The enlightenment of Phil Connors: the Buddhist roots of Bill Murray’s ‘Groundhog Day’
As one of the most popular comedies of the modern era that finds itself religiously rewatched every single year on the titular date on the calendar, it goes without saying that Bill Murray’s Groundhog Day has already become a spiritual experience of sorts.
Thanks to the actor’s beleaguered weatherman Phil Connors reliving the same day over and over again on a journey of self-discovery that stretches on for a period of time number-crunchers have determined to be somewhere between one and three decades, it’s entrenched as a staple of the viewing schedule on February 2nd.
Murray is adamant it’s not only one of the greatest screenplays he’s ever read, but one that didn’t get the credit it deserved from Hollywood’s major awards bodies. It’s not often studio-backed star vehicles find themselves being awarded the status of being an “underground Buddhist classic,” though, but that’s the rarefied air Groundhog Day finds itself in.
The narrative focuses on the constant cycle of death and rebirth that ends with a sense of enlightenment, striking the protagonist to such a profound effect he becomes extricated from his purgatory and allowed to continue on in his life with the lessons learned. Some have even gone so far as to heap the highest of praise upon director and co-star Harold Ramis for embracing the teachings of Buddha.
Meditation teacher, Buddhist stand-up comedian, and author Wes Nisker is adamant that “Harold Ramis should be considered a revered lineage holder in the crazy wisdom tradition of the Tibetans.” As he explained to Lion’s Roar, Groundhog Day deftly straddles the divide between being funny without poking fun at other people or mocking them to their detriment.
“But, rather, laughter arises when we realise our futile attempts to escape the first noble truth. Pointing to our common bumbling deluded nature – with humour – apparently relieves some of the suffering,” Nisker suggested. “Ramis has done that in most of his films, but especially in Groundhog Day, where he seems to be saying, ‘This is what it’s like. Every day is the same thing; we make the same mistakes over and over.’ Ramis is always trying to shatter our ordinary take on reality to reveal hidden dimensions. He is trying to create what Buddhists would call ‘beginner’s mind’.”
A full-fledged scholar – Dan Arnold, associate professor of philosophy or religions and Indian Buddhist specialist – offered similar sentiments. “When Bill Murray breaks the cycle by overcoming his egotism, he ends up happily ever after,” he offered. “It’s not clear, though, that the Buddhist tradition imagines release from Samsara as that kind of achievement. Perhaps the film’s depiction of endlessly repeated experience gives us other ways to think about what rebirth might mean, and thus, with different ways to think of what Nirvana could be.”
For a lot of people, Groundhog Day is simply a timeless time loop comedy that holds up just as well now as it did more than 30 years ago. On the other side of the coin, there are practitioners and devotees to the Buddhist lifestyle that maintain it speaks to them on a much deeper level than simply being a wildly entertaining ride, which isn’t something that can be said about a huge number of Tinseltown titles.