Accidental Buddhism lesson?

Rating: 10/10 (27 March 2006)

I'm not sure if anyone else has noticed this, but the movie seems to follow the Buddhist path to enlightenment almost exactly. For anyone who doesn't know, the path is similar to the steps that people go through when dealing with failure or death. First there is confusion, then denial, then anger, then reasoning, and then acceptance. In Buddhism, one has to first realize that there is suffering. Phil does not realize what is happening at first; it's a shock that the day is repeating. He goes to sleep the first few times, hoping the day will change. When it doesn't, he gets angry and begins to kill himself in numerous ways. In Buddhism, this would be akin to living life frivolously. Once Phil realizes this will not end the day, he begins to do good things. This is the bargaining stage. However, this is not true altruism in that he is only doing good in order to escape the day. It is not until he accepts his fate that he begins to do good simply for the sake of doing good, and not for selfish reasons. This is the first real step in attaining enlightenment: accepting that life is suffering, and choosing to ease the suffering of others. Through this idea, Phil is finally able to escape the day, which would be akin to escaping the cycle of reincarnation and attaining nirvana. Essentially, Phil is going through this cycle on a microscopic basis, one day at a time instead of one life at a time. Sorry for the long explanation, I just thought it was fascinating that such a funny and entertaining movie could have such a deep undercurrent, whether the producers meant it or not.