The Dharma Bum

"As long as you still experience the stars as something above you, you still lack a viewpoint of knowledge"


Friedrich Nietzsche

I recently had the pleasure of watching “Into The Wild”, a film based on a Jon Krakauer book in which a young college graduate (Christopher McCandless) packs up his life and backpacks his way around the US, ending up in Alaska.

In a moment of extreme loneliness in a derelict bus in the middle of the Alaskan wilderness, the young adventurer scrawls the following statement onto a piece of wood which doubled as his diary:

“Happiness is only real when shared”

Rarely does a quote in a film hit so hard, and it’s had me thinking over the past few days…. Is happiness only real when shared? The more I think about this, the more I feel that this is a massive topic for debate, therefore I would like to open this up and hear your thoughts on the following question:

Is Happiness only real when shared?

"Man is ignorant to the nature of his own being and powers. Even his idea of his limitations is based on experience of the pad. There is therefore no reason to assign theoretical limits to what he may be, or what he may do."


Aleister Crowley (Magick)