The life of Pi and 6 vital teachings to apply now

Released in 2012, Life of Pi is one of those works that, despite being able to easily pass as a commercial film, is actually a deeply inspiring story.

The fact of being based on the novel of the same name may have made things a little easier for him, but what cannot be denied is that lessons can be drawn from it that we can apply on a day-to-day basis, incorporating them into our philosophy of life and our habits.

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Lessons from Life of Pi

Let's remember: The Life of Pi is, apparently, a story about a young Hindu who is left drifting in a boat he shares with a menacing tiger. A relatively simple premise that is rich in metaphors.

Ang Lee's film is several layers deep, and in them it is possible (although not easy) to find a message about the things that are really worthwhile in life and about how to avoid forms of suffering totally unnecessary.

1. Learning changes us profoundly

A young man is capable of educating a ferocious beast so that, even if he does not obey him, he at least respects him. This, which is credible as it is shown in the film, reminds us that we have

the power to change and to help others to change. There are no essences or minds condemned to remain the same throughout life. Through interaction dynamics we transform mentalities and old vices.

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2. It is convenient to flee from dogma

Religion plays a fundamental role in the story of Life of Pi, although that does not mean that the protagonist is a fundamentalist or that everything he does is done for the favor of a god.

On the contrary: the message that the film conveys is that the combination of different belief systems is perfectly possible, and surprisingly natural, unless we indulge in fanaticism.

Thus, religion, or specifically the presence of Christianity, Hinduism and Islam, appears to exemplify that coexistence and diversity of beliefs in the same body, whether biological or social, is possible. And if we are capable of doing that with religions... what would we not be capable of doing with beliefs that are not given a religious character? Dogmas are not only harmful: also, if we want, it is easy to avoid them.

3. Fear cannot paralyze us

In the film, what most defines the situation of the protagonist is defenselessness, vulnerability. At first he is totally alone in a hostile environment where the danger is clear: tiger attacks, or drowning in the ocean.

in such a situation it is not possible to rely solely on the survival instinct, since in moments where the danger is so palpable, desperate responses either paralyze us or make us move without strategy and with imprecision. That is why it is convenient to know how to put aside the reactions of terror.

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4. Accept the possibility of serving yourself from problems

Within every problem there are ways to adapt to it. If we are intelligent beings, it is precisely because we have the possibility of, starting from a totally new challenge, discover solutions in it, as if someone had left them prepared and hidden somewhere when it really isn't So. Intelligence consists in adapting to the new.

Piscine Monitor Pattel, despite not having the experience of a sailor, takes advantage of the materials from the same environment that is threatening to solve the problems that arise his step.

5. The wild is not innocent

It is common for us to idealize everything that has connotations of belonging to the wild world and “natural” (as if neither our societies nor ourselves, as human beings, were natural).

However, life on planet earth makes its way both through fertility and through violence, as can be seen in Life of Pi. Even in situations where everything that happens seems to be due to a glitch in reality, there are animals that embrace violent behavior.

6. There are several readings of reality

We are never capable of knowing the truth in a faithful way, and all the explanations that we can elaborate about reality have flaws and blind spots, unknowns that remain unanswered. This occurs in Life of Pi, which incorporates the mystery into its own story. with an ending in which we must get involved to build a version of events by creating our own hypotheses.

After all, if we are vulnerable enough to not have an infallible belief system, then we are forced to face our fears and to seize the opportunities that lie in danger, and to learn to adapt to a natural world that can be hostile, it would be rare for us to have access to what TRUE.

A movie to watch over and over again

In short, The Life of Pi is an excellent story full of beautiful and inspiring symbolism that goes far beyond the aesthetic. It is convenient to see it with an open mind to capture with all its nuances and to know well the way in which, through cinematographic language, messages are communicated to us.