In the 1980s, 'Independent Arts' ran an ambitious and extremely impressive Arts program through the Croydon Buddhist Centre in London. Here's a first offering from the archive of recordings - an open conversation between Sangharakshita, founder of the Western Buddhist Order, and the renowned poet and scholar Kathleen Raine, one of the founders of the Temenos Academy.

The occasion was the launch of Sangharakshita's book 'The Religion of Art' - and the discussion ranges widely and, at times, controversially through the subject of the Arts considered as a vehicle for spiritual truths. It's full of talking points and challenges to contemporary orthodoxies around art theory. But whatever one's take on the views of the participants, this is a marvellous record of a unique meeting of minds.

Sangharakshita in Conversation with Kathleen Raine, Triratna Arts, 1988.

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