Can one take sannyas without permission from the family?

Osho, I want to take sannyas, but can one take sannyas without taking permission from the family?

Sannyas—whose permission will you take? Are those from whom you’ll ask permission themselves sannyasins? If they could bless your sannyas with such joy, they would have become sannyasins already. Would they have waited until now? How will you ask their leave? And how will it be granted? Even for sannyas you will seek permission from the household? Then will you ever do anything that is truly yours? Or will you go on forever obeying others’ orders? Let there be at least something in life that is yours—utterly yours. Do not reduce sannyas to someone else’s command. Let it remain a movement of your own heart. If the wave has arisen, dive in. And don’t be afraid. Families come around. Even if you die, they reconcile. Then what is sannyas in comparison? Do you think if you die, they will weep for you forever? And my sannyas does not snatch you…

Osho, I want to be initiated into sannyas; I am wholly prepared in mind, but I am holding back so that my family may not be hurt. And you also say that it is right to live compassionately.

Moment to moment, instant to instant, give yourself— this is the meaning of life. The more one gives, the more capable one becomes. The more one gives, the more one truly lives. If the rain-cloud does not rain, even full, it remains empty. So let us live life, pour out the goblet of our life-essence. It will not be exhausted; it is not yet filled to the brim— how many oceans dwell in each pitcher! What is a river, except to flow? Life is barren without giving. When greenery awakens from the current, the current’s flowing doubles. My sannyas is the art of living. It is a device for sharing love. This sannyas is not world-denying. In my vision there is no enmity between God and the world. How could there be? Enmity between the musician and his music? Between the poet and his poetry? Between the painter and his…

Osho, I do want to take sannyas, but I am very frightened of the world. If I take sannyas, will I be able to withstand the whirlwinds that will rise around me or not? Please reassure me.

Sannyas means: stepping into insecurity. Sannyas means: placing your feet in the unknown. Sannyas means: leaving the known, falling in love with the unknowable. How can I reassure you? The whirlwind will arise. My reassurance would be a lie. I can only say this much: the whirlwind is certain to arise—it should arise. If it does not, how will sannyas ripen? If there is no sun, no heat, how will the fruit ripen? If no wind blows, no storm arises, the trees will lose their spine. Only by bearing the gusts of storm and gale does a tree grow sturdy. The whirlwind will arise. I can assure you of at least this much: be absolutely certain, don’t worry in the least—the whirlwind will arise. And it will be far greater than you imagine. Nor will it be that it comes today and is gone tomorrow. As long as you live,…

Osho, I want to take sannyas, but friends and loved ones are becoming obstacles! What should I do?

They would not be friends, nor loved ones. Those who do not grant you the freedom to be yourself can be neither friends nor loved ones. The very meaning of friendship is that we care for the other so much that whatever they wish to become, we will give them freedom. And the meaning of a loved one is: whichever direction you wish to go, wherever your joy lies, our blessings will be with you—even if we do not agree in our opinions. Love liberates. And that which does not liberate is not love. I am not telling you to take sannyas. I would only say this—whatever your inner feeling is, move toward it with courage. If it is for sannyas, then toward sannyas; if it is for the world, then toward the world. Do not make another the decider. Do not place the decision in someone else’s hands. Otherwise…

Osho, I have heard that a seeker has to pass through four stages of sadhana: tariqat, shari’at, marifat, and haqiqat. The last is haqiqat, where the seeker meets his beloved and comes face to face with Truth. Osho, please explain the first three states.

These words are from the Sufis—very significant, and very straightforward. The first is tariqat. Tariqat means: the way, the method, the discipline, the means, the yoga. Tariqat means: something has to be done; only then will you attain—without doing, you will not receive. One has to walk a path; find the way; make a footpath. One has to bring some discipline into life, give it an order. Tariqat means learning the way to become worthy of it. When you go to have an audience with an emperor, you learn the etiquette of his court. You don’t just walk in. If you do, you will not be accepted. You learn how to sit there, how to stand there, how to bow there. If you are going to meet an emperor, you must taste something of the flavor of the emperor’s way of life. If you are going to meet the Divine,…