According to Osho, there was no 'end' of Neo-Sannyas to coincide with any date; he only stopped it calcifying into a religion. A movement must remain alive, individual, and evolving; what was cremated was the dead structure imposed in his absence, not the spirit. Sannyas continues as religionless religiousness—friends, not followers—so calendar coincidences are irrelevant compared with freeing growth from labels and institutions.
It didn’t end; he just threw away the rigid religion cage so the living spirit can keep growing.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
September 28, 1970 was a memorable day. At Manali in the Himalayas, Osho initiated His first group of sannyasins. This event was followed by this special evening discourse, on the significance of Neo Sannyas. To me, sannyas does not mean renunciation; it means a journey to joy bliss. To me, sannyas is not any kind of negation; it is a positive attainment. But up to now, the world over, sannyas has been seen in a very negative sense, in the sense of giving up, of renouncing. I, for one, see sannyas as something positive and affirmative, something to be achieved, to be treasured. It is true that when someone carrying base stones as his treasure comes upon a set of precious stones, he immediately drops the baser ones from his hands. He drops the baser stones only to make room for the newfound precious stones. It is not renunciation.
(On 26 September 1970 in Manali, Osho inaugurated “Neo‑Sannyas.” Some sixteen people received initiation into Neo‑Sannyas from him. On the night of 28 September 1970, in an additional meeting, Osho gave this special talk on Neo‑Sannyas.) For me, sannyas is not renunciation but rejoicing. Sannyas is not a prohibition, it is an attainment. Yet until now the earth has seen sannyas only in a negative sense—about giving up, about leaving, not about receiving. I see sannyas as receiving. Certainly, when someone finds diamonds and jewels they drop the pebbles. But dropping the pebbles simply means making room for the diamonds. We do not “renounce” pebbles; we renounce only what we value greatly. Pebbles are thrown out the way we throw trash out of the house—we don’t keep accounts of how much trash we have renounced. Up to now sannyas has kept accounts of what is dropped.
What is neo-sannyas all about?
Neo-sannyas is an effort to introduce the concept of 'sannyas without any renunciation of the world'. To me, India has given only one thing to the world, to human consciousness, and that is the concept of sannyas the concept of renunciation. But this renouncing can be one of two things. It can be of the world. Then it becomes negative: it becomes life-denying; it goes against life. To me that negative, life-denying aspect of sannyas is a disease. And because of that life-denying aspect, sannyas, religion, has suffered much. It couldn't become a major part of life, it couldn't become a part of human consciousness. The main current of it is life-denying. Neo-sannyas is a total yes to everything in life -- including everything that gives you higher consciousness, including everything that gives you a nearness to the divine, including everything that has been denied only because it was life-affirming.…
A friend has asked: Osho, you said about a wayward son that one should let him pass through his experiences, and he will learn on his own. But even after experiencing, he still prefers the same thing—someone is asking about his wayward son—no matter how much suffering he has to endure, even if death itself should come, still he does the same. After stumbling again and again, he repeats it. What can be done? How to reform him?
You will not be able to reform him. If life cannot reform him, if even death cannot reform him, what will you be able to do? If what you say is true—that again and again, even after suffering, he does the same thing; even if death comes, he will still do the same thing, and he does not change—then take your hands off. You will not be able to reform him. You cannot be stronger than death. And one who does not learn from suffering—what will he learn from you? Do not call him a wayward son. You have found yourself a Jadabharata. Because those whom suffering does not reform, whom even death does not reform—these are great, arrived masters; they are in the ultimate state. Do not even try to reform such a one. And why are you so eager to reform another? It is enough to reform yourself.…
To me, sannyas is not something very serious. Life itself is not very serious, and one who is serious is always dead. Life is just an overflowing energy without any purpose, so to me, sannyas is to lead life purposelessly. Live life as a play and not as a work. If you can take this whole life just as a play, you are a sannyasin; then you have renounced. Renunciation is not leaving the world, but changing the attitude. That is why I can initiate anyone into sannyas. To me, initiation itself is a play. And I will not ask for any qualifications -- whether you are qualified or not -- because qualifications are asked when something serious is done.