Marx, Zhuangzi & Psychology

Marx + Zhuangzi · Everyone is inherently whole

Marx and Zhuangzi offer a philosophy for our times: a framework for understanding society and nurturing the inner life that helps ordinary people navigate an atomized, cyberpunk world. It is a complete, practical, clear approach, grounded in humanism and existentialism as its philosophies of inner life, with Marx and Zhuangzi guiding its understanding of society. It explores the inner life, awakening, and living in the present.

Marx Series 21 articles

Psychology and society through the lens of historical materialism

Why the AI Era Needs Marx and Zhuangzi Shanghai's Glory Has Never Been the Petty Bourgeoisie Unwilling to Work for Wages, Limited in Ability, Without Capital, and Facing Starvation: A Human Predicament at the Heart of Marx and Zhuangzi Most Personal Problems Are Human Problems: Avoid Excessive Self-Blame and Self-Attack, and Embrace Your Dark Side China Moves from "Great Similarity" into an "Age of Great Divergence"Chinese Internet Users and the Chinese People Are Different Groups and Classes Humanism vs. Marxism: A Key Point About Marxism and the 1844 Manuscripts Time-Off Syndrome (After Work and on Weekends): The Fundamental Contradiction of Rest for Workers Nightclub Hostesses and the Psychology of Marx and Zhuangzi Stories of Good People, Social Science, and Marxism-Leninism Squeezed by Three Current Waves: A Kondratiev Depression, China's Technological Substitution, and AI What Opportunities Does the Present Era Offer?Our Generation May Have Witnessed the Peak of the Petty Bourgeoisie Around 210 Million College Graduates in the Next 15 Years: Intense Competition Will Produce Great Talent Online Group Therapy Common Karmic Obstructions Among Marxism Enthusiasts Marx on Labor and Alienation Marx on Consumption and Consumerism (Excerpts from the 1844 Manuscripts, 4 Sections, 2,000 Chinese Characters)What Happens After Nora Leaves? What Happens After Lying Flat?An Overview of the Marx + Zhuangzi + Psychology Framework Marx, Zhuangzi, and Psychology: Marxism from the Bottom Up

Zhuangzi Series 44 articles

Inherent wholeness, living in the present, and freedom to wander

Humans Are Divine Birds, Born to Soar, Rather Than Mushrooms Meant to Rot in the Mud Gradual Change in Life: Sudden Insight and Gradual Transformation Those Who Play the Game of Life and Those Who Are Played Classifying People by Level Returning from Peace to Pain, or from Pain to Peace? The Truth About Spiritual Practice Facing a Midlife Crisis with Marx and Zhuangzi: Refactoring the Shitpile of Code Behind Your Worldview and Values Rest Is at the Heart of Daoist Philosophy Staying Full: Keeping Your Mental Energy Abundant Comes First, Just as a Ship Must Not Sink Below Its Waterline Allow Yourself to Despair Starting a Business and Investing Both Happen Naturally, So There Is No Need to Agonize Effort Is a False Concept: Forcing Falls Short; Let Things Take Their Natural Course A Brief Reflection on Balancing Work and Rest Zhuangzi: I Will Die an Ordinary Death Zhuangzi: We Were Meant to Live with Calm and Ease Zhuangzi: Benefiting Others Through Stillness Zhuangzi: The Ordinary Mind Is the Dao Zhuangzi: Smelling Osmanthus Blossoms, I Reflect That Everyone Holds the Seed of Immortality and Buddhahood Zhuangzi: The Id Becomes a Butterfly Zhuangzi: Understanding "Attachment to Self" and Innate Wholeness Through the Accidental Loss of a Hand. If Someone Loses a Hand in an Accident, Are They Still a Whole Person? This Is Nature; Many People with Disabilities Have Whole and Noble Characters and Happy Lives. Clearly, Our Limbs Are Not "Me." If Our Limbs Are Not Me, Then Worrying About Whether We Look Good or Bad, Beautiful or Ugly, Is Even More Foolish. We Usually Cling Obsessively to Possessions, Only to Discover That Even Our Hands Are Not Ours to Possess.Zhuangzi: On Cockroaches Zhuangzi and Nature Heal Existential Crises: Unease, Loneliness, Meaninglessness, Freedom and Responsibility, and Death The Similarities and Connections Between Zhuangzi and Marxism Similarities Between Zhuangzi's Philosophy and Later Greek Philosophy: Epicureanism, Stoicism, and Cynicism Zhuangzi's Autumn Floods: People Are Like Water—Formless, Colorless, and Empty of Inherent Nature, at One with Heaven Zhuangzi's Discussion on Making All Things Equal: Words Are Meaningless; Forget the Self, See All Things as Equal, and Follow Nature Zhuangzi's Discussion on Making All Things Equal and Marx: Returning from Surface-Level Verbal Thought to the Deeper Mind Zhuangzi's Discussion on Making All Things Equal: The Tower of Babel of Karmic Obstructions Accepting Your Limited Spiritual Attainment Is Itself an Attainment Ordinary People Around 30: Let Go of Excess and Shed Your Shackles The Most Fundamental Psychological Model Recording Innate Wholeness: Keep a Diary of the Times You Feel Happy, Internally Motivated, Positive, Energetic, and Peaceful Your Capacity for Living in the Present Is a Core Measure of Life Living in the Deeper Mind: Returning to the Realm of the Dao Simplicity, Kindness, and Sincerity Shine Like Gems in Everyday Life The Historical Development of "Innate Wholeness" in Chan Buddhism Life Experience Is a False Concept: Live in the Ordinary A Conversation with a Reader: If We "Don't Practice," How Should We "Apply Ourselves"?"Self-Discipline Brings Freedom" Is a False Concept: Freedom Brings Self-Discipline The Cycle of Natural Unfolding, Questions, and Answers Seeing Your True Nature: Recognizing It On Strolling On Poverty and Hardship Let Things Take Their Natural Course Abundant Mental Energy Is the Buddha; Rest Is the Dharma

Connection Series 41 articles

Connecting with yourself, others, society, history, the world, and nature

Making Peace with Yourself, Dessert Shops, and Creator Videos: Only Scroll Through Short Videos When Your Energy and Vibration Are High Chinese Internet Users and the Chinese People Are Different Groups and Classes How We Change Others: Through Resonance Between Our True Natures, Rather Than Giving or Coercion What Makes Communication Energizing and High-Quality?Why Striving Goes Wrong and Forcing Falls Short: A Perspective Based on Connection Rest Takes Great Wisdom, Courage, and Steadiness Only Engage with First-Rate People and Those Beyond the First Rate How College and Secondary School Students Can Respond to Meritocracy A Common Form of Feeling Lost in College: An Existential Crisis How to Overcome Loneliness How to Build a Connection with Yourself After Nora Leaves, Part 3: Van Gogh Syndrome Be Grateful to Your Past Self and Your Present Self We Have Always Been Fighting Alongside Our Past Selves As Members of the Petty and Micro Bourgeoisie, How Can We Build a Connection with the Proletariat's Simple Truth, Goodness, and Beauty?I Look Up at the Sky: My Future Self Is Gazing Gently at My Present Self Pinduoduo Comment-Section Literature and the Healing Power of Food Markets Why Hangzhou's West Lake and Beijing's Olympic Forest Park Heal Me Less Than a Small County Town Park Home Is Where My Heart Finds Peace: If I Only Find Myself When I Leave Home for the Park, Is the Park My Real Home?Seeing Light Through Days of Grimy Drudgery: Living in the Present, Where the Present Is Already the Other Shore Simplicity, Kindness, and Sincerity Shine Like Gems in Everyday Life Letting Go of the Obsession with Travel Social Relationships: The Differences Between Comrades, Kindred Spirits, Dearest Friends, and Friends Choosing Your Social Relationships Choosing Your Social Relationships, Part 2: Friendship in the Present Social Relationships: First-Rate People and Better Focus You Toward the Dao; Second-Rate and Lesser People Scatter You Away from It Words Cannot Change People; They Only Filter Them When Talking with Others, Connection and Listening Matter Reflections on Exercise: How Much You Want to Exercise, Rather Than How Much You Must The People Who Told Me I Had Problems Through Years of "Harsh but Honest Advice" Gave Me Those Problems Valuing Someone vs. Respecting Them: An Easy Confusion in Relationships Connection vs. Entanglement: Our Relationship with the World Why Is It Hard to Find Connection with Nature and Feel Its Presence?Connection with Fate How Connection Breaks: From Children with Innate Wholeness to Lonely, Lost Adults Connection with Bright Spring Sunshine and Surging Spring Breezes Connection Is at the Heart of Zhuangzi's Healing: We Have Always Been Seeking Connection Why Is It Hard to Find Connection with a Sunset and Appreciate It?Connection with a Beautiful Future Keeping a Diary Is Our True Path to Communion with Spirits, the Divine, and the Buddha Life Is Like Lava: Light and Flames Flicker Within

Karmic Obstacles Series 62 articles

Understanding karmic obstacles: inner defenses and external circumstances

An Ego of Grief, Fear, and Alarm: The Night Watchman Ego A Very New Kind of Ego: The "Homework Doer" Ego An Ego Blind to What Is Closest: The Observer Ego, the Enlightened Master Ego An Ego That Is Hard to Awaken: The Mindfulness Practitioner Ego Karmic Obstructions: A Special Series Karmic Obstructions Are a Misfortune: Practice Self-Compassion—A Low Day Is a Hard Day The Explosion of Mental Processes Caused by Entangled East Asian Family Relationships The Covert Aggression Widespread in East Asian Families Small-Town East Asian Boys: From All-Powerful Bosses to Powerless Ordinary People The Genius-Based Meritocracy of East Asian Math and Physics Students Is Naive and Ignorant The Existential Crisis of Middle-Aged Programmers With a Stronger Sense of Agency, Scrolling on Your Phone Loses Its Hold You Cannot Be a Social Darwinist and Elitist Only When Luck and Power Are on Your Side Everyday Life as "Reverse Spiritual Practice": A Confusion of Feelings I Once Wanted Success to Prove Myself, and Self-Proof to Bring Success The Superiority Complex Others' Karmic Obstructions Work Through Our Own: Entanglement Among Colleagues of the Same Generation and Role Compulsive Striving Brave Nora Endure the Worst Hardships to Become the Lowest of the Low: Suffering Has No Meaning Voice and Class: Why Workers Often Speak with Tight Throats Instead of a Voice Supported from the Lower Abdomen Answering "Is There a Future for Someone Who Has Achieved Nothing by 30?": Marx + Zhuangzi Offer a Philosophical Answer The Inner Crisis of Middle-Aged Programmers at Big Tech Companies Common Misconceptions About Socialization Among College Students, and Some Advice The Fundamental Contradiction Facing College Students A Common Form of Feeling Lost in College: An Existential Crisis How to Handle a Midlife Crisis How to Embrace Your Dark Side How to Stop Denying Yourself Permission to Lie Flat How to Deal with a Harsh Superego and Self-Attack How to Overcome Loneliness How to Overcome Feeling Inferior About Your Educational Qualifications How to Deal with Year-End and Lunar New Year Anxiety How to Deal with Excessive Anxiety How to Separate Your Responsibilities from Other People's Nora's Fellow Prisoner Syndrome Seeking Truth from Facts: A Personal Realm of Delusion The Small-Town Exam Ace Malaise The Desire to Conquer Is Actually Submission to Being Conquered Young People Growing Up in Unhealthy, Toxic Environments Shaped by NPD Our Generation's Battlefield Is Within: Each Person's Most Important Friend and Enemy Is Themselves None of These Negative Selves Is Me: They Are Karmic Obstructions, They Are the Enemy Accepting Mediocrity Accepting Your Limited Spiritual Attainment Is Itself an Attainment Respect the Power of Karmic Obstructions The Proletarian Has Nothing to Lose but Chains: The Same Holds for Ordinary People's Psychological Healing Ordinary People Around 30: Let Go of Excess and Shed Your Shackles Innate Wholeness: What Poison Drives Us to "Seek" Outside Ourselves?Van Gogh Should Stop Trying to Win His Brother Theo Over: Let Go and Move On Water Ghosts: Resentful Spirits Drowned and Trapped in the River of Fate Living Through a Low State The Demons and Monsters of Everyday Life: The World of Journey to the West Male Self-Objectification: Being Admired, and Desire as the Other's Desire The Real Enemy: Chronic Tension and Mental Fog Seeing the Spiritual Practitioner Ego's Busyness While Sleeping The Zhihu Malaise: Feeling Lost and Indulging in Fantasies in Your Twenties Elitism Turns Good Fortune into a Curse On Breathing: My Journey from Shallow, Chest, and Stomach Breathing to Abdominal Breathing On the Petty Bourgeoisie and Luxury Goods Light-Chasing Monsters: A Type of Consumer of Positive Energy Tao Te Ching: When Families Fall into Discord, Filial Devotion and Parental Love Appear "Valuing Emotional Bonds" Is a False Concept, and Often Pathological

The Self and Psychology Series 29 articles

Kohut, Winnicott, and healing the self

Gain or Learn: A Strong Self, Without Hurt, Resentment, or Regret Your Energy Curve and Awareness Curve Facing a Midlife Crisis with Marx and Zhuangzi: Refactoring the Shitpile of Code Behind Your Worldview and Values Low Mental Energy Syndrome: Procrastination, a Drained Mental Battery, and Mental Asthma Care for Yourself Like a Loving Grandmother Lessons About Sleep from Experience My Inner Child Heals Me What Is the Mindset of People Who Like to Belittle Others?Caring for Yourself Amid Life's Downpours and the Flash Floods of Emotional Strain: Emptiness, Stillness, and Peace Stand Firm in Being Yourself, and Don't Betray Yourself Depression, Mania, and Self-Abandonment Among Many Young People: The Mind's Libido Will Mourn Itself Mental Energy and Libido Determine Destiny A Mental Energy Ledger: Living Within Your Means and Investing for Value The Barefoot Doctor Era of Mental Health Care Emotional Stability Is a False Concept: A Stable Personality Lets Emotions Flow Naturally Procrastination Disorder Is a False Concept Embracing a Low State Accepting Low Spirits and Distress: No Self-Attack, No Forcing Yourself to "Be Aware"Psychological Growth for Ordinary People: The Psychology of the Self and Object Relations Theory IQ Is a False Concept: Ordinary, Normal Lives Have Little to Do with IQ The Most Fundamental Psychological Model A Brief Overview of Projection and Its Types Psychoanalysis Reveals the Poetry, the Sacred, and the Cthulhu in Ordinary Life The "Anxiety-Disordered" Hypercompetitive Workers Common in the Workplace What Are the Roots of Self-Attack, Self-Doubt, and Toxic Shame?Carrying Hell with You: The Truth About Inner Conflict—Libido Builds a Hell in the Mind's Theater High Sensitivity Is a False Concept: The Numbness and Stagnation of "Highly Sensitive People"Everyone Suffers: On Deep Collapse and Deep Pain, Answering a Reader's Question, "Why Has Fate Been So Cruel to Me?"Gilligan's Psychology: A Daoist Approach to Psychology