Spirituality and the Human Mind in the Movie the Life of Pi

Spirituality is not something that is tangible; it is anything that affects the human soul and spirit, but can never be associated with something that is truly physical. For some, this idea of spirituality is almost as strong as what is real in the world, because of the profound effect that the spirit can have on an individual and their outlook on the world. In Yann Martel‘s “Life of Pi,” the main character, Pi, grapples with the idea of spirituality and how it has affected him through his journey Although spirituality is not something that truly exists tangibly, Martel explores what spirituality means in real life, coupled with imagination, and how these two can have a large effect on one’s life, Pi in this case, regardless of what exists in the outside world.

Animals play a large role in life of Pi. Pi feels as though he has a connection to the animals, although in reality we know that animals are not capable of experiencing the emotions, in the same way, Pi perceives them to.

When encountering sloths, he describes them as humanlike. “l felt I was in the presence of upside-down yogis deep in meditation or hermits deep in prayer, wise beings whose intense imaginative lives were beyond the reach of my scientific probing.” This projection of Pi’s emotions onto animals occur throughout the book, and notably in the movie when Pi first encounters Richard Parker. Although we know that the sloths are not in reality deep in meditation, and are likely hardly even consciously aware of their own existence, the way that Pi humanizes them creates the illusion that they are.

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This idea extends into the concept of spirituality, because of the way that Pi creates a narrative between him and the animals, although there is no real narrative to be had, But, if Pi is nonetheless having a meaningful experience with these animals, then does it truly matter?

As a small child, Pi embraces religion he never fully settles down to practice one religion, but rather is continually adding to his knowledge of what religion is through his discovery of different religions that exist throughout the world. Once his faith initially began, he saw no need to simply stop there and believe that one religion is the “right” ones “A germ of religious exaltation, no bigger than a mustard seed, was sown in me and left to germinate. It has never stopped growing since that day.” This shows how vast Pi’s religious understanding is, and how once it initially began, like a seed in his body grew until it had completely transformed into something unique that he couldn‘t have had without his initial exposure to religion. Through Pi‘s discovery of religion, Martel is addressing the idea of what religion truly means. He implies that there is not one true religion, and that the most important aspect of religion is the spirituality that comes with it.

The way that religion can cause a shift in the way somebody thinks and views the world, just like what happened to Pi, is what truly matters, and the way that one can reach this ideal of spirituality can be achieved through virtually limitless ways, and will be completely unique, depending on the individual’s life experiences The brain is the most powerful organ in the human body, It has complete control of our perception of the world, and how we View ourselves with respect to everything around us, Although it doesn’t necessarily need to come from spirituality, spirituality can in fact have a profound effect on one’s outlook on life, “I was giving up. I would have given up — if a voice hadn‘t made itself heard in my heart. The voice said, “I will not die. I refuse it. I will make it through this nightmare. I will beat the odds, as great as they are. I have survived so far, miraculously. Now I will turn miracle into routine.

The amazing will be seen every day I will put in all the hard work necessary. Yes, so long as God is with me, I will not die. Amen.” This shows, just as Pi is at his lowest point and doesn‘t think that he can carry on any longer, he is able to find something within himself to push through and continue to fight for survival. For Pi, he was able to find this inner voice through spirituality and religion, but for others it may come from something else, but where it comes from is irrelevant. Religion, although vastly different across cultures, is unified by an underlying message to attempt to make the world a better place, and to discover one’s self in order to become a better person and to feel more connected to the universe. There are many ways of reaching this state of being, which is what Pi has realized. It does not matter what in reality exists, so long as the observer believes it to be true, then Lhat is what counts, because the world is what we perceive it to bet.