Be there, man.

[The Guro]

In the Lebowski Liturgy: Lessons for Living Like Lebowski #11, it says "Whereas many of us would say yes and then make an excuse for not showing up, we know that the Dude is on the level when he says he'll "be there, man.""(Benjamin, 2011)

Jesus also subscribed to this "be there, man." Dudeish principle.

ESV Bible, Matthew 5:37  "Let what you say be simply 'Yes' or 'No'; anything more than this comes from evil."

George Lamsa Translation of the Peshitta, Matthew 5:37 "But let your words be yes, yes, and no, no; for anything which adds to these is a deception."

And it was further subscribed to elsewhere by his brother James.

ESV Bible, James 5:12 "But above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your 'yes' be yes and your 'no' be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation."

Condemnation means your reputation for not being a man of your word will really cast an un-Dude shadow on your good name.

It actually goes on to include not just keeping your word but to "Be there for the world, man, and the world will be there for you. You know, the Royal We." (Benjamin, 2011)

Even though the Dude was behind on the rent... his landlord was willing to cut him some slack and valued the Dudes word and wanted him to "come see his 'cycle' and take 'notes'" (Benjamin, 2011). This is a great practical example of "Be there for the world, man, and the world will be there for you." (Benjamin, 2011).

Being able to have the trust of other Dudes based simply on the fact that they know you 'mean what you say' and 'say what you mean' goes along way in developing some life-long compeers. Dudes you can call 24/7... or when you need some help because someone wants to cut off your "chonsson", no questions asked.

Be There. Man.

References:

The Bible as noted.

Benjamin, O., & Eutsey, D. (2011). The Abide Guide: Living Like Lebowski. Berkeley, CA: Ulysses Press.

[jgiffin]

I agree that's good practical advice for living a simple life. It's certainly a lot easier to keep track of the truth if you don't try to simultaneously maintain several mutually exclusive versions of it. I did that for a while. Exhausting.

But, was the Dude really that up-front, black-and-white, or what-have-you? Maybe. But he was happy to posit that Bunny kidnapped herself when it was convenient for him, only to doubt his own suspicion when Walter raised it against him, and then quick to re-new the belief when doing so seemed a good way to get out of a jam with Brandt and Mr. Lebowski.

By comparison with other characters, though, Dude was perhaps more honest, simple, and direct. Well, Donny. Donny, who loved bowling, that guy was honest.

[The Guro]

In keeping with " "Be there for the world, man, and the world will be there for you."... It was a nice moment in the film that you see that not only is the Dude there... he brought his compeers. I am sure none of them really wanted to be there beyond that fact that supporting the guy was the Dude thing to do... meant the world to him and cost them a little bit of time. In fact I think they were almost the only people there.

Seen a few examples of that shared in the forum from other Dudes.

[RandoRock]

That's one of my favorite parts of the movie. The Dude says he'll be there, he shows, and his buddies go with him no questions asked; Part of me even likes to think that Walter specifically dressed up for the theater.  To me that scene sums up what being a good Dude is all about, while there may be something in it for the Dude in the way of leeway on the rent the others are there simply as gesture of friendship to the Dude and to show support towards someone's passions. I dig it, Man.

[The Guro]

That was a big deal to me too... And I think your right about Walter. At least I can't remember anything to suggest another reason for his dressing up. There is really something about having some dudes you can count on to 'Be there, man'. It's pretty hard to find such motley crews of dudes outside of the military. People just don't seem to mix it up with people very different from themselves very often.

I guess teams (bowling maybe) and other group activities or interests all lend themselves to diversity. That's a big topic in business schools nowadays. But going a step further to really be able to connect seems to be a rare commodity.

Maybe us Dudes can change that.