Nightclub Hostesses and the Psychology of Marx and Zhuangzi

Take, for example, a deeply hurt secondary-school girl who has been severely deprived of love, gets involved with a gang of delinquents, and works as a nightclub hostess. Her worldview, outlook on life, and values have become confused and gone astray, and she has developed all sorts of bad habits. The five elements (schooling, career, social life, body and mind) suffer severe breaks in connection and entanglement; her inner resources are depleted, her spirituality is damaged, and she is in an existential crisis.

Observe, and you see the unfolding of karma and karmic obstructions. Deep karmic obstructions are actually simpler and purer than those on the surface.

The principle behind a counselor’s work is simply to emulate a good mother, a mirror. Just stay with her, guide her to become still, accept herself, observe her own thoughts and perceptions, explore her worldview, outlook on life, and values, do a few small things, build connection little by little, and gradually establish a virtuous cycle. Yet “living in the present” is very difficult and abstract for this girl.

At the heart of healing is the innate wholeness of human nature, the divine nature’s capacity for self-salvation. Open this girl’s Douyin, and she has probably saved plenty of positive, motivating videos too. That is the innate wholeness of humanity’s upward impulse. Seeking the root is itself the root. The id, the ego, no-self.

And separating responsibilities means respecting the power of karmic obstructions. In their narcissism, people all want to persuade someone to mend their ways with a few words, to save and change someone else with a few words. How could it be that simple? Everyone struggles within the script of their own destiny. What is one’s own belongs to the world; being oneself is the only real task.

Which of us isn’t out selling ourselves for money? This is what Marx and Zhuangzi called alienation. It is the same for the petty and micro bourgeoisie. A proletarian (the nightclub cleaner) is not so deeply entangled in karmic obstructions, and is therefore more progressive. Marx + Zhuangzi + psychology is a philosophy of self-salvation and liberation for atomized individuals in a cyberpunk world.

When I often say that people cannot give others advice, this is the kind of situation I mean. I often say that the only advice one can give is to keep a diary and go for walks. But even that would probably be difficult for this girl. A person’s whole life depends on fate.

I have always wanted to create a humanistic app: what kind of app could this girl scroll through that would nourish her inner resources? Something involving recommendation systems, social interaction, an agent grounded in the Marx-Zhuangzi framework and psychology, including the videos I make about the Complete Works of Marx and Engels.

The subject of my recent reflections is living in the depths of the mind, rather than amid thoughts and mental chatter. There is no “I” at all. No-self, only the Way. Karmic obstructions are also the Way. Karmic obstructions are also part of the universe.