Dudeism
Welcome to the world’s first Dudeist Monastery
The Dudely Lama has recognized The Monastery of Nothingness as a philosophizing Dudeism resource.
Serving 450,000 ordained priests worldwide and growing.
The Dudeist Monk: a double threat with Dude-Jitsu
If you’re a practicing Dudeist, or even if you prefer napping and lounging to things like ‘practice,’ you’re in the right monastery. Just roll onto our dojo mat and do a few stretches to loosen up.
Then, checkout the monastery’s insights into that ancient martial art, the most laid back counter-punching system ever developed… Dude-Jitsu.
Cast of Characters
Truth is, sometimes it’s just a lot more fun to poke a little fun. Scroll down on the link below and check out our nunly and monkly Cast of Characters:
Dudeist Vows
Want to take your vows? The monastery has a Vow Master. He’s all set, especially if you’re in the mood to do a little swearing in.
Serious Philosophizing
If you’re in a more serious frame of mind, and up for some pensive pondering and pontificating, take a look at our philosophizing on subjects as diverse as consciousness, class warfare, martial arts principles, or even humiliation. You’ll find it over our companion site Jiu Jitsu for Everyday Life and Leisure.
An Introduction to Dudeism
In 2012, I became an ordained priest. If you’re a stranger to all this, well, it’s okay. Nothing to worry about. Just take it slow and easy.
Dudeism is touted as the world’s slowest-growing religion. And why not? Somebody’s gotta claim Slow-Place.
Founded by Oliver Benjamin, known as The Dudely Lama, the movement is inspired by the Jeff Bridges character The Dude from the film The Big Lebowski.
The Dude is seen as a laid back guy, who gets knocked around pretty hard by life, but who’s kind of learned to roll with it.
Clearly, there’s some tongue-in-cheek spoofing going on within Dudeism, but the religion is a genuine attempt at updating Taoism to be a bit more relevant in today’s world. Humor plays a big part, not just because it helps us get through the tough days, but also because shit rolls downhill and most of us live downhill, and not way up in some high castle.
But another accomplishment of the religion is its ability to reach the kinds of people that religions typically miss or deliberately steer clear of. And vice versa. I love the inclusiveness of that.
In 2013, I wrote an essay (shown below), which was published by Dudeism. Several years ago I met Oliver personally, and can attest to the insights and ‘realness’ of the founder. And yes, he was wearing his heroic bathrobe.
If you’re feelin’ a little twinge of uncertainty about all this, it might be time to go wash it all down with an ice cold oat soda. Or maybe just go wash it down for no reason at all. Or maybe just go take a nice nap. That’s Dudeism.
And regarding The Monastery of Nothingness being Dudeism’s first monastery… it’s all unofficial and casual. Because that’s like, yanno, Dudeism, man.
