I've been known to casually dabble in Soto Zen. But I've also been known to casually dabble in Reform Judaism and straight-up atheism. I'm not good at picking a team.
Me too. I have the same issues. I'm familiar with Zen and Pure Land, I like Daoism before the mystic chi nonsense was added, I'm still an atheist and I have also been ordained in the Church of the Latter Day Dude. Dudeism is for those of us who are extremely casual about religion. Welcome Rev. aikiMac to the worlds slowest growing religion. Pull up a nice section of beach, grab an oat soda and take'r easy. BTW, watching the movie really helps with some of the language used in Dudeism, for example oat soda - beer. In addition it's a pretty good movie.
Thank you. That suits me just fine. BTW, Jeff Bridges is a Buddhist. Tricycle magazine had a feature on him in the past year or two.
For those of you too lazy to look it up, something I totally admire by the way, here is some info on Dudeism from the Wikipedia.
See now I looked at that post too quickly and misread it as Boobs! Probably something Freudian going on.... :whistle:
Well it seems hard for even the most committed atheist to object to dudeism. It is, seemingly, religion without the nasty bits?
Yeah, I have to agree, that's what attracted me to it. It has Daoism without the mystic nonsense that was added to it, it has Buddhism without all the cultural baggage and it has the Big Lebowski. Really, what more could you want. Mitch, I'm ready, let's grab a couple of caucasians and a lane. Can we start referring to Lou as Donnie, as in "STFU Donnie, you're out of your element"? Edit: I could be wrong, maybe is one of the nihilists? I can picture him in leather pants with a marmot.
I conceder all religion and cults to be one in the same, as i have said before if you control the people then you control everything and that is the main aim of both.
I don't think it's anything like that cynical, personally. You have to bear in mind that religious or 'spiritual' people really do believe what they say they believe- which is a) a frightening thought and b)suggestive of the fact that their main aim is not control over other people. That just happens to be the practical upshot of their actions, which are based on their beliefs.
I think some of the confusion may be over the use of the word spiritual. I am an atheist, I do not believe in gods, magic, chi, the supernatural, ghosts, spirits, elves and so on. I am also spiritual. To me spirituality is quieting the monkey mind and just being in the moment. I used to spend a lot of time regretting the past and worrying about the future, neither of which I have any control over. By living in the moment, the best I can, I am much more centered, much less anxious, happier and content. I do basic breath counting meditation as my practice and since I have been doing it regularly I notice a huge amount of difference in the amount of "noise" in my head.
Given that spirituality is derived from the word spirit, maybe you should just call that being New Age instead?
Nope, I prefer Dudeist but not many here know what that is. New Age is chi, crystals, magic, channeling dead guys from Atlantis, believing in Atlantis, alternative medicine, hippy tai chi and so forth. None of that crap is for me. It's basically just going with the flow and not getting uptight about all sorts of stuff. It's about accept reality as it is rather that getting upset because it isn't how you want it to be.