Dudeism

[cckeiser]

several things have been chasing themselves around my head this last week, in regards to where this is all going. i knew that dudeism was a philosophy and a lifestyle, but i hadn't really grasped the "religion" aspect... or maybe i had just ignored it, i don't know. what i have realized though, with all the fuss that ensued this week, is that coining this movement as a "religion", for me, presents some problems.

GOOS, I was thinking over your comment in the quote above and in particular where you say "i knew that dudeism was a philosophy and a lifestyle, but i hadn't really grasped the "religion" aspect..." and it sparked me to offer a few comments and a few things that are just like my opinion, man..........

If Dudeism was a religion I would bail on it faster than lightening; dead religion, or religion that is stiff, rigid and stinking with rules and regulations is not my bag either. All that type of religion does is create slaves to other people's control. We certainly have enough of that in the world to last for millennial!

Dudeism, on the other hand, strikes me as a possible foundation in a person's life to help them develop their own path with perhaps the aid of some concepts, perhaps some guidance, maybe some dude like experiences of others (the dudely group mind) and what is becoming a wealth of material available for a person to use while walking their own path.

Dudeism, IMHO, could be seen as providing quality and worthy building materials for a person to avail themselves of used to construct a unique reality, life style and path, etc. different from others who embrace dudeism. By doing so they add to the ever growing body of people who are molding and creating a dynamic fluid philosophy of life. If you think about it, how could it be any other way? We are all unique and no matter how hard we try, we will end up being unique dudeists.

I think that dudeism's job (one job at least) is to help each person be what they can be, help each person find their own path as a dude and by doing so enrich the ever growing reality of dudeism. In other words, dudeism is a work in progress being built by everyone who joins in and adds their uniqueness.

Each time a new person jumps in the dudeism hot tub the celebration is enhanced and changed. As dudeists, we definitely need to embrace change or dudeism will soon be just another dead religion unable to relate to the needs of people and the world around it.

If you will notice, when the major religions of the world began (most of them) they were alive, growing, dealing with birth pains and the reality of the world around them. But, as soon as they became stiff, rigid, authoritarian AND GOD FORBID "complete," that is to say no new concepts permitted, they began to solidify into a set code of beliefs, creeds and rules and in some cases religious battles between sects; they died and retreated behind walls barricading themselves and their captives behind those walls for safety.

Dudeism, on the other hand, should help people grow, not force them into a set of ideas that just don't fit their own personal path.

If every dude is the same, then we are boring, dead and just another mindless religion. But, if dudeism embraces all of its people and all that they are, then we will be wiser, stronger (strong in the sense of really having something to offer the world, not strength as seen in money rich religious organizations), infinitely more creative and much much deeper! Not to mention, enjoyable!

I think that dudeism should merely provide a solid but ever growing basic foundation for each person to build on. If that is done, dudeism will remain relative, energetic and alive to people who embrace it, and capable of offering help in living the life!

All, of course, IMHO.

Thankee DigitalBuddha...I'm nailing this to the door!

[Zen Dog]

To misquote Brian,"Fuck off and do your own thing".
"How should we fuck off and do our own thing Lord?".
I can get you dogma.Hell, I can get you dogma by 3 o'clock this afternoon.
In the meantime, just abide.
Take it easy, I'll catch you further on down the trail.Dude

[Zen Dog]

Do you think Brian may have been the original Dude.
Just thinking about it,there were quite a few similarities.
He was involved with a Special Lady,there were quite a lot of Nihilists and he lived in an uptight Fascist state.
And,he was an innocent victim of circumstance.Pity there was no bowling though.

[Andrea Da Fino]

I dig that post of DB, well usually every post as he is a pretty righteous and deep thinker dude, but I don't understand, and this could be the right thread, what's the problem with the word religion. I mean, religion means an organized belief, or faith, or worldview (this is us) so I'd like to finally understand what's wrong with Dudeism being a religion. Sorry dudes, probably it's my fault. 

[Zen Dog]

DB's good.But shit!Don't he draw breath?
Belief systems equal religion.Religion has dogma.Dogma is rules and regs plus a story.
Our story is The Big Lebowski.Our rules and regs are Abide and Take It Easy Dudes.
We even have a sacrement for fucks sake.White Russians and In and Out Burgers.
Dudes,just go bowling and............................................

[hannahdude]

But you can still be a thurrah dude if you are sober and vegetarian.
All i can contribute is that there are many TOE's out there and Dudeism is the one that actually fits ME. I came , I watched, I saw, I was and AM a Dude.
Thinking about it too hard isnt troublesome for me, I fried my intellect out years ago with substances and yeshivas, authority figures and people who lacked the ability to have a humble enjoyment of their own human limitations. Pema Chodron got me started in 'The Wisdom Of No Escape' and TBL is the crowning glory(angels begin to sing in my head) of all that I, as a Dude CAN be, but choose not to bother with cause it's just too much effort.
Fuck it and abiding by instinct and kindess is working out pretty well for me.

[Zen Dog]

Aaaah.Yes.Take 'er real easy there Dude.

[Andrea Da Fino]

DB's good.But shit!Don't he draw breath?
Belief systems equal religion.Religion has dogma.Dogma is rules and regs plus a story.
Our story is The Big Lebowski.Our rules and regs are Abide and Take It Easy Dudes.
We even have a sacrement for fucks sake.White Russians and In and Out Burgers.
Dudes,just go bowling and............................................

Right fellow Rev., but every religion is built on those who follow it and those who created it. It is not the word religion which should make people uncomfortable. If a nihilist writes a holy text then probably mostly nihilists will follow his words; the same goes for an humanizer or a cleft asshole. In this case similar attract similar so the people is the problem, not the word.
But we can have good men within bad religions and bad men within good religions. It goes down to human nature but usually if someone isn't fit for a particular religion he just leave and finds something else. And  if he lives in one of those reactionaries countries where uptight religions deal with every aspect of life then they leave the country. Not everyone who comes to Italy from nearby countries arrives because is searching a job, a lot come to have more freedom of thought.

People makes a religion, it's not the religion which makes people. If I invent a religion which has no appeal to anyone and everyone tells me fuck it let's go bowling then this religion dies, am I wrong? If it remains alive is because people agrees with me and my point of view.

Btw religion has a kind of legal recognition and protection which spiritual practice or spiritual philosophy do not, and this is another aspect to be taken into account.

IMHO obviously.

[Andrea Da Fino]

"But you can still be a thurrah dude if you are sober and vegetarian."

Mark it 8 hannahdude.

[Rev. Ed C]

"But you can still be a thurrah dude if you are sober and vegetarian."

Mark it 8 hannahdude.

Too true, Hannah.  In fact, it's my life-long vegetarianism and continued abstinance from meat that I think actually make me more dudely.

My take is: "you can east meat and still be a dude" not the other way around

That statement of yours really hits the nail on the head about not getting too narrow in our vision of how any dude should live.  Kudos!

[Rev. Gary (revgms)]

No! Everyone must adhere to this commandment:

Don't command people to adhere to commandments.

[Andrea Da Fino]

No! Everyone must adhere to this commandment:

Don't command people to adhere to commandments.

Just ask? Without a bowling ball in the other hand obviously.

[Andrea Da Fino]

I eat almost everything but maintain my inner dudeliness drinking beer, this way I've the excuse to drink a lot of beer. When I can't afford beer I go with wine, but it's always my second choice. A fresh beer in a cold day and you can even see Dudervana with all those chicks dressed like vikings.

[hannahdude]

i want to see your visions of 'dudervana, with those chicks dressed like vikings'.... no wait, i want to BE one of those golden viking amazon women, and that aint happening. i realized tues at the blu-ray dealy in l.a. that i look way more like jeff dowd than any of the women there! oh well! this dude abides.

[Andrea Da Fino]

Well, I should be the one who says if you can be one of those viking amazon women or not; it's my Dudervana. 
And from what I've seen on the pics, no, you're not like Jeff Dowd at all.

BTW, to be sexually correct, in Dudervana there also a lot of men fixing the cables. It depends from what someone wants to find there. It's Dudervana at the end, with endless beers and free lanes.