When I think of Groundhog Day in a Buddhist context, the first thing that comes to mind is this old Zen story:
Zen teacher Ummon said to the assembled monks, "I do not ask about 15 days ago, or 15 days hence. But what about today?"
When no-one could answer, he answered himself, "Every day is a good day."
Ummon's statement -- "Every day is a good day" -- is, on its face, absurd. As we all know, in life some days are good and some days aren't, and for people who are deeply suffering there is never a good day. So what was he really trying to say?
Ever since the movie "Groundhog Day" came out in the early '90s, many people, especially Buddhists, feel that the movie holds some kind of profound, existential message concerning spiritual practice and the spiritual path. For those who may not remember, in the movie Bill Murray plays Phil Connors, a self-centered, egotistical TV newscaster who goes to the town of Punxsutawney, Penn., 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. I doubt that the producers of the movie ever intended their lighthearted comedy to become a lesson in Buddhist teaching, but so it goes.
Groundhog Day grew up as a folklore holiday about the end of winter. Just as Phil Connors in the movie had to keep reliving the same (to him) boring, tiresome day over and over, so people in rural Pennsylvania had to face the dreariness of endless overcast, snow-bound days. When would it ever end? Maybe Phil the groundhog knew!
There is a saying in Zen: "Every breath, new chances." My root teacher, Shunryu Suzuki, taught "beginner's mind," the practice of seeing each moment as fresh and new. Phil Connors was trapped by lifelong habit patterns that kept him apart from others; he couldn't escape his past until he could see freshness and opportunity and new chances in his own life and the lives of people around him. Ummon didn't mean that every day was good in a Pollyanna-ish way, but that every day, even the most tragic, has within it the seeds of renewal, of Spring. Depending on how Phil the groundhog sees his shadow, winter could go on, or not. Depending on how Phil Connors responds to each new day, he could grow and change, or not.
Each of us is Phil the groundhog, each of us is Phil Connors, each of us is a monk in Ummon's assembly, facing the mystery of our human life as it unfolds day by day. "Every day is a good day" means every day is incomparable, every day stands on its own. It's our responsibility to make of each day the best we can, knowing this.
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Lewis Richmond: Western Buddhism: The 50 Year Lessons (Part II)
Then how could he fulfill this obligation of never taking the same route twice?
But even though he might have journeyed along the same road each day he was never the same.
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Winters are still dreary and long but each day is a good day.
Thank you for this article.
Namaste
On a more important note, shouldn't the piano teacher have realized after the 300,000th first day lesson that Phil might be pulling her leg?
The human tires being burdened with the past. But with the fatigue his understanding grows beyond desire.
And yet the teacher will patiently and methodically teach Phil during the 300,001st day and so on.
And so it goes.
This is a wonderful sentiment with universal appeal, which is probably why it is also reflected in the Psalms..."This is the day which the LORD has made; Let us rejoice and be glad in it."
Buddha and Jesus and others were on the same page about that , its just got churned up by all of them into separatist dogma which has not served the spiritual evolvement of the race as well as it might have.
We each have a chance to learn from ourselves each day.....over and over, little by little, until we are a changed person.
He also got a new attitude.
So I learned to make use of down time in a useful way. I am quite obsessive about it and practice everything I do, daily.
Because of my recent battle with insommnia, I have been meditating lately on: When I don't wake up dead, I think I am going to do something positive for myself each day, so I can go to sleep that coming night feeling I've accomplished something, even if it is a small something.
F&F
What's up with that? You seem nice enough!