Punxsatawney Phil Predicts Six More Weeks Of Winter [Video]

Punxsutawney Phil, "the prognosticator of prognosticators," climbed out of his hole this morning, saw his shadow and predicted six more weeks of winter.

But did you know the classic Bill Murray movie on the subject could lead to your enlightenment?

It was not the news that many snow-battered areas around the country were hoping for. It's the second year in a row that he's seen his shadow and especially curious this year because skies over Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania were overcast with rain and snow showers.

But fret not, as Phil has a less than stellar track record as a weather forecaster, and has drawn the ire of enough people, that he has even had a death sentence imposed on him from the neighboring state of Ohio. Wow. Someone needs to lighten up.

The day became a permanent part of pop culture when Bill Murray starred as a cantankerous weatherman stuck in a time loop in the 1993 movie "Groundhog's Day". But did you know the cult comedy classic may be one of the best spiritual movies of all time?

It's true. Buddhists have long looked at the movie as a story of that religion's basic tenets, highlighting the main character's coming to enlightenment via the many lifetimes spent reliving Groundhog's Day.

"In some ways, it's about karma," Michael Wenger (dean of Buddhist studies at the San Francisco Zen Center) says. "Every day we may lead a life that we think is monotonous, but every little decision we make has certain effects."

So you can go on wallowing in your ignorance, or you can make a move toward enlightenment. Good luck with that.