THE NATURE OF SELF

You are not the universe, so that entire line of questioning into the nature of existance must be dismissed, save for one point: If in knowing the nature of the Universe you must BE the Universe, then the nature of the Universe is identical to the nature of the sum of it's knowledge. Sound familiar? In flipping the equation, we come to the standpoint of a simple and easily stereotyped image...
"To know yourself is to know the Universe."

So how does one begin to describe the nature of oneself? Well, going by a popular and widely-agreed-on psychological theory: You are unique, but you have been shaped by your environment on some if not all levels of personal being. Your environment has had an effect on who you are, and therefore has become a neccessary building block upon which your consciousness is now defined. In order to actually determine who you are as a person, you would be required to determine the nature of your environment during it's constant interaction with your inner self.