Self and Society

This discussion examines the tension between personal autonomy and collective life, as explored across two novels, The Convert and Bhiku and His Bowl. In this moderated session, the two authors come together to reflect on what they see as a quiet loss of spirituality within modern communes, set against the growing dominance of organised religion, followed by questions from the audience.

Both novels draw their ethical frameworks from native religious histories, treated not as systems of divine order but as moral architectures for imagining harmonious, communal life. Their relevance lies in…