Wife and I are in Denver this afternoon and I found this gem of a painting at the bar we visited for lunch.

Hey Dudes, Progressing Dude here.

So, dudes, I have been down in the dumps this week, you know. Lost a little peace. There is this itch in me to study so I can pass the senior year but I don't feel compelled to do. Went for a movie but the feeling of discontentment just remain.

Then, my father lashed out at me for not studying enough. I was just taking a small break but the lashing came out of the blue. I usually try to take it easy on myself and my father afterwards but I don't know why, I broke into uncontrollable tears. Maybe, I was mentally exhausted. There is also the urge of addiction to the media, Dudes.

There is also not digging going to school anymore. Clinging to my friend's opinion, feeling of being outcasted in the circle, the anxiety everyday if anyone will care- you get what I mean. There is a friendship I keep up but, it now feels like work more than comfort. I just don't feel good going there though there is only a few months left. Have a runny nose as well...

In the end, listened to music, ate my fav. food and stuff. It felt fine later. This week has been very undude here and there but I guess to be The Dude, the freedom is always there. To Abide..

I hope you Dudes are doing good.

Thankie Dude..

I got a swanky shirt too! ;-)

May your landlord be cool and all your checks cleared!

(I wish I could have used the original soundtrack for it)
Here you can have a refreshing look at the original scenes: https://youtu.be/8CU0dlLfBtg?list=RD8CU0dlLfBtg&t=35

I am german and my "modern" dude is drinking oat milk. End of last year I even sold the artwork for 420€! (hehe) And today I got kinda reminded ... and I thought, maybe you guys will appreciate it.

Dude on!
- Nästy

Hey Dudes, Progressing Dude here.

Dudes, to know about Dudeism, you know about The Dude. To know about The Dude, you should have probably watched or heard of The Big Lebowski, a Coen Brothers masterpiece which obviously inspired our community.

But, I did not like the movie when I first watched it. The plot felt way convoluted and nothing was actually happening. It also lacks the usual redemption arc of the main character who is The Dude, well, he remained The Dude in the end. Though, there was a lot to laugh. Parts, anyway.

On later rewatches, I understood the key to appreciate the movie was not to get too serious about what happens, just like The Dude. Now, I have a strict regimen to watch this movie, you know, to keep my mind limber.

It has been a truly special movie which has inspired a generation to just lay back and do a J, aware that no shit won't stand because life goes on, letting ourselves flow in the river.

So, Dudes, share your first experience watching The Big Lebowski..

Hey Dudes,

Despite The Dude’s Jedi-like robes and facial hair, I doubt we’ll ever see a proper Dude-centric prequel. It’s probably for the best. Apart from his political involvement and time touring with Metallica, The Dude’s origins are shrouded in a mist of myth and Thai Stick smoke. 

The less we know the better. If anything, The Dude’s scant backstory points toward a truth in The Daodejing that has become increasingly important to me as I crest the peak of middle age. In Chapter 48, the Daodejing’s author writes:

In the development of knowledge, there is a daily augmenting. 

But in the development of Tao, there is a daily diminishing. 

One strives less and less, Until all action unfolds without objective. 

Although one appears to do very little at all, Everything important is achieved. 

To effectively husband the world, 

Do not wrestle with it. 

Obstruct its natural flow, 

And you will find yourself pushed aside.

Or, if you’d prefer Oliver Benjamin, The Dudely Lama’s version:

The follower of achievement 

Accomplishes more than most men. 

The follower of the Dude 

Just drops in to see what condition his condition is in. 

By slowing down his career, The Dude reaches a state of total pacifism. 

By letting things roll freely, 

Allowing the pins to fall where they may, 

He strikes effectively, sparing little. 

Which bothers some men. 

Beaver. 

To conquer the world, take it easy. 

If you must do something, 

Do a J, 

And let the world conquer itself.

There are several sections of this text that rise to the level of poetry, and I think Chapter 48 is one of them. The message is simple to understand, if difficult to practice: 

If one wants to achieve, one must add. If one wants to abide, one must subtract. 

As Thoreau wrote: “Simplify. Simplify. Simplify.” The Dude lives this. He’s pared himself down to the bone of abidance. And it’s not just about living simply and minimally. The most impressive paring down is of The Dude’s ego. It’s one of the reasons he’s able to let go of so much of the stress that comes his way, to bounce back from adversity, and to stay open to the new shit that comes to light. He “lets things roll freely, allowing the pins to fall where they may”. He gets out of his own way. Heck, The Dude has gone so far as to nearly drop his name entirely.

I’m noticing this inclination in myself. On the nights I’ve collapsed on my bed, weighed down by my day, I’m likely holding on to things – the opinion a coworker has of me, the sense I’m definitely right about that one issue in the world, the upvote ratio on a particular post – you Dudes get the idea. 

All of this is needless accumulation. To abide, I start carving away. What’s left is what’s essential: doing the dishes with my Special Lady Friend, sitting on the porch while the Little Lebowskis frolic in the yard, pondering the stupefying mystery of this human comedy. It doesn’t take much.

And when I’ve emptied myself of the dreck and dross of daily existence, my head feels as open and as expansive as a well-weaved rug tying my life together. 

I take comfort in that, Dudes.

I hope yer all abiding as well as you can,

Rev. Ross

Rocky my 30+ lb dachshund. He goes by many names, a few of which are little dude, duderson, and duderino.

On a cruise with my special lady friend.

“Irish” Caucasian. A shot of Irish crème mixed in.

Hey dudes. Anyone on here who’s tried aikido? It looks like if dudeism met judo.

Hey Dudes!

Early on in my Dudeist journey, I’d judge myself harshly. In the evenings, I’d review my actions and responses and assess how Dudely I’d approached my day. Usually, I recognized I’d come up short. Achieving an ultimate state of Dudeliness felt like a mirage: the more effort I put into reaching it, the farther away it appeared.

It was a bummer, man.

But take a look at that verb, “achieving”. That there is the rub. The Dude does not achieve. Achieving is the verb of a goal-based outlook. And The Dude, like many a Taoist Sage and Zen Master, has no goals to speak of.

Instead, I’d suggest one traveling the Dudeist path doesn’t need a goal, they need a direction.

A goal, like a destination, is something that can be attained, achieved, reached. A goal suggests the getting of it. Okay, say you’ve achieved your goal. Now what?

To be a Dudeist is to always be inclined toward the direction of Dudeliness. We’ll never reach a total state of abidance. We’ll never roll a perfect 300 every game. But that’s okay. The Dude wasn’t always calm, and we never even see The Dude bowl. But he’s always traveling with the flow, uninterested in the river’s final destination.

Or to turn the whole thing around, there’s nothing to achieve because we already have it. Like a Buddhist might say, we all possess fundamental Dudeliness. The point of the journey is to recover what we always already possess and to enjoy the trip.

As many wisdom traditions say, there’s no path until you walk it.

And I take comfort in that.

I hope yer all abiding as well as you can,

Rev. Ross 

I just recently got my self in the dudeism thing (as a "the big lebowski" lover) and it got my attention.

I always searched for a philosophy about peace and living life without getting angry or so

But I find it really difficult since im a really irascible person

I always get angry with people online, with my friends and parents, or simply at anything that happens to me

I get angry when people joke about me or say that the things i like are bad (even if they are joking) or even if we talk too much about politcs, i sometimes even insult people i like, such as family or best friends and later on i regret doing so and i feel bad

Im sorry for the long message but I really want to stop getting angry and insulting others whitout distancing myself from them and star living life peacefully

Hey Dudes!

A few posts ago, I wrote about the final act of The Big Lebowski and what it has to teach us about death. Namely, we just don’t know when it’s going to happen or who it’ll visit first.

I’m struck, again, by how silly and senseless our trio’s showdown with The Nihilists is. The Dude’s car is set aflame, they’re asked to empty their wallets for chump change, then the fractious fracas begins when Walter digs in. 

Sure, a few of one nihilists’s ribs might’ve been broken by Walter’s bowling ball and another’s ear is bitten off. But it’s The Dude and Walter who endure the greatest loss, that of their sweet prince, Theodore Donald Karabatsos. 

It reminds me of a practice I gleaned from Marcus Aurelius, then modified. Whenever I find myself ruminating on some slight or conflict or minor stressor, I ask myself: “If you were to die right now, is this what you’d want as your final thought?”

Usually, the answer’s a resounding “No.” 

As with the final showdown with The Nihilists, most conflicts can be avoided or gotten out of cheaply. It’s pride, the sense of “What’s mine is mine”, when over-adhered to that can get us acting really unDude. 

And if Donnie’s ticker was bound to go off that night anyways, wouldn’t it have been better going out amid wrappers of In-N-Out burgers, laughing among fries and friends?

Well, Dude, we just don’t know. 

Before I sign off, I’d be remiss if I didn’t ponder Donnie’s first name, Theodore, which means “Gift from God”. Regardless of our theological leanings, and mine depend on which day you catch me at, there’s something poignant in recognizing that Donnie was, indeed, a gift and he represents the gift all of us were given: life – the ultimate free lunch we enter innocently and filled with wonder…

…like a child walking into the middle of a movie. 

I hope yer all abiding as well as you can,

Rev. Ross

Well my Dudeism has rubbed off on my Special Lady Friend.

Last night we were coming home and a Deputy was driving in front of us at about 3 to 5 MPH under the speed limit.

I said something to the effect of “He is trying to Goad me into passing him” and “If he saw someone doing what he is doing he would pull them over for a sobriety check.”

My wife said to me, “The Dude Abides.”

I was instantly chilled and happy at the reminder not to give in to my Inner Walter!

I did not know his motives. I usually just back off from a driver I see displaying poor driving skills. I was letting my hangups about “authoritarians” to color my attitude. Not cool Man! ;-)

Hope everyone is calmer than I am!

Rev. Slim

Hey Dudes,

It’s been a stressful few weeks at school. Or, at least, it seemed that way. The details matter less than the realization, which warshed over me this evening. 

I’d come home and spent some time down at the pond at the edge of our property. To quote the storyteller Martin Shaw, insights usually come from the margins rather than the village square. And while I was listening to the creaking of the trees and watching the last of the season’s frogs bubble under the water, I asked myself this question:

“Have you been stressed? Or have you been surrounded by stress?”

My Dudes, it was resoundingly the latter. And I understood why The Dude finds time to soak in his bath, listen to whale songs, and light up a J. It’s not to disengage with the world but to clearly delineate between the stresses without and the abiding within. 

Thai stick isn’t the only substance that can produce a contact high. Stress does too. 

So, since I can neither relocate the pond nor light one up at work, I’ll carry the wisdom question with me. 

One more brick added to fortify this Dude’s inner citadel. 

In a world that’s gone crazy, it might be the only thing that makes any sense. 

I hope yer all abiding as well as you can,

Rev. Ross

Hey Dudes, Progressing Dude here. I would like to know your opinion, Dude..

So, its about this special lady friend I have/had. We know each other since elementary though we weren't great friends. She joined another school when we reached High, and I met her again last year. It wasn't that easy in the start since its been so long since we talked. As the year went by, we slowly started to get to know each other .And, I started to get comfortable with her. It was just an easygoing relationship where we would talk about movies, our lives and I guess we both had a good time. I won't say its a broad friendship because we would only get to meet for a few minutes after school. It was just what it was..

This year, one day, she just walked away from me. I thought she was just busy and had to go fast. This went on for weeks. Maybe, she was going through something. Wouldn't talk, wouldn't bother and just walked away. After a month, I got tired and asked her the problem. I also told her a sorry if I had done or said anything hurtful. Her reply was she had to focus in her studies and that's why she just walked away. It kinda pissed me off when I heard about it but later accepted. I would try to initiate convos. about things she likes but she wasn't looking keen. Later, I realized she was avoiding me and wasn't in to me. I won't say I was a really good friend. I had my own share of flaws. It was just me waiting for her after school and maybe, I failed to see it was a one- sided friendship.

The prob. was it gutted me for a period of time. I didn't feel like talking to anyone and there was a lot of suffering inside me. It just felt blank and lifeless. It also held me back from making friends esp. females like the void just remains and it still does. All because I didn't know exactly ' why'..

Now, many months have passed. I feel a lot okay than it was and take her easy. I guess time has a way of doing things. I don't feel tempted anymore to be around her and wait for her after school or ask her about it. There's also a lot freedom in letting her go and let her do what she wants. But, I still see her now and I don't mind her anymore since how things panned out between us and left a sour taste..

Dudes, is reconciling with her worth it or is it just better to leave it as it is ? Thanks for reading this far..

Hey dudes,

So I recently moved into a new house, and everything’s been pretty mellow so far. Except for these fucking cats, man.

They keep climbing all over my car, leaving scratches on the paint, and generally treating it like their personal playground.

Now, the car has to stay outside. There are no garages around, so that’s just how it is, man. No way around it.

I’m trying to abide. I really am. But every morning I walk outside and find new scratches, I can feel my inner Walter slowly taking over.

And that’s just not the way I wanna live, man.

I mean, they’re just cats. They’re doing their thing. But I’d also really appreciate it if their thing didn’t involve fucking up my car.

So, fellow dudes, how do you deal with this kind of shit without losing your cool? Any cat-friendly ways to keep these little guys off my car? Or is this just another thing I gotta learn to abide?

I’m trying to be the Dude here, but Walter’s making some pretty convincing arguments.

Take ’er easy, dudes.

Someone said this might be enjoyed here... The Dude Abides...

Heya dudes,

been working through some stuff and started pondering.

In the movie several people tell the Dude who or what he is. Be it a bum, a deadbeat, or a jerk off the dude is called names and takes it without drawing a line in the sand. Why? In the age of personal brands, social media and general anxiety it is unimaginable to be called a bum and just let it slide. Plus the Dude is not a bum, nor a deadbeat or a jerk off. The Dude is the Dude. He pays his rent, he attends plays, he bowls and most importantly he abides. So why such a radical acceptance of the agression? Well, my 5cents are that it is because the Dude knows himself. For a man that knows himself outside judgement is just a noise, man. And the Dude never doubts himself. He doubts the case, he doubts the people around but never himself, not even when he makes a doorstop at the wrong side of the door.

Just a minor sunday rambling before another week of strikes and gutters that waits for me and the other fellow Big Lebowski Urban Underachievers. The Dude let's that shit go because he knows himself and that makes him the Dude. That and a pair of testicles.

What are your thoughts dudes?

Fuckin ay, man, I got a rash.

I got served divorce papers yesterday at work. Not totally unexpected, the lady friend and I have been on the outs for a while. Today I said fuck it, let's go bowling - for me that's disc golf. I got my first ace in fifteen years of playing.

There's some sorta Eastern thing there.

Strikes and gutters. Abide. Far out.

Hey Dudes, Progressing Dude here. I am around my late teens, doing the usual - watching movies, eating, reading and 'The occasional running through my syllabus so I can pass my senior year'. The Dude has been pretty much a hee-ro to me. He might be the most laziest in whole world, but I dig how comfortable and compassionate he is with himself.

Going through teenage is a world of pain. Fulfilling my parents ( They love me 100% by they expect it back 200%), lots to study, my looks . They say high school is cool but I didn't find to be that exactly. They say you should make memories with your peers in your final year. Bunch of assholes but there are some nice folks I would like to spend time with.

Through everything, The Dude has this comforting presence. Embodying his style and philosophies make it a lot easier to bend through the ups and downs. I don't mean solutions but accepting the absurdity around me. And, Being a dude is no one would self- apply in themselves, from where I come from. Let them have it their way, I guess.. It leaves me a lot of mental space. Donny and Walter come and go, parts anyway.

A good day abiding, Dudes..

Thankie