The Church of the Latter-Day Dude in Chiang Mai
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The Church of the Latter-Day Dude - based in Chiang Mai, Thailand.
The man who founded a religion based on 'The Big Lebowski'
When he saw the Coen brothers' hit movie, Oliver Benjamin had an epiphany, and he is now the "Dudely Lama" of The Church of the Latter-Day Dude in Chiang Mai.
People who intuitively perceive 2,500-year-old Chinese and Greek concepts, while knowingly nod to California's detached hippie philosophy and quote droll lines from The Big Lebowski are joining a revelatory religion that has illuminated its U.S. founder in northern Thailand.
Dubbed "Church of the Latter-Day Dude," the group also invites "mellow, unflashy chicks who hang around in their bathrobes and take baths with candles and whale sounds," says the religion's Dudely Lama, Oliver Benjamin.
"Everyone feels oppressed by society's pressures," he says.
"Everyone wishes they had more freedom. Everyone wishes they could be more carefree, to worry less about money and status."
Oliver's church is heavily influenced by the Tao of Lao Tzu (6th century B.C.), Epicurus (341-270 B.C.), and the The Big Lebowski, a 1998 film written and directed by Joel and Ethan Coen.
"Following Dudeism helps you to keep in mind what's important in life, what actually makes people happy instead of what makes them insane. Dudeism has a great deal in common with Epicureanism -- the original, uncompromised first draft -- which states that simple pleasures are best and that less is actually more."
Born in 1968, Oliver grew up in Sherman Oaks, southern California, and got a psych degree from UCLA before working in graphic design for a few years and then traveling while writing three "bizarre" unpublished novels.
He is currently a freelance journalist and photographer, based mostly in Chiang Mai, and plans to expand his church this year.
"There are now over 100,000 ordained Dudeist Priests worldwide," Oliver says. "Most are in the U.S., but it's surprisingly popular in the UK as well.
"There's going to be a Dudeist Music Festival in York this summer, and there's a movement to get it on the U.K. census as an official religion -- as Jedi was, in the last census."
'We're never going to compete with Christianity'
The Church of the Latter-Day Dude was actually born near Chiang Mai, in the hip resort town of Pai, where Oliver says he became transfixed by visions.
"In 2005, I was up in Pai at a small cafe, watching 'The Big Lebowski' with a crowd of people from all over the world. I had seen the film once before and enjoyed it, but this time the experience was totally transformative.
"I felt as if I'd seen a story that put all the difficulties of modern life into a manageable perspective. And it was probably the most touchingly funny film I'd ever seen.
"Oddly enough, I'd long wanted to start a religion. During my travels I'd become an earnest student of religion and philosophy."
Wedging his church into a world crowded by older, cash-rich religions is not impossible, but it may remain a niche belief system.
"Money is power. Dudeists don't tend to be the upper crust of society. So we're never going to compete with the really wealthy religions like Christianity.
"Ideally, we'd like to help people find ways to earn money with less work, but of course that's always a challenge. Fifty years ago, everyone thought that robots would be doing all the work for us and people would be living lives of leisure. That this has not come to pass is surely mankind's biggest tragedy," Oliver laments.
"One problem also is that too many people just think the Dude is a burned out hedonistic stoner. Nothing could be further from the truth. He's an intellectual with strong moral character and a lively, creative mind.
"He's also a stoner, but that's not a bad thing. Too many people confuse Dudeism with anarchism or selfish laziness. Dudeism recognizes the need for organization and rules, and the laziness it touts is disciplined and determined.
"Free time should be used to free your mind and cultivate inner peace. Not to play 'Grand Theft Auto' all day and gorge on snack food," he says.
The church is evolving, and hopes more members will know each other in the biblical sense.
"Perhaps it's not surprising that the Church is about 75 percent male. But we are trying to actively bring in more women. We think that women suffer even more than men do from the dictates of modern society," he says.
"We hope to start a Dudeist dating service soon, and a chapter in our forthcoming book, 'The Abide Guide,' will be devoted towards Dudeist feminism. Incidentally, we don't recognize the word 'dudette.' We're trying to help promote the idea of 'dude' as a gender-neutral word."
Church of the Latter-Day Dude website: www.dudeism.com
The Official Publication of Dudeism: www.dudespaper.com
On Facebook: www.facebook.com/Dudeism
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