Nobel Prize-winning Author's Masterpiece "Kim" ▎The Adventure of a Monk and a Boy
Nobel Prize-winning Author Kipling's Masterpiece "Kim"
"This is his sea, ever-changing—
This is his sea, yet unchanging—
Whether calm or storm-tossed.
Those who yearn for the mountains,
So fiercely crave their own peak!"
— *Kim*, Chapter 12
In 1901, Kipling completed his last novel, *Kim*. As the serialized version had already generated a tremendous response among readers, the century-old British publishing house Macmillan & Co. Ltd released the novel in a single-volume edition with great fanfare in October of the same year.
“Pearl of Searching” 1924
Nicholas Roerich（Russian, 1874–1947）
In July 1998, Modern Library included Kim in its list of the 100 Best English-language Novels of the 20th Century, ranking it 78th. In 2003, during BBC's "The Big Read" campaign to raise public awareness and interest in reading, Kim rightfully claimed top honors once again.
Cover of the foreign edition of the novel *Kim* Photo: Pinterest
This novel is now universally acknowledged as Kipling's finest work and is even considered the best English-language novel about India. The literary giant Mark Twain praised Kipling's writing thus: "They have never faded for me; they keep their bloom; they are always fresh."
In 1907, the Swedish Academy awarded that year's Nobel Prize in Literature to Kipling, recognizing his "power of observation, originality of imagination, virility of ideas and remarkable talent for narration."
Kipling's unique background meant he could not easily avoid the cultural context of colonial India, which profoundly influenced his upbringing. The novel Kim exhaustively documents and depicts the all-encompassing social landscape of India during this period. Simultaneously, as a crucial spiritual core essential to the novel, Kipling builds the story around fundamental concepts from Buddhist culture—animism, reincarnation, and karma—to explore these themes.
"To go to the hills is to go to Mother's bosom."
— *Kim*, Chapter 13
The Wonderful Adventures of Young Kim
If Kipling's novel *Kim* were viewed merely as a youthful adventure tale filled with risks and marvels, the story might not seem particularly original. However, what sets the novel apart is the parallel narrative woven alongside the main plot—the profound and tender companionship between Kim and the Tibetan lama, Teshoo. This bond elevates the novel's tone and scope. Beneath the coming-of-age exterior, the story is infused with the soul of religious philosophy. It is like ascending a mountain peak beyond the clouded ridges, revealing an entirely different vista.
“Remember” 1924
The story is set in late 19th-century colonial India, a land where multiple ethnicities, religions, languages, and customs thrived and intermingled—a vibrant fusion of diverse cultures. Hence, it earned the name "The Museum of Human Races."
Mid-19th century Lahore Alamgiri Gate
by Henry Ambrose Oldfield
Against the backdrop of this unique era, the perilous struggles and plunder of the modern West stood in stark contrast to the serene, mystical aura of ancient Eastern religious culture pervading the land—yet the two became intricately intertwined. Kim, the orphaned son of an Irish soldier stationed in India, was a child favored by fate, destined for greatness under his father’s expectations and an astrologer’s prophecy that a red bull would emerge from the fields to elevate his fortunes. From the very beginning, he appeared as a free-spirited child of the earth, roaming unrestrained through this strange, vibrant, and mistily ambiguous tapestry.
Late 19th-century Lahore city watercolor
by Alfred Harcourt
On the other hand, Teshoo, a Tibetan lama who had wandered for forty years in search of a river mentioned in Buddhist scriptures—one said to cleanse a lifetime of sins—journeyed across the Himalayas to this land. He sought to "trace the sacred sites once touched by the Buddha’s footsteps and drink from the Fountain of Wisdom," praying to "tread the Path of Liberation and break free from the Wheel of Rebirth."
Illustrations from the French edition of *Kim*, 1936
by French artist Auguste Leroux
By a wondrous twist of fate, a destined encounter unfolded between the old man and the boy. During their shared journey of seeking, Kim gained not only an unforgettable friendship but also learned the responsibilities and duties befitting a man. More importantly, through the lama's earnest teachings, he underwent a spiritual baptism—evolving and transforming. From then on, he could regard all living beings with a heart brimming with compassion and unconditional love.
Kipling’s writing often feels like a magician’s sleight of hand. He effortlessly shifts between two distinct styles. One moment, the cunning struggles of the mortal world dissolve like a fevered dream, and the next, readers are quietly led past illusions into a serene and sacred realm. The luminous, soul-stirring insights are always conveyed with Kipling’s exquisite and profound prose.
Mid-19th century Kanheri Caves
Image: The British Library Board
Himalayan sage
Years of spiritual practice had imbued Lama Teshoo with a perpetual aura of serenity and mystery. The allure of his wisdom lingered like a distant fragrance, subtly transporting those around him into the depths of an ancient mountain monastery—where one seemed to sit at the feet of a sage, listening to sacred teachings, undergoing purification and renewal of the soul again and again.
1930 illustration for the novel *Kim*
by French artist François-Louis Schmied
In Teshoo Lama's eyes, "The forms of flesh are countless—some pleasing, some repulsive—yet all are equally worthless in truth. And those foolish souls, servants of the pigeon, the snake, and the pig (symbolizing greed, anger, and delusion in Buddhism)—who crave betel nuts, desire a pair of oxen, lust after women, or seek royal favor—are doomed to follow their flesh to heaven or hell, bound endlessly to the Wheel of Rebirth."
Teshoo Lama believed all physical forms, whether repulsive or pleasing, held no value because he understood that the material human body is finite and unreliable—an illusion that deludes the ignorant, clinging to false attachments and hindering spiritual transcendence. "Know this: the world teems with lies and liars. But the most cunning deceiver of all is our own flesh."
1951 film adaptation of *Kim* directed by Victor Saville
with Paul Lukas as the Lama
The lama compared the human body to a bewildering beast—yet this beast is but an illusion, one that often "masquerades as the soul, tarnishing the Dharma and summoning needless demons." Just as a single substance may assume countless forms under different conditions, its essence remains unchanged.
Only by seeing through and shattering the obscuring fog of desire and delusion, by contemplating the causes of all things with a clear mind, can one break free from the chains of rebirth, life after life.
AI-generated novel scene
Image: EpicTales AudioBooks
The human body can be a vessel for precious enlightenment, yet this heavy flesh often ensnares us in illusions, trapping us in a mire of suffering. In the eyes of the wise, life is like a boat of the soul adrift on waters of illusion. Only by forgetting the foolish flesh and piercing through the endless veils of delusion can one truly open the gate to wisdom and step through the door of liberation.
Thus, his "spirit soared far above the body," devoting his entire life to the pursuit of the divine.
Cover of Kim
The Wheel of Life
In moments of leisure, the Lama would often draw a painting called "The Wheel of Life."
In his belief, every human action invisibly turns this wheel, where virtuous and malevolent thoughts determine the realm in which the next life begins. Each deed ripples outward like concentric waves—one vibration triggering another—symbolizing karma and its consequences. Thus, one must uphold right mindfulness as a guiding principle to avoid accumulating negative karma.
The Wheel of Life
Image: nirvanic-dreamer
"He was like a scholar who had cast aside vanity and pretension, a humble seeker moving forward, a wise and gentle elder whose profound insights illuminated the path of knowledge." In the novel, Kim's impulsive and fiery temperament is gradually tempered under the Lama's quiet wisdom, much like Sun Wukong's journey with Tang Sanzang to the West. The Lama teaches Kim to restrain his actions, abandon arrogance, and forever maintain reverence.
During their shared journey of seeking, whenever they encountered those who treated them with disdain, mockery, scorn, or outright hostility, the Lama would say to Kim—who often grew angry and sought retribution—*"Yet they remain trapped in the cycle of rebirth, condemned to endure the world's suffering again and again. This is not true strength."* The Lama's first instinct toward hostility was not anger, but compassion—and even self-reproach for being unable to help them break free.
"I must return to my disciple, lest he lose his way."
Reflect on one's words and deeds, and contemplate how to truly steer relationships toward a positive and constructive path—rather than allowing the mind to be overwhelmed by surging emotions. Through these words, the speech, thoughts, and actions are subtly refined by the noble souls they shape. Such is the profound guidance a wise and precious book can offer.
Kipling's nostalgia
Joseph Rudyard Kipling，1865—1936
Born in India in the latter half of the 19th century as a British subject, Kipling inherently carried the identity of a colonizer—a circumstance beyond his choosing. Yet in his writing, much like the Lama Teshoo in his novel, he did not assert superiority or promote divisive notions of culture, race, religion, or class. Instead, his profound emotional connection to Indian culture instinctively led him to subordinate political ideology to artistic expression. With a natural and composed attitude, he respected, observed, and sought to understand the dazzling diversity born from the collision and fusion of cultures on this land.
Kipling's study
Image: the style for wanderlust blog
Even in his later years, Kipling vividly remembered the complex yet intense exoticism he experienced as a child, carried through the streets of Bombay and Lahore by Indian servants. The impression India left on the young Kipling was one of heat, chaos, and tension—yet also countless wondrous and enchanting things. "The air was thick with the scent of ghee, temple incense, sweat, and spices, but also with darkness, filth, desire, and cruelty lurking beneath it all."
1930 illustration for the novel *Kim*
by French painter François-Louis Schmied
Kipling's feelings toward his birthplace, India, were complex. He seemed to carry an inescapable nostalgia for the land throughout his life. Even during periods when he faced criticism for allegedly failing to truthfully depict India's colonial history in his novels, deep in his heart—and evident in his works—the exotic culture of India remained a source of fascination and passion, profoundly ingrained in his blood and shaping his very soul.
Lotus pond in Kipling's garden
Image: the style for wanderlust blog
"The pure land is everywhere underfoot."
"Whether material or spiritual, worldly engagement or transcendence—which choice truly serves as the measure of life's meaning and value?" This fundamental philosophical question inevitably confronts every individual at some stage of their existence, regardless of era. One might argue that the more chaotic and alienating the times, the more urgent the inquiry into self-discovery and spiritual belonging becomes.
As seen in the mid-to-late 20th century, when D.T. Suzuki and Chögyam Trungpa established Buddhist lineages in the West, poet Allen Ginsberg—pioneering among the Beat Generation—immersed himself in Eastern philosophy and religion. Likewise, Jack Kerouac, through his novel *The Dharma Bums*, pursued "a singular Buddhist worldview to reclaim life’s intuition, purity, and beauty." Amid the disoriented and restless social climate, a wave of spiritual exploration and practice emerged—a quest to rediscover the lost self, reconnect with primordial nature, end the soul’s weary pilgrimage, and anchor the anxious, hollow spirit toward wholeness.
*The Dharma Bums* (French edition)
by Jack Kerouac
Can ultimate material satisfaction bring permanent happiness? Does learning to "earn money by shedding pride," as trending short videos claim, truly signify maturity? There may be no definitive answers to serve as universal life standards. Yet, the themes explored in Kipling’s novels still offer precious inner revelations to modern readers. The wise do not preach theories but allow one to walk alongside the characters and, through their journey, discover one’s own path and make one’s own choices. As the philosopher and spiritual teacher G.I. Gurdjieff said, "Understanding cannot be given. It is not the result of thinking—it comes from intuition."
The novel’s conclusion is divine and enchanting. For Kim, it is as if he awakens from a century-long slumber, touching and sensing the essence of life for the first time—*"The pure land is everywhere underfoot... It is not the vibrant grasses, already fading, that hold the seeds of life, but this expectant soil... Kim’s head drooped weakly against the breast of Mother Earth, his outstretched arms surrendering to her strength."* As for the Lama Teshoo, *"Having found the Great Soul, I became all things. Through millennia of meditation, empty of thought, I perceived the causes of all existence."* Like a drop merging into the ocean, the sage now transcends life and death.
1930 illustration for the novel *Kim*
by French painter François-Louis Schmied
What one tirelessly seeks does not lie on some distant, illusory shore. In truth, there exists no utopian "other side" opposed to suffering—no duality at all. The pure land has always been underfoot, within the heart, amid the dust of the mundane world. The master and disciple’s long journey did not conclude at a tangible destination, yet it was undeniably complete. For they had traversed mountains and rivers to lift the final veil obscuring the mind—and the world revealed within their hearts would forever after be utterly transformed.
1930 illustration for the novel *Kim*
by French painter François-Louis Schmied
