there are individual variations in the way an issue manifests, which reflect personal history, but the basic pattern and resolution are universal. So our discussion in this book of the various issues applies to everyone. Every individual has them as part of his ego structure, unless he is not identified with ego.

The next aspect that becomes dominant is what is often referred to as Cosmic Consciousness, as distinguished from personal consciousness. We can look at this from two points of view. We can see Cosmic Consciousness from the perspective of the Impersonal background, or from that of the Personal Essence. From the Impersonal it can be seen as part of the continuum that connects it to the Personal Essence; or, in other words, it is one level of reality that emerges from the Impersonal background in the process of creativity (creation) that culminates in the essential person ................... However, it is more instructive to study this dimension of Being from the other side, that of the Personal Essence. In this way we can see what ego structures need to be metabolized in the process of realizing this formless dimension. This dimension usually begins to manifest before the emergence of the Impersonal Witness; but it is not easily understood in its relation to the Personal Essence until the latter is experienced. Students usually encounter it when going beyond the ego structures of self or boundaries. The diamond issue that leads to its emergence is the belief that one is the body. As one goes beyond the ego sense of identity or the ego boundaries, one learns that these ego structures are based on the belief that one is the body.