Esoteric Dudeism

[Rev. Treehorn]

It is my perception that many of the world's religions have a hidden canon, an esoteric facet, or some secret shit, to use the parlance of our times.

Perhaps some among you brethren Revs have, at some time or another in your lives, experienced some freaky shit that may have inexorably drawn you toward the darkly shining path of the mystic.  Perhaps you sojourned into the darkened valleys and crevasses of practical occultism as chaos magick, nagualism, hermetic ritual, cabala, shamanism, witchcraft  or [insert name here] before finding the light of Dudeism...  or perhaps you think it is a fuckin' waste of time....  

Before you think i am some sad-assed refugee from the fucking 60s, and before i forget what in God's name i am blathering about, let me see if i can remember my point.  Oh yeah, have any of you brother shamuses looked into the more esoteric aspects of Dudeism?

Or perhaps you do not abide by that type of limber thinking and say that what you see is what you get?

~Rev. Treehorn

[Rev. Gary (revgms)]

Yeah mang, been there done that, Wicca, gnosticism and the Secret. And Taoism has it's mystical component, I have had some real success with manifesting, but honestly, I like riding the river of life more than trying to control it. Part of the beauty of existence is the mystery, letting things unfold and seeing where they go on their own. So in the end I kinda split the difference, and do what the Zen folk do, and simply live skillfully, abiding by what is and making relaxed but intelligent choices. The intelligence of my choices may be up for debate, but that's my objective.

I have a best friend who joined a coven 25 years ago, I almost joined with him, he stayed with it, and since then, we have had this conversation a few times.

That and welcome, find a rug that suits ya' and the bar is over there. Peace man.

[BikerDude]

The largest religions are just Government of the disenfranchised.
Most are a scam. At least they started out that way.
In that respect they resemble the mafia.

Like Lenin said, look for the person who will  benefit.  And you will, uh, you know,
you'll, uh, you know what I'm trying to say

[cakebelly]

"The largest religions are just Government of the disenfranchised.
Most are a scam. At least they started out that way.
In that respect they resemble the mafia. "

Fuckin' A, Dude.

I guess as Dudeism has drawn people from all faiths (and none) there are bound to be as many stories to tell as there are Dudes. Dudeism itself, as far as I know, has not developed any specialized teaching; it is a veritable smorgasbord, Horn of Plenty, All-You-Can-Eat_Buffet (insert cliche of choice) of warmed-over, ancient, new, fucked-up, ridiculous, inspiring stews, curries and pastries. (Fuck me, I'm glad I got that sentence outta the way - nearly got a nose-bleed).

Perhaps, as we sift for gold through the rancid streams of creaky old Faiths (and mixed metaphors) we will, in time, come up with a nugget or two to call our own - but I'm not sure that we need to claim anything (apart from our Rugs) as our own. Not yet, anyway.

Maybe it will all coalesce into something resembling a Dudeist teaching, in time - I am, personally, not sure that I want that. I am, I hope, still interested in hearing people's ideas, though.

It seems, at the present time, especially, that we cannot  help but be somewhat political (with a small 'p'); reflecting the great swathes of unrest and resentment that are sweeping the world like a giant demonic whirling Dervish. Humanity is being driven forward into something  - I have a feeling that it is mostly engineered (by the Dark Side) - that will give our Nihilist Overlords cause to introduce more stringent measures (for 'our own protection') against the practice of our liberties. Their coup de grace is coming. We can all feel, I think, that something is coming . . what we gonna do about it?

Wikileaks, Anonymous (etc) are on the Front Line (although the Citizens of Iraq would disagree) where as Dudes or Citizens are we?

Anyway, gone off on another tangent; I think this movement (Dudeism) is still being born - I think a lot of such movements/Faiths (past and present) have been in this position. By the very nature of their philosophies they find themselves in opposition to the current prevailing trend or zeitgeist. If we wish to claim time back from these rabid demonic cunts and infuse it with our own spirit* then we are going to have to (and I am sorry to have to use this four-letter word in front of Dudes) work at it.

Good post, there Treehorn Dude ( I will come back to it, later)

* a spirit of common humanity would be a start.

[Outer Element]

It is my perception that many of the world's religions have a hidden canon, an esoteric facet, or some secret shit, to use the parlance of our times.

Perhaps some among you brethren Revs have, at some time or another in your lives, experienced some freaky shit that may have inexorably drawn you toward the darkly shining path of the mystic.  Perhaps you sojourned into the darkened valleys and crevasses of practical occultism as chaos magick, nagualism, hermetic ritual, cabala, shamanism, witchcraft  or [insert name here] before finding the light of Dudeism...  or perhaps you think it is a fuckin' waste of time.... 

Before you think i am some sad-assed refugee from the fucking 60s, and before i forget what in God's name i am blathering about, let me see if i can remember my point.  Oh yeah, have any of you brother shamuses looked into the more esoteric aspects of Dudeism?

Or perhaps you do not abide by that type of limber thinking and say that what you see is what you get?

~Rev. Treehorn

I do feel that secretion is necessary to all kinds of magical power. It serves to protect the ritual space/journeyer/practitioner, ensuring safety from outside influence and focusing energy within the space.

However, I lose my train of thought when I try to apply this to The Dude. He had no secrets, let alone any what-have-you that would prevent nihilists from entering his bathroom.  That's just my opinion, man.

[Landshark]

I don't know, sometime the perfect Caucasian can be pretty darn close to magic or beating your average in bowling.

[meekon5]

It is my perception that many of the world's religions have a hidden canon, an esoteric facet, or some secret shit, to use the parlance of our times.

Perhaps some among you brethren Revs have, at some time or another in your lives, experienced some freaky shit that may have inexorably drawn you toward the darkly shining path of the mystic.  Perhaps you sojourned into the darkened valleys and crevasses of practical occultism as chaos magick, nagualism, hermetic ritual, cabala, shamanism, witchcraft  or [insert name here] before finding the light of Dudeism...  or perhaps you think it is a fuckin' waste of time.... 

Before you think i am some sad-assed refugee from the fucking 60s, and before i forget what in God's name i am blathering about, let me see if i can remember my point.  Oh yeah, have any of you brother shamuses looked into the more esoteric aspects of Dudeism?

Or perhaps you do not abide by that type of limber thinking and say that what you see is what you get?

~Rev. Treehorn

I think Dudeism is mostly experiential. It is a a way of living and perceiving. I don't believe it has "hidden" esoteric practice, but I do believe if you were to sit any of us down and ask about the detail each would have their own little practices.

[brother_erwin]

Fuck me, but watching the sun rise every morning (or at least, watching day light come after dark), or registering that you can walk (or breath, for that matter), or think, that's a fucking esoteric experience, if you look at it carefully, am I wrong?

What I mean, and wiser fellows than myself have said this before, what the fuck do I need esoterics for, or hidden canons, or what-have-yous, when I realize that just being around is the greatest esoteric mystery.
Not to talk about mysteries like sending posts via a thing called internet  

You want esoterics? I get you esoterics by three o'clock this afternoon. If you happen to live in the Northern hemisphere of this wonder: Go into a garden and look out for the first spring flowers which dare coming out the earth. It will take a few more weeks here until they put on their polish, though   and I can hardly wait for them to do so. Fucking winter is over, soon.

Having said this, ... would I enjoy that miracle that much if there was no winter

Faithfully BE

[Rev. Gary (revgms)]

Maybe we should develop some esoteric philosophies, not for our selves, but to keep the squares confused and busy. So they stay out of our hair.

[brother_erwin]

You mean, like esoteric smoke grenades to screen us off while help is choppered in?

[Rev. Gary (revgms)]

We could hire Dan Brown to come up with some thing.

[meekon5]

Maybe we should develop some esoteric philosophies, not for our selves, but to keep the squares confused and busy. So they stay out of our hair.

I did try to post this earlier (so it's probably going to appear on some other thread)

But I don't think we need secret handshakes and  set rituals (see previous discussions on that one).

I think it's those that break down the other religions.

For instance Rev Klaus and myself have a mutual friend who left Buddhism because the group he was with ended up arguing as to whether the door to the sacred texts was open or closed or how open it had to be before it was open, or how closed was closed.

You end up with ridiculous restrictions like the Pharisees, who I hear it said would not carry a handkerchief on the sabbath because it was considered work, and thus against the law, but if you wore the handkerchief around your waist it then became a belt so was allowed.

Finally if you want to scare the straight people just get them to log onto this forum, that should be enough.

[sosenroshi]

Hi I am new here.

Have explored esoteric subjects for many years both academically and also personally.

I have tried many teachings and then realised that most were social control power trips etc.
I received Dharma transmission from a teacher in the 1990's this did make a difference. I also enjoyed Brad Warners Hardcore Zen-I would recommend it for the average Dude like me.

What now.

I  take Zazen seriously- I find it works for me. I avoid most schools of esotericsim and the characters in them.

Main realisation-Its all a chaotic joke and all beliefs are the flotsam of the mind-however they are often used by others to play mind games with-especially on the unsuspecting.

However, Zazen does work thats why I practice daily.

be cool

sosenroshi.

[forumdude]

The problem with the esoteric is that as soon as you define its parameters, it ceases to become esoteric.

Zazen is very cool because it doesn't define any parameters. It just says: "Why don't you fucking listen occasionally. You might learn something." It's not so easy to listen though. There's too much goddamn noise.

When our species was growing up on the African savannah most of daily life consisted of sitting around and listening. The whole world was esoteric.

Nice to have you back, Cakebelly. We missed you.

[The Good Rev from Germany]

Dudes,

I started practicing chaos magick in earnest 20 years ago. Later, I discovered Hoodoo (not Voodoo) for me. Practiced that, too.

Nowadays, I mostly just let things happen and let things go. This saved my mental wellbeing, more than once. Maybe later, when I feel like writing more, I'll tell the story when my two beautiful kids almost died, and all that helped, the ONLY thing that helped, was letting go and praying...

But not today
Sometimes, I have that urge to do magick, but I'm fine without it. I'm a practicing Hindu (bhakti yoga), and thank God, we don't have any hierarchical structures

Peace,
Norbert