By Way of The Sea

By Way of The Sea a novel by Julian Bound

One monk's journey of discovery

Struggling with his beliefs, Tenzin, a Tibetan Buddhist monk, begins a journey to see the sea he has always imagined. Travelling on foot through Tibet, Nepal and India to reach his goal, those he encounters along the way start to restore a faith lost to him.

Since a young novice Tenzin has longed to stand before seas never witnessed in a landlocked Tibet. Travelling through his homelands he walks beside holy lakes and over high attitude mountain passes until stepping into Nepal, where within the gardens of Buddha's birthplace his fading beliefs begin to be rekindled.

Crossing into India he journeys south once more until meeting with a path he is destined to take.

Encountering many on his travels each hold a valuable lesson for Tenzin as together they explore the concepts of attachment, impermanence, kindness and compassion and karma and reincarnation. With each insight gained he continues onwards, his pursuit to see the sea accompanied by a want to understand the faith in which he has been raised.

About The Author

Born in England, Julian is a documentary photographer, film maker and author. With photographic work featured on the BBC news, his photographs have been published in National Geographic, New Scientist and the international press. His work focuses on the social documentary of world culture, religion and traditions, with time spent studying meditation with the Buddhist monks of Tibet and Northern Thailand and spiritual teachers of India's Himalaya region.

His photography work includes documenting the child soldiers of Myanmar's Karen National Liberation Army, the Arab Spring of 2011, Cairo, Egypt, and Thailand's political uprisings of 2009 and 2014 in Bangkok.

With portraiture of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama, Julian has extensively photographed the Tibetan refugees of Nepal and India. His other projects include the road working gypsies of Rajasthan, India, the Dharavi slums of Mumbai, the riverside squatter slums of Yogyakarta and the sulphur miners at work in the active volcanoes of Eastern Java, Indonesia.

Present for the Nepal earthquakes of 2015 he documented the disaster whilst working as an emergency deployment photographer for various NGO and international embassies in conjunction with the United Nations and the World Wildlife Foundation.

With numerous published photography books Julian is also the author of nine novels including Subway of Light, Life's Heart Eternal, The Geisha and The Monk, By Way of The Sea and All Roads.