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The Dude and the Zen Master by Jeff Bridges and Bernie Glassman

skullchinskullchin Veteran
edited January 2013 in General Banter
Is "The Dude" from The Big Lewbowski considered to be a Zen master?

I understand correlating Zen to pop culture references in order to interest new people or just have fun conversation. Christians have been doing the same thing with books like _The Gospel According to The Matrix_.

In his interview on The View, Jeff Bridges reports that "The Dude" is considered a Zen Master in Zen circles.

How accurate is that statement?

Here is the interview on YouTube:


Comments

  • skullchinskullchin Veteran
    Oops, looks like we can't use the embed tag anymore. Here is a link:
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    Interesting. Not sure about this, but thank you for posting!
  • CinorjerCinorjer Veteran
    Oh, I haven't heard about good old Bernie Glassman in a while. I wondered what happened to him. Sure, why not say that The Dude character from that movie is a Zen Master in disquise? It's been way too long since I seen the movie to remember much detail. I seem to recall he stayed centered and kinda floated around while everyone else lost it around him. And a rug. Someone peed on his rug and he wanted somebody to replace it?

    Sounds like Bernie is playing around with finding cultural references familiar with our Western world to translate the lessons of Zen into. Good for him. That's how Zen is comprehended. Now I gotta find out if that movie is on the VOD section of my cable company to watch it again.
  • genkakugenkaku Northampton, Mass. U.S.A. Veteran
    I saw Bridges on The Daily Show talking about this.

    Score some well-orchestrated p.r. for Bernie.
  • skullchinskullchin Veteran
    Huh, I guess it is hard for me to imagine someone who drinks that many White Russians to be a zen master. You know, precepts and all.

    Is Bernie JB's zen teacher? Or are they just friends. I had previously thought JB was Zen. But in the interview he says they are friends.
  • CinorjerCinorjer Veteran
    Last I heard Bernie had turned in his robe and he and his wife were in some sort of semi-retirement but keeping active by running a small outreach group. I don't think he actually has students anymore.
  • DaltheJigsawDaltheJigsaw Mountain View Veteran
    skullchin said:

    Huh, I guess it is hard for me to imagine someone who drinks that many White Russians to be a zen master. You know, precepts and all.

    Is Bernie JB's zen teacher? Or are they just friends. I had previously thought JB was Zen. But in the interview he says they are friends.

    I totally agree!!1
  • federicafederica Seeker of the clear blue sky... Its better to remain silent and be thought a fool, than to speak out and remove all doubt Moderator
    "The uploader has not made this video available in your country".

    Damn.
    I kinda like Jeff Bridges too, even though he always seems to play 'the bad guy'....
  • skullchinskullchin Veteran
    Is anyone planning on reading this book? If so, please let me know.
  • SattvaPaulSattvaPaul South Wales, UK Veteran
    edited January 2013
    The Church of The Latter-Day Dude

    :cool:
  • zenffzenff Veteran
    The Dude?
    Okay, I don’t want to miss the brilliant sayings of a genuine Zen Master so I looked up the quotes.
    What I found were variations on this one theme:

    The Dude: Ah, fuck it.
    The Big Lebowski: Fuck it! Yes! That's your answer. That's your answer for everything! Tattoo it on your forehead!

    http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118715/quotes

    :(
  • CinorjerCinorjer Veteran
    A monk asked Ummon, "What is Buddha?" Ummon answered, "Dried shit on a stick."

    Not that the character of The Dude impresses me, the more I read the quotes from the movie. But then again, The Dude has nothing on The Fonz, and that is the Western Zen Master I grew up watching on television every week.

    Someone asked The Fonz, what's your secret? The Fonz stuck his thumb up and answered, "Ay!"


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