Blue Sky Kingdom: An Epic Family Journey to the Heart of the Himalaya

by Bruce Kirkby

Overview

A warm and unforgettable portrait of a family letting go of the known world to encounter an unfamiliar one filled with rich possibilities and new understandings.

Bruce Kirkby had fallen into a pattern of looking mindlessly at his phone for hours, flipping between emails and social media, ignoring his children and wife and everything alive in his world, when a thought struck him. This wasn't living; this wasn't him. This moment of clarity started a chain reaction which ended with a grand plan: he was going to take his wife and two young sons, jump on a freighter and head for the Himalaya.

In Blue Sky Kingdom, we follow Bruce and his family's remarkable three months journey, where they would end up living amongst the Lamas of Zanskar Valley, a forgotten appendage of the ancient Tibetan empire, and one of the last places on earth where Himalayan Buddhism is still practiced freely in its original setting.

Richly evocative, Blue Sky Kingdom explores the themes of modern distraction and the loss of ancient wisdom coupled with Bruce coming to terms with his elder son's diagnosis on the Autism Spectrum. Despite the natural wonders all around them at times, Bruce's experience will strike a chord with any parent—from rushing to catch a train with the whole family to the wonderment and beauty that comes with experience the world anew with your children.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781643135687
Publisher:	Pegasus Books
Publication date:	10/06/2020
Pages:	352
Sales rank:	1,070,866
Product dimensions:	5.90(w) x 9.20(h) x 1.30(d)

About the Author

Bruce Kirkby is a Canadian writer, photographer and adventurer whose journeys span 80 countries and include traversing Iceland by foot, Mongolia by horseback, Arabia by camel and the Blue Nile Gorge by raft. Along the way he’s been shot at in Borneo, taken hostage in Ethiopia, and imprisoned by Myanmar’s army. His writing has appeared in publications including The New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Outside Magazine. He is listed among 'the nation’s top modern day explorers' by Canadian Geographic.

Table of Contents

Maps xi

Prologue xv

I Shallows 1

1 Untethering 3

2 The Little Professor 18

3 An Army of Trojan Horses 31

2 Among the Ancients 55

4 Across the Divide 57

5 Once in a Full Moon 75

6 Touching Down 84

7 Everything Old Is New Again 96

8 Same as It Ever Was 107

9 Lost Horizons 123

3 In the Sky, There is No Distinction of Bast and West 139

10 Seat of the Kings 141

11 The Economy of Merit 152

12 They Were the Lucky Ones 168

13 Alone 178

14 The Great Sins 186

4 Nothing Lasts Forever but the Earth and Sky 197

15 The Gods Within 199

16 Life Is the Ceremony 209

17 Nature's Smudged Lines 221

18 Sky Fishing 237

19 The Shattering 242

5 Impermanence 251

20 Through the Barricades 253

21 Going, Going … 266

22 Gone 275

Notes on Language and Spelling 287

Jullays 289

Selected Bibliography 293

Editorial Reviews

★ 08/31/2020

In this uplifting travelogue, Kirkby, a Canadian travel journalist and photographer, recounts how he and his family fled the pressures of society to “slow down” in a Himalayan Buddhist temple. Addicted to iPhones and exhausted from their oldest son, seven-year-old Bodi’s, autism spectrum diagnosis and treatment, Kirkby and his wife, Christine, decided to depart on their “fantasy” with their two children: a journey by canoe, container ship, train, and trekking, to the thousand-year-old Karsha Gompa in Zanskar, India (a three-month trip). Along the way, Kirkby and Christine teach English to novice monks and are adopted by Lama Wangyal, who gives them Tibetan names, a practical matter for pronunciation but also, Kirkby notes, an “honour.” Interspersed are facts about the Dalai Lama, Buddhist rituals, India’s history, and Chinese “territorial claims over Tibet,” with examples of prejudice against Tibetans in India (Wangyal is unable to obtain a visa to travel to Canada, despite Kirkby’s interventions). Kirkby has an eye for detail, imbuing even the most mundane tasks with meaning. Emotional reflections on the journey, Bodi’s “leaps in development,” and Kirkby’s “newfound ability to... actually meet Bodi where he is,” are juxtaposed with keen observations on the modern world encroaching on Zanskar. It’s poignant and gently provocative, much like a prayer flag blowing in the wind. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

In Blue Sky Kingdom, Bruce Kirkby not only takes us far across the world and deep inside a rarely seen culture, but also allows us an intimate view of his family, all while writing with tender honesty, penetrating insight and a delightful lack of bra-vado. Kirkby gently reminds us to breathe, embrace the unfamiliar and celebrate even the smallest of moments.

Jill Fredston of Rowing to Latitude and Snowstruck

Family adventure doesn’t begin to describe what transpires in these pages. Kirkby and his remarkable family have built a bridge between the Rockies and the Himalaya, and in so doing spanned the gap between autism and Buddhism. In addition to being a manifestation of deepest love and devotion, this book is a time-bending journey through a landscape and culture that filled me with envy and sorrow by turns, while showing me things I have never seen described in a lifetime of reading. We are lucky to have someone as brave, generous, and open as Bruce Kirkby abroad in the world.

The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival - John Vaillant

Insightful and adventurous, Blue Sky Kingdom offers a road map on how to learn from the world ... There is wisdom in this book. Open it and let your imagination soar.

Acclaimed American Aplinist - Conrad Anker

Bruce Kirkby’s chronicle of living in a remote Buddhist monastery with his family is by turns hilarious and enchanting. What a beautiful ode to impermanence, to the families we choose and the families we find and to the complicated wonders of a different, and fast-disappearing way of life.

Kate Harris of Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road

"Bruce Kirkby has lived the dream of the modern globe-trotting adventurer: crossing Arabian sand seas, sea-kayaking Iceland and Borneo, traversing Northern Mongolia on horseback. In Blue Sky Kingdom, Kirkby's wife and two young sons join him for a different kind of journey—to an isolated Buddhist monastery, yes, but also to the elusive and fragile heart of wisdom that we all hope to glimpse in this lifetime. What a heartfelt, lovely and kind book this is."

Daniel Duane

By any standards, it’s a big adventure to travel the slow way across the world to a remote corner of the Himalaya and live there for months in a spartan Buddhist monastery—but taking young children along ramps it up to another level. Written with zest and clarity, Bruce’s account is compelling, moving, funny and above all honest, sharing hardships and frustrations along with the joys and ultimate rewards.

Maria Coffey

I was blown away by the audaciousness of this epic family voyage, desperately wishing I was there with them. Kirkby’s writing offers a vivid exploration of culture, geography and relationships, but also, more urgently, of how we choose to live- and whether that’s possible to change.

Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Per Alex Hutchinson of Endure: Mind

"Kirkby deftly and emotionally describes the stakes. Raw and moving, it is the family’s interior journey, and Bodi’s especially, that displays the curative powers of adventure.

The New York Times Book Review

A rollicking journey, full of insights on cultivating a nourishing, fully present life amidst so much noise and distraction.

Co-author of Peak Performance and The Passion Paradox - BRAD STULBERG

In Blue Sky Kingdom, Bruce Kirkby not only takes us far across the world and deep inside a rarely seen culture, but also allows us an intimate view of his family, all while writing with tender honesty, penetrating insight and a delightful lack of bra-vado. Kirkby gently reminds us to breathe, embrace the unfamiliar and celebrate even the smallest of moments.

Author of Rowing to Latitude and Snowstruck - Jill Fredston

Bruce Kirkby’s chronicle of living in a remote Buddhist monastery with his family is by turns hilarious and enchanting. What a beautiful ode to impermanence, to the families we choose and the families we find and to the complicated wonders of a different, and fast-disappearing way of life.

Author of Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road - Kate Harris

By any standards, it’s a big adventure to travel the slow way across the world to a remote corner of the Himalaya and live there for months in a spartan Buddhist monastery—but taking young children along ramps it up to another level. Written with zest and clarity, Bruce’s account is compelling, moving, funny and above all honest, sharing hardships and frustrations along with the joys and ultimate rewards.

AUTHOR OF WHERE THE MOUNTAIN CASTS ITS SHADOW - MARIA COFFEY

I was blown away by the audaciousness of this epic family voyage, desperately wishing I was there with them. Kirkby’s writing offers a vivid exploration of culture, geography and relationships, but also, more urgently, of how we choose to live- and whether that’s possible to change.

Author of Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance - Alex Hutchinson

★ 08/01/2020

Television host Kirkby (The Dolphin's Tooth; Sand Dance) shares his vivid account of the journey he and his family took to stay at a Buddhist monastery high in the Himalayas as an effort to unplug and reconnect as a family. For them the journey was as important as the stay. They canoed away from their mountain home; took a cargo ship across to Korea; boarded a high-speed rail to China; and finally backpacked across the Himalayas at an altitude of around 14,000 feet, hoisting their sons and following mountain guides into the ever-higher peaks. The journey with their two young boys, one on the autism spectrum, and a camera crew from the Travel Channel sounds daunting at best. However, the trip bonds their family in the unique quality time it affords. Kirkby adeptly balances local history, culture, and travelog with personal family experiences. His decision to include his son's perspective shows the raw beauty of their interactions. VERDICT A breathtaking journey, both geographical and internal, Kirkby's blending of travelog of an already fascinatingly remote locale and personal family experience is unique and luminous. Will appeal to a wide range of readers.—Stacy Shaw, Denver

Library Journal

2020-07-22
A Canadian writer and adventurer’s travel narrative about a life-changing family trip to a remote Buddhist monastery in northern India.

Kirkby knew his life was out of balance when he realized he had become addicted to scrolling through social media websites on his phone at all hours of the day and night. Seeking to heal his “permanently fractured awareness,” he and his equally harried wife decided to take their two children to Karsha Gompa, a 1,000-year-old Buddhist monastery in the Zanskar Valley. There, the Tibetan Buddhism that had long fascinated Kirkby was still practiced in its most “intact [and] undiluted” form. One challenge the family faced was allowing cameramen from the Travel Channel, which partly funded their trip, to follow them. Kirkby worried that the scrutiny would be especially difficult for his son, Bodi, who is on the autism spectrum. Another challenge was the journey itself, which involved travel by container ship, train, and a high-altitude overland trek. Once in Karsha Gompa, the family stayed with a colorful leader at the monastery, Lama Wangyal. Kirkby and his wife became English teachers to the young novice monks who lived at the monastery, and his two computer-loving sons “filled their days with [games involving] sticks, rubber bands…and dried leaves.” At the same time, Bodi was able to use meditation to control the “anxiety caused by noise, people and changing routines.” The author and his family returned to Canada six months later feeling closer to each other, less beholden to technology, and deeply grateful to have observed an ancient culture in the throes of massive changes. As it explores an ancient—and dying—Tibetan Buddhist culture, this delightful book also tells a timely, heartwarming story of a family’s search for peace away from the din of modern culture.

Soul-refreshing reading for armchair travelers and spiritual questers alike.

Kirkus Reviews

"An uplifting travelogue. Poignant and gently provocative." -- "Publishers Weekly (starred)"

"As it explores an ancient--and dying--Tib etan Buddhist culture, this delightful book also tells a timely, heartwarming story of a family's search for peace away from the din of modern culture. Soul-refreshing reading for armchair travelers and spiritual questers alike."-- "Kirkus Review"

"Bruce Kirkby has lived the dream of the modern globe-trotting adventurer: crossing Arabian sand seas, sea-kayaking Iceland and Borneo, traversing Northern Mongolia on horseback. In Blue Sky Kingdom, Kirkby's wife and two young sons join him for a different kind of journey--to an isolated Buddhist monastery, yes, but also to the elusive and fragile heart of wisdom that we all hope to glimpse in this lifetime. What a heartfelt, lovely and kind book this is."--Daniel Duane, author of Caught Inside

"Kirkby deftly and emotionally describes the stakes. Raw and moving, it is the family's interior journey, and Bodi's especially, that displays the curative powers of adventure."-- "The New York Times Book Review"

A rollicking journey, full of insights on cultivating a nourishing, fully present life amidst so much noise and distraction.--BRAD STULBERG "Co-author of Peak Performance and The Passion Paradox"

Bruce Kirkby's chronicle of living in a remote Buddhist monastery with his family is by turns hilarious and enchanting. What a beautiful ode to impermanence, to the families we choose and the families we find and to the complicated wonders of a different, and fast-disappearing way of life.--Kate Harris "Author of Lands of Lost Borders: Out of Bounds on the Silk Road"

By any standards, it's a big adventure to travel the slow way across the world to a remote corner of the Himalaya and live there for months in a spartan Buddhist monastery--but taking young children along ramps it up to another level. Written with zest and clarity, Bruce's account is compelling, moving, funny and above all honest, sharing hardships and frustrations along with the joys and ultimate rewards.--Maria Coffey, author of Where the Mountain Casts its Shadow

Family adventure doesn't begin to describe what transpires in these pages. Kirkby and his remarkable family have built a bridge between the Rockies and the Himalaya, and in so doing spanned the gap between autism and Buddhism. In addition to being a manifestation of deepest love and devotion, this book is a time-bending journey through a landscape and culture that filled me with envy and sorrow by turns, while showing me things I have never seen described in a lifetime of reading. We are lucky to have someone as brave, generous, and open as Bruce Kirkby abroad in the world.--John Vaillant "The Tiger: A True Story of Vengeance and Survival"

I was blown away by the audaciousness of this epic family voyage, desperately wishing I was there with them. Kirkby's writing offers a vivid exploration of culture, geography and relationships, but also, more urgently, of how we choose to live- and whether that's possible to change.--Alex Hutchinson "Author of Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance"

In Blue Sky Kingdom, Bruce Kirkby not only takes us far across the world and deep inside a rarely seen culture, but also allows us an intimate view of his family, all while writing with tender honesty, penetrating insight and a delightful lack of bra-vado. Kirkby gently reminds us to breathe, embrace the unfamiliar and celebrate even the smallest of moments.--Jill Fredston "Author of Rowing to Latitude and Snowstruck"

In an era when countless demands make it increasingly easy to ignore people and engage instead with devices, Blue Sky Kingdom provides a much-needed call back to the physical world.--Darcy Gaechter "Author of Amazon Woman"

Insightful and adventurous, Blue Sky Kingdom offers a road map on how to learn from the world ... There is wisdom in this book. Open it and let your imagination soar.--Conrad Anker "Acclaimed American Aplinist"

From the Publisher

I was blown away by the audaciousness of this epic family voyage, desperately wishing I was there with them. Kirkby’s writing offers a vivid exploration of culture, geography and relationships, but also, more urgently, of how we choose to live- and whether that’s possible to change.

Author of Endure: Mind, Body and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance - Alex Hutchinson