The spread of Buddhism has grown across the ages and can be found throughout the world, from music to literature to films on the big screen. This section will focus on the Buddhism theme of nirvana portrayed in the film Groundhog Day.
Groundhog Day (1993)
Directed by: Harold Ramis
Brief Synopsis:
In Groundhog Day, actor Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, a self-centered, egotistical TV newscaster who goes to the small town of Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania, to cover the Groundhog Day celebrations there, and is forced to relive the same day over and over until he learns how to be a nicer person. Phil is an manipulator of all those around him, most particularly Rita, the segment producer on the shoot. After the event, the crew is stranded by a snowstorm and forced to stay another day. Waking up the next morning, he discovers that it's Groundhog Day all over again. Everyone and everything is the same except for him, and this keeps happening, day after day after day. In the beginning of his experience, Phil uses these insights for ego-centered reasons, such as trying to seduce Rita and gorge on food, but he gradually begins to realize he has a greater purpose for being alive and begins to utilize those insights to grow and interact more positively with the people around him. In the end, Phil at last wakes up to the next day, finally free of his cycle. |
Theme of nirvana in Groundhog Day
These collections of scenes show every interaction (or lack of interaction) between Phil and the homeless man, day after day after day. At first Phil ignores the man's pleads for some money, but it is not until Phil decides to change his lifestyle that he realizes he can break free of his endless cycle and rebirths and reach "nirvana."
How nirvana is portrayed in pop culture |
How nirvana is based on the course |
The scene in which the Buddhist theme of nirvana is portrayed is when Phil, having finally accepted the conditions of life, is no longer like all those people who fear what life has to offer, and try to use the weather forecast, by human or groundhog, to control events. On this last day, Phil is awakened to the same song "I Got You Babe,” but it has a complete different meaning than from the first time he heard it on Groundhog's Day. As he runs outside with Rita to declare that Punxsutawney is a beautiful town and that they would stay, the cycle of samara is broken, and Phil finally reaches nirvana.
Phil is forced to stop and treat each day like a world onto itself, and decide how to use it. In the end, he undergoes a breakthrough to a more authentic self in which intimacy, creativity and compassion come naturally - a self that was trapped inside him and that could only be freed by practicing good deeds. In Buddhism, samsara refers to a endless cycle of rebirths, which is what Phil undergoes. Liberation from samsara, is attained in nirvana, something Phil ultimately reaches. Once a person has reached nirvana, rebirth is finished, just as Phil’s endless cycle of living the same day is finished when he reaches nirvana. |
The ultimate goal of Buddhism is nirvana. The term nirvana suggests many things, such as the end of suffering, inner peace, and liberation from the limitations of the world. Upon attaining nirvana, the individual has self-control and is no longer driven from inside by raging emotional forces or from outside by the unpredictable events of life. Nirvana is also believed to end karma and rebirth after the present life. To reach nirvana, Buddhism recommends following the Noble Eightfold Path.
In Buddhism, the everyday world of change is called samsara, a term that refers to the wheel of life and cycle of constant rebirth. Liberation from samsara and freedom and release from these rebirths, however, is attained in nirvana. Therefore. nirvana is thought of as existence beyond limitation. Although reaching nirvana rarely occurs, it is theoretically possible to attain during one’s lifetime. For example, the Buddha is said to have “entered nirvana” at the time of his enlightenment. Once a person has reached nirvana, rebirth finished, and in a culture that believes that individuals have already been born many times before this current life, an end to rebirth is encouraging. When insight and kindness are perfect, the pain of rebirth ends. Finally, the limitations of individuality are gone, and nirvana is achieved. |
Comparative Analysis
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Sources:
- https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com/736x/16/ab/29/16ab29aea14777f08fc3b6be535fd55c.jpg
- http://en.dhammadana.org/sangha/dhutanga.htm
- http://www.buddha101.com/p_nirvana.htm
- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7NjNOAncIlI
- Molloy, Michael (2013-01-01). Experiencing the World's Religions, 6th edition (Pages 132-136). McGraw-Hill Higher Education.