How to deal with obstacles from friends and loved ones when taking sannyas?

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 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! By my own understanding I had come prepared to take sannyas. After coming here my wife raised strong opposition, so I postponed it at once. Now it seems I myself colluded in this. The momentum has ebbed. Perhaps I could not gather enough enthusiasm to take the plunge. I am unhappy. Kindly bestow a solution.

So when I read Dinkar’s poems of immortality I am astonished—because I knew him. When he came to me, he was very frightened of death, trembling with fear. Yet in his poems he spoke of the immortality of the soul. There is a reason: this often happens. The poet may not have the experience, but he has the capacity to express it; the experience itself he does not have. The rishis have the experience, but sometimes they lack the capacity to express it. When, by grace, a rishi and a poet are one and the same, a sadguru is born. Usually it is not so. Poets can say, but do not know. Rishis know, but cannot say. When one who knows can also say, then a sadguru is born. Sadguru means: one who has known and can also cause it to be known; one who has experienced the void and…

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, the world is duality; all the laws of the world stand upon opposites. Then why are we instructed to be beyond duality? Are we outside the world?

You are not—but you can be. And no one is preaching to you to be outside the world. You yourself come asking, “I am surrounded by duality, there is great restlessness—what should I do?” If you remain in duality, restlessness will remain, because wherever there are two, there will be conflict. There is an old saying: where there are pots, there will be some clatter. Until only one remains, peace is not possible. No one is telling you, “Become beyond duality.” You come asking, “The mind is disturbed, tormented, unhappy—what should I do?” You ask; therefore I say: you are unhappy because you are still with two. Somehow the One has to be found. Find the One and the unrest will vanish. That is why Mahavira gave liberation the name kaivalya. He chose a very beautiful word. Kaivalya means utterly alone—only you, no other. Consciousness alone remains. Then with whom…