Recently I went to Oswestry to visit my friend Laura and during my visit I met a fascinating man named Julian Bound who has just released a new Buddhism book for children entitled ‘The Little Monk Who Loved His Noodles’. In this feature I talk to Julian about his fascinating life, Buddhism for children and what inspired him to write the book….
LVL: So, Julian, tell us a bit about yourself….
Julian: I am a documentary photographer, film maker and author. My photographic work has featured on the BBC news and my photographs have been published in National Geographic, New Scientist and the international press. My 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.
With portraiture of His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama and presenting him with one of my books on Buddhism in December 2019, I have also photographed the boy soldiers of Myanmar’s Karen National Liberation Army, the Arab Spring of 2011 in Cairo, Egypt, Thailand’s political uprisings in 2009 and 2014 in Bangkok, and the Tibetan refugee camps of Nepal and India. My other projects include the road working gypsies of Rajasthan, India, the Dharavi slums of Mumbai and the sulphur miners at work in the active volcanoes of Eastern Java, Indonesia.
Present for the Nepal earthquakes of 2015, I documented not only the disaster but the rebuilding of Nepal over the next 18 months working as a photographer for various international embassies in conjunction with the United Nations. I’m the author of several novels and have also published many photographic travel books concentrating on the countries within Asia and South East Asia, all of which can be found on Amazon and Apple I-Books.
Purchase the book on Amazon HERE!
LVL: What’s the Buddhism book for children about?
Julian: In a remote Tibetan monastery surrounded by the snow-capped mountain peaks of the Himalayas a little novice monk endeavours to master meditation. Through gentle guidance he discovers how to calm his mind, yet his lessons do not end there as he encounters kindness and compassion within others and the concepts of karma, impermanence and reincarnation.
Illustrated with fifteen colourful watercolour paintings and told with great sensitivity ‘The Little Monk Who Loved His Noodles’ is an enchanting tale presenting the essence of good morals and principles and is ideal for parent and child to read together.
Purchase the book on Amazon HERE!
LVL: How did you come up with the idea of writing the book?
Julian: Having studied and followed Buddhism since I was fourteen years old, it seemed the only books of instruction towards Buddhism and its philosophies were quite scholarly. I see that by explaining Buddhism subtly through storytelling then those with whom it sparks an interest in may be encouraged to explore Buddhism further.
Purchase the book on Amazon HERE!
LVL: What are the benefits of teaching children Buddhism?
Julian: It gives children a tool box for life, where the essence of showing compassion and kindness to others simply becomes a way of being. With this an understanding of another’s emotions comes into play and so helping to see reasoning behind the actions people take towards and around us.
Purchase the book on Amazon HERE!
LVL: What are the benefits of getting children to meditate?
Julian: Getting children to start meditating at an early age will help them concentrate better and also help them manage emotions, with an emphasis on calmness when faced with certain situations.
Purchase the book on Amazon HERE!
LVL: What do you hope to achieve with the book?
Julian: Firstly for those who read my book is for them to enjoy it as a story itself, but also to read between the lines and see within the lessons found on impermanence, compassion and that of reincarnation. If told of at an early age, then maybe, just maybe, such knowledge will be remembered when encountering life’s trials on said individuals life journey.
Purchase the book on Amazon HERE!
LVL: What plans do you have for future books?
Julian: There is another children’s book concentrating on the foundations of Buddhism to be released just before Christmas. Written by myself and illustrated once more by Ann Lachieze, this will form a trilogy of children’s Buddhist story books – the first being ‘And So the Monkey Laughed’, and the second ‘The Little Monk Who Loved His Noodles’ – (both of which have been translated and published in French). The new book is at yet untitled but is set in Tibet and explores compassion, inner strength and belief in the self, and the judgement and non-judgement of others.
Purchase the book on Amazon HERE!
