God, Man, and Nature: Life for Reason and the Reason Behind the Universe – A Panentheistic Approach to Life of Pi

Abstract

This article intends to lay out a comparative study of Karma philosophy and literature scrutinizing Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi through a panentheistic approach. Because Karma is one of the predominant philosophies in the novel and permeates the general atmosphere, this article intends to scrutinize Yann Martel’s novel Life of Pi through a panentheistic approach. Although karma is a very complex issue, since anyone committing evil acts can claim to be a mere agent of karma delivering punishment to others for sins they committed in their past lives, it is true that according to karma, our actions have consequences which affect the entirety of our lives, and this can also be seen as free will. Yet while this approach tends to focus on the action and reaction mechanisms of life, the flow of life in the universe should still be carefully contemplated, since if we believe the first story, Pi’s survival not only depends on his choices, but also on the opportunities that the universe offers him. In that sense, if we are to accept God as the soul of the universe, then the universal spirit must be omnipresent and omnipotent while also capable of transforming into anything in terms of s panentheistic approach. Thus God, being greater than the universe, is the ultimate force that balances everything, and is also the biggest karma controller. For this reason, this article analyzes Life of Pi from both inductive and deductive slants to demonstrate that all roads lead to God, the omniscient.

Keywords

• karma philosophy
• panentheism
• life of pi, myths