How Did Chris Mccandless Obtain Spiritual Enlightenment In Into The Wild

“Into the Wild” is a book written by John Krakauer about Chris McCandless and his journey to gain spiritual enlightenment. Krakauer introduces us to Everett Reuss and the Irish Monks who also go on journeys similar to McCandless’s to gain spiritual enlightenment. Chris McCandless is a young man who left everything he had ever known behind to find and gain spiritual enlightenment. Everett Reuss is a man who went into the wild to hike a mountain. His death is still undetermined and his body has never been found. The Irish Monks go into the wild the get even farther away from society and search for spiritual enlightenment. “Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than fear.” I feel Chris, Everett, and the monks were very courageous and has few fears as they began and ultimately ended their journeys to gain spiritual enlightenment. Most people think to gain spiritual enlightenment all you have to do is pray, read your bible, and go to church, but Chris, Everett, and the monks took it to the extreme of leaving civilization and going into the wild where they
To walk away from everything they have ever known to find spiritual enlightenment seems insane. I admire McCandless, Reuss, and the Monks, but I do not understand what would compel these men to go to such extremes as to gain spiritual enlightenment. In my opinion these men could have found the same amount of spiritual enlightenment by going to a church or reading the bible. Every summer, my church and myself take two weeks out of our hectic lives to help with the local food pantry in Stuttgart. Our cell phones are left in the car while we work so there is no distraction as to the reason we are actually there. Seeing people leave with sack after sack of food and knowing they will no longer be hungry or worrying where their next meal will come from brings me spiritual