Let me give you analogy.
You are on a seashore. There is lots and lots of sand,even and equal in every aspect. Now someone comes and makes sand castles out it, someone else makes a statue out it and so on. The sand is in a sense universal consciousness common to all. The artist is indeed the ‘ego’ or what we call as self.
We are all born from same cosmic fabric, it’s only that we are put in different pots. The moment you drop your self or ego, the line of division also vanishes. Same is also called as ‘Nirvana’ or ‘Samadhi’ or ‘Enlightenment’.
A modern continuation
This 2018 thought experiment is revisited in a new essay: Is Consciousness Individual—or Part of a Universal Mind? The updated article examines individuality, neuroscience, universal-consciousness theories, and the questions raised by AI.