The Self and Psychology Series
Gilligan's Psychology: A Daoist Approach to Psychology
The main frameworks are as follows:
- Innate wholeness
This is one of the core ideas of Zen Buddhism, Zhuangzi, humanism, and Marxism: a simple yet profound wisdom. It is also a central emphasis in the “inner resources” of the humanistic psychologist Carl Rogers, in approaches to hypnosis such as Milton Erickson’s, and in many schools of spiritual thought.
- A deep connection among the self, others, and the world—a profound existential experience.
This is at the heart of existential therapy (Irvin Yalom) and Zhuangzi’s philosophy of the unity of humanity and nature.
Earlier article: “Psychological Growth for Ordinary People: Psychological Boundaries, Selfobject Relations Theory, and Object Relations Theory”
“Presence and Being at Ease Are the Answer to Existential Crisis,” “Zhuangzi and Nature Heal Existential Crisis”
- Surface-level linguistic thinking VS the deeper mind.
The ego + the everyday self VS the primal self: this is at the heart of theories of the unconscious, the unity of body and mind, and Zhuangzi’s “Equalizing Things.”
Earlier article: “Zhuangzi’s ‘Equalizing Things’ and Marx: Returning from Surface-Level Linguistic Thinking to the Deeper Mind”
- Letting things take their natural course
Innate wholeness + deep connection + the deeper mind -> letting things take their natural course.
Earlier article, “Psychic Energy/Libido Determines Destiny”: the primal self knows everything; it knows the direction. Earlier article: “Choosing Your Social Relationships.”
Let psychic energy follow the direction of the primal self, balance work and rest, and let things take their natural course. When it comes to external things, be at peace with your circumstances and accept your fate. Equalize things; be one with nature. Life becomes as fluid as Cook Ding carving an ox, without ever forcing anything or straining to act. Su Shi’s last words: “The moment you exert effort, you go astray.”
Relax and let the primal self heal naturally: the primal self will heal the everyday self on its own. What matters most is for the everyday self to refrain from resisting or interfering. Earlier article: “Everyone Suffers: On ‘Deep Collapse and Deep Pain,’ Answering a Reader’s Question, ‘Why Is Fate So Particularly Unkind to Me?’”
- Embracing the shadow
Jung was the first to propose this, and it is a very profound idea.
The shadow is the side of ourselves that we fear, reject, fight against, avoid, or put off facing. Working through the shadow and our resistance is part of healing. The ego, emotions, trauma, defenses, fixations, and karmic obstructions within us.
Japanese Morita therapy says: let suffering take its natural course, and do what needs to be done in daily life. This is also a fairly Taoist and practical way of putting it.
Earlier articles: “Special Series on Karmic Obstructions,” “Carrying Hell with You: The Truth About Inner Conflict—Libido Builds a Hell in the Theater of the Mind”
- Acceptance
People have enough energy and wisdom to accept everything. From many people who have become disabled through accidents, we know that ordinary people have a powerful capacity to accept and integrate what happens in life.
Yet in everyday life, we often cannot accept bankruptcy, unemployment, an Olympic silver medal, divorce, the sudden death of a child, cutting ties with our parents, cancer, and so on. Our fixations and karmic obstructions run too deep.
Acceptance means allowing everything to happen, relinquishing control and deliberate striving, and following nature and fate rather than fighting them.
Acceptance means relaxing and allowing the primal self and psychic energy/libido to flow naturally.
Taken together, these ideas have a very clear Zhuangzi-like character.
Of course, beyond these, Marx and Zhuangzi have much more to offer: higher, broader, and deeper perspectives, awareness, and experience.