Did a little work for the office in the afternoon. Quite a hot day today. I’m thinking how to create an autonomous personal space in the cosmos, and am partially succeeding at this here in South India. My sitting mat defines this personal space. My bag has all the few things that I need: sitting mat, filter water bottle, phone – which does just about everything. Perhaps I should use it for keeping this journal. And, back in the house, a few more things. I think this may be the trend in the coming difficult age of enforced austerity, as the world becomes harder to inhabit. South India is certainly a good testing ground for global warming.
Sannyasa has meaning only in the context of adwaita vedanta, but it stems from a much older tradition of parivajak and hermit ascetics These too were masters at managing with the bare minimum of possessions, while living in a totally independent way with the cosmos. Because there is of course no true ability to live in any self-contained way: one takes as one’s garb the earth, its waters, the sky. We are simply seeking a modern paradigm for this.