So I might be being UnDude here...

[Zen Dog]

Fuck, this ain't life.It's just a side show.

[A Stoned Buddha]

Naw man, The Big Lebowski is only the vehicle for the message. People will always make of it what they will, but that also means you can too. To me, what makes the Dude righteous is that he knows who he is and he is comfortable being who he is. It should be the same for all of us. The character Dude in the movie, is a counter balance, his is a yin for someone else's yang, just like the rest of us are. We all are not "slacker dudes." Some of us are "achievers." We all fill our own unique roll in the fabric of humanity. Our "problem" runs fucking deep and is a complicated case, man. Lotta ins, lotta outs, lotta what-have-yous. We just need to chill the fuck out about it and be our own "Dude", in our own time and in our own place. Take'er easy man.