Is life an assortment of games that we play, and our only mistake is when we take them seriously? Perhaps the monk is the only rational person in the world, choosing to bow out of the game(s)?
No. Monks also have their games. Material nature works the same magic (samsara), regardless whether you identify with the enjoyment of it or the renunciation of it (since, ultimately, we have no relationship with material energy). You could argue that the path of renunciation is slightly better since it offers "breathing space" to affirm a proper identity or at least attitude in relation to God, but if you don't take that opportunity, the result is the same.
Then you're playing the game of farming, and trying to support that effort. One game leads to another.
Unless they are controlling the weather, and everything else that goes into the veggie patch, not at all. You could talk about being independent from other humans (at least as far as vegetable growing goes), but "self" sufficiency is not an option in this or any other world. No matter how much we huff and puff, we never get bigger than unlimitedly limited.
