tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11900172.post8911640967797316638..comments2023-09-17T07:02:09.587-04:00Comments on p e a c e f u l t u r m o i l: Groundhog Daytinythinkerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17137637122776756669noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11900172.post-67879969782270403082007-02-04T01:38:00.000-05:002007-02-04T01:38:00.000-05:00tiny,
You write: it wasn't until he did everythin...tiny,<br /><br /><b>You write</b>: it wasn't until he did everything he possibly could for all those he encountered that he broke the loop.<br /><br />I am of a mind that breaking the loop ended up not mattering. He was really liberated earlier. Thus, the Rilke quote: "Perhaps you will then gradually, <b>without noticing it</b>, live your way some distant day into the answers."<br /><br />Of course, Phil was happy on the new day and after the Rita poontang, but the plan is to wed and stay in Punxsutawney. Thus, he is learning to embrace static circumstances. Or, as the zen saying goes, “There may be more to learn from climbing the same mountain a hundred times than by climbing a hundred different mountains.”<br /><br />I agree with you that the sentiment "Whatever happens tomorrow, or for the rest of my life, I'm happy now..." is pivotal. That comes when Rita tells him 'he's not a jerk' and falls asleep, unable to say awake till 6am. And in that next looping, Phil begins to 'live everything,' in 'the Now,' as you say.<br /><br />So, I think we're in agreement, ya?Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11900172.post-64292332257479471982007-02-03T18:16:00.000-05:002007-02-03T18:16:00.000-05:00quoting Tom: I read Phil's path to liberation a li...<b>quoting Tom:</b> <i>I read Phil's path to liberation a little differently. It seems to me everything became effortless for him at the end. Of course, being trapped in the time loop did relieve him of certain worries...He was no longer afraid of death; he had found that the most interesting thing in the world is other people [excepting, maybe, Ned Ryerson]</i><br /><br />I don't see how that is different than my take, other than being more detailed. Whether he was on the path of helping others/making the most of each situaton because he had changed, whether he changed because he was making the most of his life in service to others, or some non-dualistic combination. I only note that while he found many things to be eventually effortless, it wasn't until he did everything he possibly could for all those he encountered that he broke the loop. I think the pivotal moment is when Phil says/realizes: "Whatever happens tomorrow, or for the rest of my life, I'm happy now..." To use the common US Buddhist lingo, he was fully present in the Moment (a.k.a. actualizing his full potential in the here and now or however one wants to phrase it). Instead of reliving the past (only in this case literally so), he was 100% in tune with "the Now" (hrmphh).<br /><br /><br /><b>quoting Tom:</b> <i>{H}e learned to embrace change and to know that change happens everywhere; he learned to embrace static circumstances and know that there is infinite change there, too...</i><br /><br />Maybe. I personally didn't really see that, but that's just me after all.<br /><br /><b>quoting Tom:</b> <i>You know, being a mini-Buddha. Taking, maybe, the two crankiest people you know and giving them full attention and respect. Maybe by doing that, the virus would spread and we would start, miraculously, treating everyone that way.</i><br /><br />Yeah - I wanted to capture the idea that there is always an opportunity to make a difference, even if you appear to be "stuck" in the same place, the same job, etc etc. You can make your life matter anywhere by how you live it and share it with those around you. So maybe your mini-Buddha idea would be a good start.<br /><br /><b>quoting Tom:</b> <i>I thought I knew everything about GHD, but I hadn't made the connection that "I Got You, Babe" had meaning beyond the idea that Punxatawney, ego or a time loop had "Got" Phil. Nice to know Sonny and Cher are inspiring</i><br /><br />Well, I originally inserted that at the end as if to say, "Hey, you're like Phil, now come to terms with your own Groundhog Day, your own life." But when I re-read it, I noticed it seemed to be echoing the theme of the importance/power of compassion and unity. Which is funny, because it allows us another analogy we can "read into" the film. The answer, as it were, is being sung to Phil over and over and over, at the start of each day, out in open, but he doesn't really *hear* it, he doesn't get the connection.tinythinkerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17137637122776756669noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11900172.post-40801719577614128832007-02-03T09:57:00.000-05:002007-02-03T09:57:00.000-05:00Maybe this applies. I ripped off this quote from ...Maybe this applies. I ripped off this <a href="http://clarity.awakeheart.net/articles/2007/01/29/love-the-questions">quote from Clarity's blog</a>:<br /><br /><i>Be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms or books that are written in a foreign tongue. The point is to live everything. Live the questions now. Perhaps you will then gradually, without noticing it, live your way some distant day into the answers.</i><br />--R.M. Rilke.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11900172.post-89378637699685544502007-02-03T01:56:00.000-05:002007-02-03T01:56:00.000-05:00I thought I knew everything about GHD, but I hadn'...I thought I knew everything about GHD, but I hadn't made the connection that "I Got You, Babe" had meaning beyond the idea that Punxatawney, ego or a time loop had "Got" Phil. Nice to know Sonny and Cher are inspiring.<br /><br />I read Phil's path to liberation a little differently. It seems to me everything became effortless for him at the end. Of course, being trapped in the time loop did relieve him of certain worries. [He was very happy, at first, to discover that he could erase all worries and get A New Day every twenty-four hours. It's a "get out of jail free" card!<br /><br />It's been a long time since I saw the film, but I think that Phil got a heapin' helpin' of that Buddha mojo: the "cosmic sense" as Bucke calls it in Cosmic Consciousness.<br /><br />He was no longer afraid of death; he had found that the most interesting thing in the world is other people [excepting, maybe, Ned Ryerson]; he learned to embrace change and to know that change happens everywhere; he learned to embrace static circumstances and know that there is infinite change there, too.<br /><br />I don't know. It's possible that the Punxsutawney Zen Center might be helpful to Ralph. Or, an additional 453 lifetimes.<br /><br />But absent the possibility of hopping on the next time loop that passes by so that we can take a one-day express ride to Buddhahood, I do like the idea of, perhaps, focussing on a couple of people and purposefully making the absolute best of our interactions with them. Having them be as important to us as our own self.<br /><br />You know, being a mini-Buddha. Taking, maybe, the two crankiest people you know and giving them full attention and respect. Maybe by doing that, the virus would spread and we would start, miraculously, treating everyone that way.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13718601770472939313noreply@blogger.com