so why are you a dudeist?

[ozzy85]

Most of the time I'm very undude with my behaviour, stressing out and being depressed all the time and shit, so I thought Dudeism could provide me some quidelines on taking it easy. Personally I don't consider Dudeism so much as a religion but as a view of life.

Same here.  It's easier to view my thoughts as being un-dude and try to chill out than any other method.  Religion vs. life?  Life is more important.

[DigitalBuddha]

why are you a dudeist? it seems to me there are a few different kind of dudes here, those who are obviously huge fans of the big lebowski and quote the movie at every opportunity and others who relate to the big lebowski's dude as they too are slackers, and there are also those who truly believe it to be a truly great religion, so what is your take and your thoughts on this?

Not sure there is a "why." Its a thing of the heart, it just is the dude in all of us that has come to the surface. I personally believe that if the inner dude found in all peoples would be let out and abide, we would have a far more righteous world.

To be a dude, all one must do is let the inner dude out for the bowling semis of life.

[not_exactly_a_lightweight]

Would you think I am trying to trick you if I said "I just like the movie?"

({[follow the money]})

[meekon5]

Most of the time I'm very undude with my behaviour, stressing out and being depressed all the time and shit, so I thought Dudeism could provide me some quidelines on taking it easy. Personally I don't consider Dudeism so much as a religion but as a view of life.

Same here.  It's easier to view my thoughts as being un-dude and try to chill out than any other method.  Religion vs. life?  Life is more important.

Much like many writers on Zen, real life intrudes but with more and more practice the Zen (or Dude) state of mind returns more easily. I don't spend my entire life floating around in a state of Dude (yet) but after a while return to a centered state of "of fuck it!" more easily.

I realised the other day that though I continue to go throught problems in life the perspective of them, and the level of effect of them is lesser each time I experience them.

For instance years ago  was technically homeless and spent a year living out of a camper van, now i have a home but have a problem with a leaky roof I can't afford to fix (at the moment).

Years ago i had a big problem with someone harassing me at work, so bad I became ill and had to leave the job, recently someone is attempting it again where I work, but the effect though annoying is less.

"Life is what happens to you whilst your busy making other plans" John Lennon, Beautiful Boy (Darling Boy).

[Smalls]

I used to be a really serious religious type myself. I have a tendency to get way too wrapped up in rationalism and logic, but after 22 years or so of believing in an all-powerful being who was ready to reward and/or punish all of us for our thoughts and actions, I just couldn't hang on anymore. None of it seemed to square with the things I experienced, so I gave it up.

And then, dudes, lemme tell ya, it got dark. REAL dark. I've struggled with depression in the past, and when I had finally convinced myself there was no god looking out for us poor souls, I actually tried to kill myself. I felt like life was a game no one asked me if I wanted to play where the rules were never made exactly clear and kept changing all the time.

Obviously, I didn't die. I wandered about, metaphorically, for awhile, and did a lot of reading about humanism and Buddhism, along with a smattering of philosophies ancient and modern. I don't even remember how I stumbled on to Dudeism; I had seen The Big Lebowski before, but I don't think it made a giant impression on me until I saw it after my low point. I guess I wasn't ready for it yet, if I could put it that way. About a month after I discovered Dudeism I made the leap, filled out the form, got my certificate, bumper sticker, and this kick-ass blue plaid robe with Dude-fish on it.

Because if you ask me, and no one did, it all comes down to "The Answer is there is no Answer." That's the secret of the universe, to me. Everything else is just terms we define and explain to each other. So if that's all there is and you're not into being all nihilist about stuff, Dudeism's perfect. Just take it easy, smoke 'em if ya got 'em, try and have some fun with life.

I'm ramblin' here, of course. It's just my story, and I definitely wouldn't want everyone to think exactly what I do. That's one boring-ass mass of humanity. But I'm the type of person who needs a principle, a creed, something to believe in. Maybe that makes me weak, but who cares if it does? If you're gonna ride an ethos, The Dude's is the best one. That's just like, my opinion, man.

[cckeiser]

"The Answer is there is no Answer."

That's some heavy shit dude.
Good to see you here.
I think i may have wrote this around here someplace before, but as far as I can make out, the only purpose of life is to live it.
Fill your "dash" the best you can.
And Dudeism...well it fits right in there.

[Caesar dude]

That's some tale reverend Smalls....thanks for sharing.

And I for one don't think your weak.

Peace my friend....take her easy.

Rev. J.

[Smalls]

Right on dudes, I appreciate it. At the risk of sounding way too damn serious, I'd bet that your average joe thinks of this whole worldview of ours is some kind of joke. In fact, during a not-too-friendly altercation with some law enforcement over some herbal refreshment, I was told exactly that. But fuck it.

It's no joke, dudes. Not to me. Being a Dude helps me get up in the mornin', helps me take the good and the bad, helps me abide the world without accepting it.

I've lurked about on the Dudespaper for awhile, but me thinks its time for Rev. Smalls to step out of the shadows for some good ol' community...

[cakebelly]

  Welcome to the fold, Dude Smalls - there's an extra hammock in the . . er, hammock cupboard.

[meekon5]

Interviewer: I tend to think of this whole thing as ongoing, that there is an eternity and that we are going to be part of that eternity, that we aren't just corpses in graves when we die.

Ayn Rand: But we aren't corpses in graves, we are not dead. Don't you understand that when this life is finished, you're not there to say oh how terrible that I'm a corpse? No.

Interviewer: Well this is true.

Ayn Rand: It's finished. And what I've always thought was a sentence from some Greek philosopher, I don't unfortunately remember who it was, but I read it at 16 and it has affected me all my life. I will not die. It's the world that will end.

[Abideist]

hmmm...

Interesting man, thats fucking interesting...

Undude behavor is the corner stone of becomming dude. You can't achieve dudeliness without experiencing the most heinous of lifes unfortunate recoils. Bill and Ted would refer to this as "bogus", and the Dude would call it a "bummer".  You can't learn to accept the blows and move on without first having them, so many of the "perpetually undudes" are simply those who either don't experience woe or resist it so much and deny it to the point of anger. 

See

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model

Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged is a pretty cornerstone piece of that ethos

The dude learns to see defeat and woe for what it is, and accept it, moving on as quickly and with as little collateral damage and impact as possible. As if we were stepping across a pond on small stones trying to make it to the other side, while it's pouring down rain. We glide as effortlessly as possible between the rain drops and from stone to stone. If we make a mistake and put our foot in the pond, we remove it, and continue on.

You could say someone who cannot cannot be dude about things, would be aggrivated constantly at the annoying pecks of rain, and slipping from stone to stone. Complaining every time he fell in the pond, instead of getting out. And when they reach the other side, both of them will be wet, but the dude will have been waiting with a smile, because he didn't stop to allow himself to experience troubled waters.

Okay, so that philosophy might need some work, but the general idea is that you can't let everything that happens to you be significant, "life goes on , man".

When the Big Lebowski tells the dude to get a job and wont pay for his rug, the dude just says "fuck it". Because he is working through all the stages at once to accept adversity. He denies, Fuck it. He gets angry. "fuck it" He bargains "fuck it" , He depresses "Fuck it" and accepts "fuck it".

All at once. Like a zen monk warrior floating over the stones of the pond....

I wish I had a gong to hit, because this would be a most opportune time for it.

I also like another philosphy , that the tortoise and the hare really is about the hare.

The turtle is slow and steady and wins the race right? Well obviously the rabbit is faster, but if you are going too fast, you're going to tire yourself out, or stumble over something unexpected. That's why the hare was able to be beaten by a turtle, because if he had just gone at an even pace, he obviously would have won. It's not about the turtle. Fuck the turtle man. It's about you, the hare.
You have the ability to win, naturally. The turtle doesn't, the only way the turtle can win, if he and his buddgies drug you, or trick you, or dig a hole for you to fall in. But the hare is capable if he has the foresight to use the "middle way" mentality. You have to do things the right, it's as simple as that.


Stress actually kills your braincells too, thats something to keep in mind.

i dunno. take it for what it's worth.

[meekon5]

hmmm...

Interesting man, thats fucking interesting...

Undude behavor is the corner stone of becomming dude. You can't achieve dudeliness without experiencing the most heinous of lifes unfortunate recoils. Bill and Ted would refer to this as "bogus", and the Dude would call it a "bummer".  You can't learn to accept the blows and move on without first having them, so many of the "perpetually undudes" are simply those who either don't experience woe or resist it so much and deny it to the point of anger. 

See

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model

Ayn Rand's novel Atlas Shrugged is a pretty cornerstone piece of that ethos....

I hear it's a bit of a heavy read. A friend of mine bought it because he enjoyed "Bioshock" so much (which is based on the book). But found he couldn't get on with it.

I wish I had a gong to hit, because this would be a most opportune time for it.

Surely thats "I wish I had a bong to hit"?

Pain make man think,
Thought make man wise,
And wisdom make life endurable.

[SenatorTso]

The movie "Revolver" helped me shed my ego (or try to at any rate).

And once I asked myself, "If I am not my ego, what am I?" the answer was "just a guy." As simple as that is, once I realized I'm just a guy, a dude, here in this world, it became so much easier to accept the reality of things as they are.  Good or bad, things just *are* and the best I can do is to roll with it, and help people around me roll with their own shit (good and bad), too.  No working my bag off for some eternal reward; just keep on keeping on.

To me, that was the essence of "Abide."

[Tripnastic]

I was reading a book about Zen one time, and the author basically said that there's no reason to get all reactionary every time something you don't like happens.  When something negative happens, you just know a little more of the truth about a situation than you did before. It was going to happen, you just know it now.  So better to just abide, and accept the truth.  That's the cornerstone of why I'm a dudeist. It lets me just say "fuck it" and abide the ride.

[Caesar dude]

No working my bag off for some eternal reward

I like the essence of that statement .

Welcome to the boards SenatorTso.

Peace dude.