How can I overcome obstacles in my sannyas practice?

Yesterday a friend asked: I want to take sannyas. I have complete faith and feeling. But there are a few obstacles. I won’t be able to wear the full ochre robes. If I wear just one garment, will that do?

It’s no bigger than a fly. What obstacle can there be in this world—to wearing ochre robes? Yes, there will be a few hurdles; I can understand. But nothing bigger than a fly. People will laugh for a couple of days. The wife might say you’ve gone crazy! The children will say, “Father, we didn’t expect this of you!” Friends will say, “A man as intelligent and sensible as you—what net have you fallen into?” People will laugh a little—so what? How long do people laugh? Where do they have the time? No one is going to sit around thinking only about you! What obstacle will there be? Perhaps the wife will be annoyed for a day or two. Perhaps for a day or two the tea will be served cold, the food stale. And what else is going to happen? What is an obstacle? An obstacle cannot be of…

Osho, for years I have been thinking about taking sannyas, but some obstacle or other arises and I stop. What should I do, what should I not do? You tell me. And also tell me what God is—who is God?

What will happen if I tell you? You will think again. Will you follow what I say? If you could have, would you have delayed for years? I am saying the same thing every day—unceasingly I tell you: Wake up. But you say, a beautiful dream is going on—how can I wake up now? Let it complete. This sleep is so sweet, the music of slumber and trance so honeyed: don’t wake me yet. You turn over once more, pull the blanket over you, and go back to sleep. And you will repent, greatly repent, because whatever time has slipped away is gone; it cannot be returned. Do not delay any more—that much I can say. You have already delayed too long; do not delay further. If the longing for sannyas has arisen, do not let this seed remain a seed—let it sprout, let it become real. And you ask:…

Osho, ego is the greatest obstacle to taking sannyas. How can it be removed? The ego-sense does not go.

Ego has no reality. Then how to define it? Understand ego in this way: when you look outward, there is ego; when you look inward, ego departs. Enter meditation; drop the very worry of fighting with ego. Fighting the ego is like someone fighting darkness—pushing at it, trying to throw it out. No, I say, light a lamp. Enter meditation, enter prayer; light the lamp—turn within. Close your eyes and begin to look inside—what is there? You will discover one thing: you will never find the ego. And where there is no ego, there is the Divine. The Divine is your true nature; ego is your delusion. As someone sees a rope and takes it for a snake—or sees a snake in a rope—so is ego: a mis-seeing. To see what is, as it is—that is God-experience. And certainly, ego is the greatest obstacle to taking sannyas. But sannyas is…

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…