Anand Parmartha, who has edited Sannyas News for the past 18 years, died peacefully on July 20 at the age of 73. He had been ill for some months with cancer, which he bore with a wonderful stoicism.

A celebration of Parmartha’s life, with a final farewell, will take place at the St Marylebone Crematorium, East End Road, Finchley, London, N2 0RZ, at 12 noon on Wednesday, August 15. It will be followed from 1.45 pm by a reception at the Five Bells public house, which is about half a mile to the east on the same road.

You are requested not to bring flowers. Instead there will be a collection at the ceremony for Freedom from Torture, the charity for which Parmartha worked.

Please email sannyasnews@gmail.com if you plan to attend so that numbers can be assessed for catering.

Parmartha, born Clive Critchley, was a much-loved stalwart of the community of sannyasins and their friends in London, and a prime mover of their regular Saturday-morning gathering and meditation at the Queen’s Wood cafe, Muswell Hill. Through Sannyas News, he was also in contact with sannyasins across the world.

A full obituary by Pankaja can be found here.

Parmartha’s death leaves a serious gap on Sannyas News. He was the last survivor of the three friends who founded the site in 2000. Paritosh (Chris Grey), who wrote the books The Life of Osho and The Acid under the pen name Sam, died in 2009. Dharmen (Brian Hemmings) died in May last year after a long illness, leaving Sannyas News without its technical expert.

Regular readers will have noticed that the site has been less active for some time as a result of Parmartha’s illness, and earlier this year it went offline completely for a few weeks for lack of maintenance. Sadly, the disruption meant that his own news site was the last to report his death. Apologies for that.

Sannyas News will remain online for the time being but if it is to continue more people will have to get involved on a voluntary basis. Someone familiar with WordPress, or wishing to learn, would be particularly welcome. But we’d love to hear from anyone willing to put energy into the magazine in the form of ideas, articles and subediting. If you are interested please email sannyasnews@gmail.com