As for the Rev Dave Man, Zen Dudeism seems to be a journey man, a really long journey. I've been studying the four noble truths as the Buddha taught, and it's interesting, it's fucking interesting man. The eightfold path as taught by the Buddha puts it into practice, and quite frankly, that's exhausting...but what else do I have going on? I guess it's why most Buddhists are so Dude and carefree...they've got the whole "...I can't be worried about that shit, man" attitude.
With Buddhism truly NOT a religion, as it is non-theistic, and the Buddha never claimed to be a god, never claimed to have been visited by, spoken to by, or had a revelation by a deity, it is more of a philosophy. And that's pretty fucking cool with me...I've had enough religion in my life. I have my personal beliefs regarding deity and don't need to replace or retool the whole machine. Aw hell, there I go, rambling again.
Happy Sunday morning dudes. Abide. And remember, the Rev Dave Man digs your style.
I see a Zen Dudeism as being a kind of, ya know, abiding the moment. Listening that tape of whale song in your bathtub is the only thing to focus on. You, that bowling ball and the pins are the only things in the lanes at that moment.
I don't know, maybe I'm just blathering, man.
Read like so much. It is good content. Read it, it is really useful.
I only see Dudeism as a way of applying zen teachings to 21 century life-style. Zen is taoism mostly with some Buddhism, Dudeism is Taoism.
Things are not like in the old days, I mean, they are exactly the same but today is not easy to be totally detached from everything because the colors are too bright and the bar is way up in terms of lifestyle & human rights acceptance.
The Dude would probably be in this Los Angeles (https://cronkitenews.azpbs.org/2018/09/10/la-homeless/).
This is the main reason I consider myself Dudeist with a Buddhist bend (a phrase I stole/paraphrased from Jeff Bridges, of course). Both are very chill, but also help explain a lot about why shit goes sideways when we focus on the wrong stuff.
Really honestly? I don't consider myself Dudeist, I don't like to label stuff, doesn't make sense to me.
I like to think myself as this scene (https://youtu.be/NWeh4A600E0?t=37s), from Dark Knight I've saw some years ago; not saying I want to see the world burn, or a narcissist like they call it, not even far.
I'm like a dog chasing cars, just for chasing, don't know why, and I'm not finding a reasons to.
And if I think harder I find this is my process or instinct on everything I do, even living, I-just-live. I don't do stuff thinking I'm doing it according to what and why, well in the last two years I've started trying to find reasons for our existence, but subconsciously I know it's a foolish act and I ended up when I started really.
When you start thinking about finding reasons and meanings is because you find you lack control and you want it, you don't need control, you need harmony and to find it you need to stop looking for it.
Quote from: EsmagaSapos on September 17, 2018, 06:43:31 AM
Really honestly? I don't consider myself Dudeist, I don't like to label stuff, doesn't make sense to me.
I'm like a dog chasing cars, just for chasing, don't know why, and I'm not finding a reasons to.
And if I think harder I find this is my process or instinct on everything I do, even living, I-just-live. I don't do stuff thinking I'm doing it according to what and why, well in the last two years I've started trying to find reasons for our existence, but subconsciously I know it's a foolish act and I ended up when I started really.
When you start thinking about finding reasons and meanings is because you find you lack control and you want it, you don't need control, you need harmony and to find it you need to stop looking for it.
I dig your style! I try to do the whole no label thing, but fail after about an hour. In my defense, I do my best to only place labels on myself. If somebody wants to call themselves *fill in the blank* I am cool with it, but if they don't, that's cool too.
Ohhh- I mean - I label stuff, stuff is labeled for a long time, but I know that label is a human creation based on symbols, names, signs, you can't avoid it. What I don't like to label is myself.
For instance:
Regular Guy 1: Last night I was on the highway, and a Volvo passed me 160 km/h and I thought: 'That could only be a Volvo.' Did I told you that I bought a new Volvo? 30,000 EUR I paid, cash in hand.
Me Thinking: Why is this mother fucker bragging like if we were a twelve years old kids with a new shoes in school? Man, let me be Dudeist in this situation.
That 'let me be Dudiest in this situation', let me be a dude never happens in my thought, because I don't like to label my ego, is just my ego. I just am, I don't even think about it, because honestly I might petty the guy or even accept it, I even might like him for it, the same way the Dude liked Walter even if they were opposites.
In my opinion if you thinking about being a Dude is because you are not being a Dude, the same way if you are trying to be courageous you are scared, after a while everything comes as an instinct.
I think that the "no label" thing is a bug not a virtue.
I understand and appreciate the intentions are good and pure.
But in the light of religion (or philosophy for that matter) nothing is served by playing fast and loose with the rules.
On one hand playing fast and loose with the rules and still self labeling is not good for obvious reasons.
For a person to for instance not believe in the divinity of Jesus or the virgin birth or the resurrection and still call themselves a Christian is simply an error. It is factually incorrect. Being a Christian as a label means in point of fact believing in certain things. To not accept them and still self label as such is literally incorrect. Sure there are many forms of Christianity but even there they agree about way way more than they disagree about. The whole thing depends on certain accepted realities and without them the "system of belief" for want of the better word, simply collapses. The same can be said of certain philosophical schools of thought.
We necessarily start by accepting some basic epistemological premises (among other basic premises) and proceed from there building idea upon idea to create an entire philosophical view. Ideas lead to other ideas. It's not a Chinese menu. If you knock out one of the blocks then the whole thing becomes invalid in a logical sense. (Infidelity as a philosophical pollution.)
The other side of the coin is the idea of grabbing a scrap of this and that from one place or the other because they seem cool and don't drag in any bummer ideas. But what's the point? It like choosing to own a couple of wheels and a carburetor and a headlight and treating that like it's a car.
Nihilism without even really knowing it.
I mean say what you like about national socialism at least it's an ethos.
It's the sum total that matters. In the absence of that, most little snippets have little meaning even thought the user might cherish them lovingly like a shiny rock.
e·thos
noun
the characteristic spirit of a culture, era, or community as manifested in its beliefs and aspirations.
Me Thinking: Why is this mother fucker bragging like if we were a twelve years old kids with a new shoes in school?
And this is consistent with the Judeo Christian world view where we label things like "Avarice, Greed, Envy, etc.." as sins.
But that does not happen in a vacuum.
Because unless certain other realities are accepted then it is true that "the one with the most toys at the end wins".
If accepting one's lesser lot in life without protest simply leads to the docility that the powerful would value then we are not a saint. We are a sheep.
The reason why might consider this sort of action as being like "a 12 year old" is because of accepted social values. Which are based on other accepted realities. And they might in fact (in all likelihood) be the reflection of the most influential and powerful portions of that society. That is to say that it is likely that many social norms have developed specifically because they serve the interests of those that have the most influence on what sort of behavior is considered acceptable. Perhaps the injunctions to be humble and to view docility and acceptance have developed simply to serve the interest of the powerful. Consider the history of imperialism where "Christian soldiers" would invade "Un-Christianized" areas and murder much of the populace, take everything of value and then force the populace to accept the concept of loving one's enemy and turning the other cheek. And those who would not accept this idea would be killed.
And if you are a theist and you believe that rewards for being a good little sheep will come after you die (Wow) then be happy.
If you aren't then getting the volvo or the BMW and the Yacht really is a measure of value.
Lions and dogs all fight over which one has the biggest balls.
Personally I find that sort of purity as admirable. The human race tends to pad our beds with a disgusting amount of bullshit.
The question to answer is whether conceptually a world ruled by Alexander the Great is more aesthetically pleasing that one ruled by some rodent like Bill Gates. Of course the sensible answer lies somewhere between those realities. But we have had around 50 "years of the rat" in my estimation.
It's time for less rat and more lion. It pleases our "instincts". We should trust instincts, flesh, blood, more and our bullshit ideas (religion) less.
The goal is being "true to ones self".
Consistency. Not bull shitting ourselves.
To react to the guy with the Volvo as being like a 12 year old smells like a transparent manifestation of envy.
So does considering him an asshole.
And as far as I'm concerned there is nothing wrong with envy.
I accept it as a healthy aspect of being alive at a flesh and blood level.
I don't know it for sure but I suspect that every other dog hates the alpha.
And once he loses his mojo they will kill him. It's the way of the world and very beautiful and pure.
I don't like the "like a 12 year old" thing personally. Because it is IMO is a manifestation of the sort of rules that are meant to make people behave.
He's an asshole. Great! Use that!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=drhxur1jJ18
Be honest.
Get a car that's even faster than his. And flip him the bird as you breeze by.
Or don't. But if you don't then don't bullshit yourself in order to feel good about it.
The guys in the fast cars know the ones in the slow ones hate them.
They love it.
This is the perfect opportunity to announce my conversion from Dudeism to Klingon.
Pass the blood wine my brothers!
(https://i.kinja-img.com/gawker-media/image/upload/s--cV7r9SFl--/c_scale,f_auto,fl_progressive,q_80,w_800/a1r8xw1w12jv8hxzi86d.png)
First let me start by saying... That's strong as a mare's breath. Wouldn't I love to lay some of that shit on the brothers?
Now here, between us, I didn't understood a fucking thing you said, but might be all true.
The things I understood, I wanna say something about them out of respect.
I'm a sheep, but I don't wanna to be a shepard.
I don't want a Volvo, I wasn't mad about the guy, don't even envy the guy, honestly, I just thought he knew we didn't seek the same shit, not trying to say this from a higher point.
I call everyone 'mother fucker', 'asshole', so don't take it as an insult, actually when I like a guy I normally insult the fucker, that normally goes both ways.
The goal is... depends. Mine is live in harmony, everything else, sins, christianity, judeism, trued, don't wanna think about it.
The 12-years old thing, is me saying: 'you are showing your instinct all over me, use the mask man, like everyone else.'
This was some heavy shit, man! I'm going to re-read it from my computer tonight instead of this tiny phone. I just dropped in to say that conversations like this are why I dig this forum!! Keep up the great thinking/writing, dudes!!
I wish we had a Like button, BikerDude.
Quote from: EsmagaSapos on September 19, 2018, 05:29:02 PM
I'm a sheep, but I don't wanna to be a shepard.
I don't want a Volvo, I wasn't mad about the guy, don't even envy the guy, honestly, I just thought he knew we didn't seek the same shit, not trying to say this from a higher point.
I call everyone 'mother fucker', 'asshole', so don't take it as an insult, actually when I like a guy I normally insult the fucker, that normally goes both ways.
The goal is... depends. Mine is live in harmony, everything else, sins, christianity, judeism, trued, don't wanna think about it.
The 12-years old thing, is me saying: 'you are showing your instinct all over me, use the mask man, like everyone else.'
The difficulty is that it smells like a dodge.
And I'm not laying any particular blame.
It feels like self delusion.
It is only after be accused of being envious that you pivot and claim to not be mad at the guy.
Although you used him as an example.
And specifically called him an asshole and said that he was acting like a 12 year old.
Once those view become baggage then you pivot.
It's intellectual fencing.
I suggest not playing such games.
If he has a nicer car than I do and he flaunts it I hate him because he has a nicer car than me and he flaunts it.
It's a natural and honest reaction.
Fuck that asshole.
To cover that up with some equivocating could be called "Christian Guilt". And even if you aren't a christian it's likely to be a part of your mentality.
We have built an entire mentality where people are supposed to feel guilty about what comes naturally.
The Judeo Christian ethos makes sins of every natural inclination that makes us naturally challenge the powerful.
We are supposed to feel bad about being envious.
The guy breezes by in a nice car acting like a big shot and you hate him for it.
That's good. It's natural.
Win instead of simply clinging to the million excuses that we are furnished with to make losing more palatable.
Don't feel guilty for having balls.
That road of kidding yourself dead ends.
Eventually the things you are valuing become worthless to you.
No one can hold back that tide. And why try?
Fucking Jesus man. That creep can roll.
This might be a motivational video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1kDso5ElFRg
And this one is spot on...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4bFYJ0JUMk
This video hit too close to home. lol I dabbled in the minimalist thing for a while. Not when I had the means, the means to buy what I wanted, of course. Instead it was when I had to sale things in order to feed the monkey.