Hui-Neng, upon hearing a monk quoting from the Diamond Sutra, is said to have been enlightened. The quote he heard was: “Abiding nowhere, raise the Bodhi Mind.”

In the end of the movie by the Coen brothers, the Big Lebowski, the Dude says: “The Dude Abides.”

In my opinion, there is a wonderful similarity between these two statements.

Abiding nowhere is another way of stating the first Tenet of the Zen Peacemakers, Not-Knowing. Abiding nowhere means not being attached to any of my concepts or opinions, being totally open to What is. Therefore, abiding nowhere also means abiding everywhere, not excluding anything by holding on to something. If we can do that, right there the Bodhi Mind is raised.

When I say the Dude abides, I mean that he is open to everything. He abides everywhere without attachments. Things happen and he is affected. New things happen and he is affected. He’s not clinging to the old or to concepts formed by the old.

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