International Order of Brothers Shamus, Official Communiqu?: progress overview.

[Cassandra_Effect_Dude]

Abiders everywhere, have Creedence. The Big Lebowski will likely go down as the most cryptographic film to-date. THREE hidden stories. FOUR films homaged. And as of recent, ONE prophesied micro-movie. A veritable Yin-Yang of East & West. Sure wish you'd unlock Nolan Hofstadter, even if it's just to parlay with BikerDude on the discovered TBL homage of Apocalypse Now.    

1. GOSPEL OF JOHN (Trans., Darby Bible):

-----  The Big Sleep (1946, Howard Hawks)
-----  Easy Rider (1969, Dennis Hopper)
-----  Apocalypse Now (1979, Francis Ford Coppola)

2. HARE-MARK ON THE MOON (4th Century BCE, Jataka Tales), stories presaging the Buddha.

3. HUSTLER MAGAZINE, INC. VS. JERRY FALWELL (1988, SCOTUS):

-----  The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996, Milos Foreman)

PROPHESIED MICRO-FILM: LITTLE LEBOWSKI

----- The White Russian (2014, Zacharias)

It's all there, man. It's all fucking there.

[ZoeAbides]

Someone has to say it...

"What in God's holy name are you blathering about?!"

[Cassandra_Effect_Dude]

Oh Zoe, the admins will know.

[jgiffin]

I was one of the few to appreciate Nolan Hofstadter during his early-apocryphal phase. However, even my patience wore thin once the routine degenerated into sub-trolling.

[ZoeAbides]

Oh Zoe, the admins will know.

That's funny, since I thought this was supposed to be a global community of chilled-out rug sitters.  Compeers having a few hypothetical burgers, a few oat sodas, and a few laughs.  A building-less church where Dudeists of any nationality can gather together, anywhere in the world, and throw a few proverbial rocks together.

Someone with four posts to their name specifically calling out the admins sounds kinda funny.  Sounds like someone trying to stir up some shit in our nice, quiet little beach community.

Now why would someone intentionally do that?  I do believe, in the parlance of our times, that's called trolling.  And also in the parlance of our times, trolls are fictional beings that live sad little solitary lives under bridges and are promptly ignored, since they don't truly exist.

But, I could be wrong and that's cool, that's cool.

So I ask again:  "What in God's holy name are you blathering about?"

[DigitalBuddha]

Abiders everywhere, have Creedence. The Big Lebowski will likely go down as the most cryptographic film to-date. THREE hidden stories. FOUR films homaged. And as of recent, ONE prophesied micro-movie. A veritable Yin-Yang of East & West. Sure wish you'd unlock Nolan Hofstadter, even if it's just to parlay with BikerDude on the discovered TBL homage of Apocalypse Now.    

1. GOSPEL OF JOHN (Trans., Darby Bible):

-----  The Big Sleep (1946, Howard Hawks)
-----  Easy Rider (1969, Dennis Hopper)
-----  Apocalypse Now (1979, Francis Ford Coppola)

2. HARE-MARK ON THE MOON (4th Century BCE, Jataka Tales), stories presaging the Buddha.

3. HUSTLER MAGAZINE, INC. VS. JERRY FALWELL (1988, SCOTUS):

-----  The People vs. Larry Flynt (1996, Milos Foreman)

PROPHESIED MICRO-FILM: LITTLE LEBOWSKI

----- The White Russian (2014, Zacharias)

It's all there, man. It's all fucking there.

Is that some kind of eastern thing? Welcome to our beach community, Cassandra_Effect_Dude. Nice to have yo on the lanes. Bars' over there, feel free to partake.

[Brother D]

Mind = blown. Man, not sure if new shit has come to light, or not. I thought the spoken message is what we have as dudeism and the unspoken one is to shut the fuck up. I have no clue what cryptic hidden messages are embedded in the film and feel they are just more strands to mess up my zen thing.

I don't need to know the ins n outs, I just take comfort that they are there. If we are constantly looking for the meaning, we won't dig the message. It's the finger pointing to the moon thing, am I wrong?

[Cassandra_Effect_Dude]

Zen, Brother D? Did you say Zen? At 3:50min (below clip), the Dude is stirring his wet yin-yang. Five seconds later, he's under the gaze of the Half-Closed Eyes Buddha (backdrop).   

The Little Lebowski
(remove hyphens) h-t-t-p-s://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f283Jwt2ePo

Half-Closed Eyes Buddha
(remove hyphens) h-t-t-p://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=JN.xIr7IUWBmXwnZpbiuSehjg&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0

[Reverend Al]

Zen, Brother D? Did you say Zen? At 3:50min (below clip), the Dude is stirring his wet yin-yang. Five seconds later, he's under the gaze of the Half-Closed Eyes Buddha (backdrop).   

The Little Lebowski
(remove hyphens) h-t-t-p-s://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f283Jwt2ePo

Half-Closed Eyes Buddha
(remove hyphens) h-t-t-p://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?&id=JN.xIr7IUWBmXwnZpbiuSehjg&w=300&h=300&c=0&pid=1.9&rs=0&p=0

That's fucking interesting.  I had never considered the White Russian to be a subliminal version of the Yin-Yang--the light (cream) and the dark (Kahlua) existing in perfect harmony.  Not sure how the vodka fits into that though...or the ice...or the Creedence...

I wonder if the producers of that commercial realized the background elements could be perceived as the Buddha looking down on Bridges...probably not.

[Brother D]

WHAATT!? A seasoned forum vet such as yourself, Rev Al, didn't pick up on the whole light/ dark tao thing? *tuts in disappointment*.

Anyhoo, I think the clarity of vodka, ties the drink together and as for the ice? Well dude, we just don't know. Maybe it helps to chill.

I will get round to watching the above links when time allows.

[ZoeAbides]

I don't think it was intentional in the movie. A couple years ago I kinda broke down a White Russian and gave a philosophical meaning to the drink and the act of imbibing one in the parlance of Dudeism.

http://dudeism.com/smf/general-discussion/the-dudearist-(or-dudely-communion)/

So although there's no literal connection, the Caucasian definitely abides.

My personal view, is that there is no apocryphal, cryptic, hidden, (or blatant) religious messages in the movie.  It's just a great movie.  But since humans' brains are hard wired to see and find patterns even where there are none, we can most definitely find meaning in anything if we so wish.  A cloud, a water stain, a piece of burnt toast.  It's what makes the whole durn human comedy innerestin'.  And if we can take meaning from that, that's cool man, that's cool.  But we get ourselves in a world of pain if we start thinking that the messages are real and someone or something is talking to us and trying to tell us something that only we can decipher.  Just look at what happened to Lennon when Mark David Chapman did just that.  Or Manson with Helter Skelter.  And Jodie Foster did not want John Hinckley Jr. to shoot Reagan.

So enjoy prescribing meanings to things if it helps you be more Dude.  Just don't think there's a literal connection.

[Brother D]

Shit yeah, I read that article, fuckin' innerestin, man.

Pickin things apart, can bring new shit to light, though scrutinising every aspect takes some of the enjoyment out of it, doncha think? 

I dig that some of us like to connect the dots and find a meaning down there somewhere,( though I will have to enlighten up to understand some of the big words), but I like to accept that some things just are as they are with no subtext or hidden agenda.

Maybe I have a blinkered view, maybe I don't. I mean no disrespect to brother shamuses or to anyone, sometimes I can be a moron. :-)

[ZoeAbides]

...I like to accept that some things just are as they are with no subtext or hidden agenda...

Precisely.  It's just a movie.  There are no hidden gods trying to speak to us through film (or any other medium).  But we can, ourselves, take meaning from it and apply it to our lives.  With TBL or any other movie.  It gets dangerous, though, when we think there are hidden messages speaking to us that are not there.  That's bordering on schizophrenia.

(And "apocryphal" means something that is fake or false but is generally thought of as true.)

[Brother D]

Why, thankie duder, I am now a little wiser. It's not just in film, but in other forms too. I reckon things are much simpler than they appear, or maybe I am naive and just don't get it.

The Tao Te Ching could have been much longer and in depth had old tzuder overthunk it, in contrast, science keeps asking questions and seems to keep going on and on in a neverending quest for truth and answers. Over investigation can distract us from what is in front of us or mask a simpler truth, though our natural curiosity is something that has driven us across the sands of time immemorial.

In the context of this thread, I like totally agree that it's just a movie, bowling is just a game and you can't be worried about shit, meaning will find you, if you let it. If you can't find an answer, ask a different question. If not, fuck it, kick back and take it easy.

All IMO.

[Cassandra_Effect_Dude]

By now we have a sixth sense as to when we're beginning to smell. So we better make our point. We're here for one and only one reason, BikerDude's Photojournalist image from Apocalypse Now (1979).

BikerDude, we were blown away when a guy named Matt Bugui (pronounced Boo Guy) pointed out the Apocalypse Now/Big Lebowski homage. It really deepened our respect for the Zen Thesis. The very moment of this image you so love is when the Photojournalist is engaging in the monkey-mind wordplay: "Zap 'em with your siren, man. Zap 'em with your siren. [siren wailing] There's mines (minds) over there and mines (minds) over there, too. And watch out. Those monkeys bite you, I'll tell you. Ahh, that's a pretty one."

BikerDude, when the Photojournalist states, "I'm an American" (next to the grafitti, "our motto"), Milius & Coppola are referring to America's preoccupation with war (monkey-mind). It was only from decoding The Big Lebowski that we were able to decode the "Almighty" Code. Amazing, a horrific war film actually a film about peace (within the ruins of the Buddha).

ZoeAbides, read your Caucasian yin-yang. Impressive, Dude. Very impressive. You got the gift, but it looks like you're waiting for something. You're next life maybe, who knows.