Philip Coggan Talks about Spirit Worlds: Cambodia, The Buddha and the Naga

On Thursday May 26 Philip Coggan will talk about his book, Spirit Worlds: Cambodia, the Buddha & the Naga, which provides an overview of Cambodian spiritual belief and its role in society.

Traditional Cambodian religion is a product of the villages: the monasteries and the spirits belong to this tiny world and serve to tie it together by providing community and law in a society that has very little of either. But modern Cambodia is changing rapidly. People are moving to the city, roads and television and market economics and land-grabbing and political parties are breaking down the old self-sufficiency. Can the old Cambodia survive?

Making extensive use of interviews with ordinary Cambodians, Spirit Worlds touches on topics ranging from the roots of patronage and corruption, to the question of how a culture that values non-violence and abhors killing could have incubated the Khmer Rouge genocide, and the role beliefs about reincarnation and kingship can play in the country & future political evolution.

About the Author:

Philip Coggan served in Australian embassies in Bangladesh, Burma and Iraq and with the United Nations in Iraq and Morocco before working as a freelance journalist based in Cambodia. Spirit Worlds: Cambodia, the Buddha & the Naga is his first book, and originated in his frustration at the lack of a guide that could explain the complex weave of Buddhism, spirits and ghosts that underpin Cambodian society.

He spent six months researching the book, travelling the length and breadth of the Kingdom to interview everyone from monks and shamans to high-ranking officials in the religious bureaucracy. Along the way, he had many interesting encounters, including a girl who lives with spirits.

When: 6pm Thursday May 26th

Where: Asia Bookroom, Lawry Place, Macquarie (adjacent to the Jamison Centre in Belconnen).

RSVP: By May 25th to Asia Bookroom on 62515191 or books@Asiabookroom.com

Admission: By gold coin donation to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation