The Dudeism Forum

The Philosopher's Stone was originally a search in alchemy for the ability to turn ordinary metals into gold. Since such a substance was never found, the concept of the Stone has evolved into something that results in enlightenment.

Rather than creating physical gold, the Stone is thought of as something that will yield metaphysical spiritual gold. It is an abstract concept that refers to the entirety of experience and thought required for the achievement of enlightenment. If their existed such a Stone, it would be able to be passed from one person to the next--ultimately igniting the candle of enlightened thought in everyone.

Nearly every religion has been touted as being somewhat of a philosopher's stone, but their are few cases of truly enlightened individuals. Enlightenment is thought to be out of reach by the majority of the population, for there is only a small minority of those who actively pursue it. The Lazy Man's Guide to Enlightenment changed the view of a lot of people, and its full potential may have yet to be realized.

I am a lazy man. Laziness keeps me from believing that enlightenment demands effort, discipline, strict diet, non-smoking, and other evidences of virtue. That's about the worst heresy I could propose, but I have to be honest before I can be reverent. I am doing the work of writing this book to save myself the trouble of talking about it.

I think that the Dude is much lazier than Thaddeus Golas, and so fellow dudes need a much less complicated case in order to bring new shit to light--enabling one to see a lot of ins and lot of outs--making the strands in ol'duder's head more tied together.

Dudeism's path to enlightenment starts with some bowling, white russians, some good pals, a few beers, a few laughs, a J, and a rug to tie it all together. In order to understand Dudeism, one does not need to read any complicated books or study ancient Asian manuscripts; one only needs to watch a classic film and take a few key spiritual lessons from it.

With the help of Taoism and the work of some Great Dudes in History, does Dudeism have the potential to be the philosophers stone by teaching ordinary people that this is not nam--there are rules here?

There's no literal connection of course because the literal world is where the bums will always lose, but we as Achievers are looking to tie it all together while realizing that sometimes the literal world throws out a ringer for a ringer and sometimes the bums can win.

Lazy?  I dunno.  No I don't have a job right now.

What day is this...?
 
Really I see no point in being in a hurry or seeing life as a list of accomplisments.   Beggars can't be choosers... I ain't a beggar.  Bum?  I'm not one and neither are you.  We win sometimes because we can.

Dirt dude,

Enlightenment is not a goal or destination you don't earn it.  It is a journey, more of a lifestyle choice and its diffrent for everyone and easy.  You must make yourself happy.  Could Dudeism be a Philosophers stone?  Yeah sure to those who stubble upon it and are open to the idea.  I mean we wont be turning empty beer cans to gold but by being open to a few ideas that TBL offers I think that many people could live richer fuller lives.

I disagree with the thoughtless thought and effortless effort in this case. In order for enlightenment to be real, it must be a certain mental state. Few have reached this state in history, and those who claim to have found it have neither found it nor do they grasp what it is, but it must be something that can be obtained by any human mind, and therefor it must conform to some psychological paradigm which can be defined through analysis. That definition is elusive, so that is why it remains something abstract that is not to be sought after. Just because it is ineffable does not mean that it is not worthwhile to attempt to describe.

Mind if I do a J?

Empty beercans to gold eh? That's a thought I would like to revisit further along down the trail...

Enlightenment to me is simple: the comprehension of all things, the sum of the Universe, in the parlance of our times. True enlightenment can't be found this side of Styx, the filter we use to grasp "reality" fucks it all up, man.

However, every so often, though varied means, we touch this sense of understanding. Sometimes its conscious, like when we see how some good deed rippled and came back, or when we watch the Universe take care of us when we let it do it's thing. Sometimes it's unconscious, like when you zone out during a video game and start to kick ass without being aware, or even an amazing dream that seems to bring you closer to god.

I guess what I'm blathering about is enlightenment as a goal is about as pointless as "life" as a goal. Take it where you can get it and remember it's lessons. My friend used to say "Enlightenment can be found even in a poorly made bowl of ramen." Or, if your not into the whole brevity thing, you know, uh....find enlightenment in everyday things.

 Life is to short to waste on pressures, enjoy the gold where ever u can find it!

Anyone who knows anything about enlightenment, knows that it's not a goal to be sought after, a destination to be reached, a path to follow, or a journey that can be easily undertaken, but this abstract nature is not the issue here. Even though enlightenment cannot be pointed at, the mind still deals with it on its own level, which is the ultimate story of being tied-together.

The philosophy and the metaphysics of enlightenment are endless and create a lot of ins and outs--a lot of strands to keep in ol'duder's head. One could spend a lifetime reading, learning, and writing about it, and these simple truths are evidence that enlightenment is some real phenomenon which is a part of the human condition. It is my observation that many people occasionally like to just drop in (mentally) to see what condition their condition is in (spiritually), but few people are always aware of the condition their condition is in. The Dude is one of these people who are constantly and consistently aware of what condition his condition is, so long as it remains tied together, but the outside world is full of people who try to make things complicated and fuck-up the Dude's and Walter's Zen by carpet pissing and scheduling tournaments on Shabbas. Such people are only half awake and barely aware, so they don't see the blue Volkswagen following them and they don't understand that this is not nam, this is life, there are rules.  To me, being a dudeist means being aware enough to not push your soul into a deep dark hole and follow it in, which would seem to be very undude.   

As a dudeist, I feel compelled to spread dudeness, so I want to help other people bring new shit to light and learn to abide. In order to be better enabled to spread the word of the dude, I attempt to articulate the wisdom I have found in the way of the Dude. Words of wisdom or often not so easily conveyed, but by using the film as a frame of reference, dudeists can easily and humorously pass on bits of wisdom that are found in the Big Lebowski. Bits of wisdom are like precious gems that one gathers and collects during a lifetime. These can be found in every religion and they are also often exhibited and passed on by the most influential people in history.

The original search for the philosophers stone was through alchemy and chemistry, and it attempted to alter the physical properties of actual stone. The new search for the philosophers stone must be through metaphysics and psychology, and it can be characterized by an attempt to expand consciousness by altering the abstract properties of mental stones of the mind that are the thought gems of an individual--essentially making those gems worth their wait in gold. Such weight can be gauged by the affect it has on a person's worldview and character, so the worth remains subjective and sentimental. I'm sure many scientists and philosophers have written many complicated books about all that jazz, but the Coen brothers have provided us with a simple and entertaining frame of reference that can even be used by a child, er, well, maybe the edited version.

What would be the dudeist philosopher's stone? Well maybe a line in the sand, across it, you do not; Sand as in a Buddhist Zen garden or on a clear beach, and maybe a line the separates one from anxiety and despair, sharks and crabs, or nihilists and reactionaries. This is not nam, this is life/bowling, there are rules, like, strikes and gutters, ups and downs. Yeah, well, you know, that's just, like, my opinion, man.