Dudeism

[ProudDogWeather]

So the name of my religion or our religion is dudeism ,but to the people that ask and here my response is ( my response )" dudeism a form or branch off of Taoism befor it got all weird with magic and stuff " (what they here is )dude I smoke weed surf and is a homeless with no goals  no expectations , .....and has the 60 party on dude generalized look at it..... they take it as a joke or think in order to be a religion you have to worship a supernatural power ( God ) I'd like for there first thought is not the generlized " dude party on " thought then get to know it and maybe down the road hey we've also have an example of what to be like based on a movie ..... The ones who I reply to and they kinda know , or think they know what dudeism is are like oh you obsesses over a movie and you call it a religion ,..... No it's a way of life it's exactly like the early form of Taoism but with an example of How not to worry (Jeffery " the dude " lebowski) so is there a different word  instead of dudeism thanks

[Reverend Al]

You could always just say you study Chinese Taoism and leave it at that.  Most people who are only familiar with Christianity or Judaism will tune out almost immediately anyway; obviously they're not golfers.  So it doesn't really matter what you call it if it's different from what they know.  And if they're still listening, then you can explain it further.

Dudeism is a difficult thing to explain to people if they don't already "get" it because it really doesn't follow any previously established religions/beliefs/faiths/philosophies faithfully.  Hell, read some of the threads here on the forum where the subject is how to best define Dudeism, and we Dudeists can't even come to an agreement on what it is.  It might have it's roots in Chinese Taoism, but...well, let me put it this way.  In 1967 Bruce Lee devised a martial arts philosophy that he called Jeet Kune Do because he saw flaws in the way traditional martial arts were practiced.  His concept was simple--keep what works, regardless of which philosophy it came from, and discard what doesn't work.  That sounds obvious, but it took a single visionary to have that epiphany and put it all together.  And that's what happened when Dudely Lama Oliver Benjamin was watching The Big Lebowski one day.  In his own words, "The first time I?d heard of the film was on a boat trip in Laos in 1998 just after the movie was released.  It took me a few more viewings before it all snapped into place at a small cafe in Pai, in Northern Thailand, where I had a religious experience after watching the film with friends.  I?d been searching for a framework through which to make sense of life for many years, and pretty much after giving up, I stumbled onto the film and I realized that everything I?d studied (yoga, meditation, mysticism, etc.) made more sense when viewed through the humble frame of reference that is the Dude.  The Dude is essentially a Taoist sage.  But Taoism is hard to understand because it?s so abstract.  The Dude helps people to understand the ineffable aspects of Taoism."  But he also adds, "Dudeism is a profoundly accommodating religion.  Not taking religion seriously is one of the secrets of our appeal."

For me Dudeism is something of a Frankenstein monster because it's comprised of bits and pieces of wisdom regardless of whether they come from the Bible, the Torah, a philosopher, a fortune cookie, or something someone scrawled on the wall of a public rest room.  And I'm sure there's at least one other Dudeist out there who would say I'm wrong, but I can't disagree because what resonates with me might not resonate with everyone.  So fuck it, Dude, let's go bowling.

[BikerDude]

I think we make too much of it personally. Just my 2 cents.
It's a case where there really aren't as many in's and out's as we make it out to IMHO.
It's mostly about not taking things so seriously. So IMO we shouldn't.
I'd say if it's based on anything it's a very loose interpretation of it.
Fuck it! Tattoo it on our foreheads! That's our answer for everything!

Getting overly wound up in the in's and out's reminds me of a lot of the stoned conversations we all have had over the years about the deep meaning of essentially meaningless nonsense.
Well I don't want to come off as dismissive so I'll shut up.
Relax, roll em if you got em and abide. No deep meaning for me personally.

[The_Sleevez]

I think the key here is in the quote used by Rev Al " I can't disagree because what resonates with me might not resonate with everyone.  So fuck it, Dude, let's go bowling." The point is it's what matters and works for you so what others say or think is their style and we can dig that it's cool. But it's also cool to have your own style that works for you you don't have to explain it. In my experience those that are actually curious and will understand will listen and get it. Those who write it off are walking a different path and if it works for them that's cool. And if your worried about how they view you and your spiritual choices well as the dude says "can't be worrying about that shit. Life goes on, man."

[BikerDude]

I think the key here is in the quote used by Rev Al " I can't disagree because what resonates with me might not resonate with everyone.  So fuck it, Dude, let's go bowling." The point is it's what matters and works for you so what others say or think is their style and we can dig that it's cool. But it's also cool to have your own style that works for you you don't have to explain it. In my experience those that are actually curious and will understand will listen and get it. Those who write it off are walking a different path and if it works for them that's cool. And if your worried about how they view you and your spiritual choices well as the dude says "can't be worrying about that shit. Life goes on, man."

Indeed.
In fact for me I'd go a step further. For me it's about finding "paths" a bit over rated.
Simplicity is "getting it" IMO.
A path to me denotes a discipline which sounds exhausting.
I'd like to think that Dudism bypasses all the exhausting stuff of the Buddhist sort of paths and goes straight to the last one. Because going the long way is very exhausting.

1.The path of accumulation
Persons on this Path:
-Possess a strong desire to overcome suffering, either their own or others;
-Renunciate the worldly life.[17]

2.The path of preparation or application
Persons on this Path:
-Start practicing meditation;
-Have analytical knowledge of emptiness.[17]

3.The path of seeing
Persons on this Path:
-Practice profound concentration meditation on the nature of reality;
-Realize the emptiness of reality.[17]

4.The path of meditation
Persons on this path
-purificate themselves and accumulate wisdom.[17]

5.The path of no more learning or consummation 
Persons on this Path
-have completely purified themselves.

And if not purified then being cool with that. Abiding.
The Subitism camp if your not into the whole brevity thing.
Sudden enlightenment. Or not enlightened, and being fine with that.

[LotsaBadKarma]

It's mostly about not taking things so seriously.

+1. Keep it simple.