What happens to those who become sannyasins without experiencing life's ups and downs?

Osho, you have said that one must pass through the experiences of the world. People like me became sannyasins without passing through life’s sun and shade. Kindly tell us what will happen to us?

First of all, my understanding of sannyas is not against the world. So by joining my sannyas you are not stepping out of life’s sun and shade. On the contrary: the world is only sun, sun—now you have included shade as well. By joining my sannyas you have not left the world; you have gained sannyas. Understand this well. The world was nothing but blazing sun; now I have given you the shade of sannyas too. When you have the strength, walk in the sun; when you are tired, rest in the shade. I have given you meditation; I have not made you drop the world. I have given you something; I have not taken anything away. Therefore, the possibility of experience has increased for you. If you had remained only in the world, you would have only the world’s experience; now you will also have the experience of sannyas.…

Firstly, it is a long time that sannyas has remained isolated from the world, and consequently it has been doubly harmed. A sannyasin living completely cut off from the world, living in utter isolation from the world, becomes poor, and his poverty is very deep and subtle, because the wealth of all our life's experiences lies in the world, not outside. All our experiences of pain and pleasure, attachment and detachment, hate and love, enmity and friendship, war and peace, come from the world itself. So when a man breaks away from the world, he becomes a hothouse plant, he ceases to be a flower that blooms under the sun and the open sky. By now, sannyas has become a hothouse plant. And such a sannyas cannot live any longer. Sannyas cannot be grown in hothouses. To grow and blossom, the plant of sannyas needs an open sky.

Anand Rishi has asked me how we should meditate. Sushil Muni has asked me how we should meditate. Vinoba Bhave has asked me how we should meditate. And all these people are the ones making others meditate. All these people are explaining meditation to others. These are your knowers of Brahman! They themselves know nothing of meditation; they have no personal experience. But everything is written in the books—read it and keep repeating like parrots. Very easy. Where is the difficulty?

Those you must have gone to have been just such people. In this country there is so much spirituality floating around that you cannot keep count of it. It’s all rubbish! Now you have come to the edge of the sword—if you have the courage, your head will be cut off. Though I will cut it off only after asking you; with your consent; only if you say yes. Kabir has said: Kabir stands in the marketplace, torch in hand. Whoever will burn his own house, come along with me. Whoever has the courage—I’m standing in the marketplace with a club—whoever has the courage to set fire to his house, to blow up his house, let him come with me. This is the business of burning the house. And if you have come here to pick up some cheap recipe, you are mistaken. People think I have made sannyas very…

In the East we have a long tradition, a ten-thousand-years long tradition at least, of thousands of awakened people working. That's why nobody was crucified like Jesus. In India he learned the art of awakening people. For eighteen years he was travelling in the East, that's why for eighteen years the Bible has no account of him. The Bible remembers him when he is twelve, and then suddenly the Bible remembers him when he is thirty. Eighteen years' gap is there, and they don't have any way to explain what happened in these eighteen years. Eighteen years is a long time in the life of a man who lived only thirty-three years; eighteen years is his whole life! He was travelling in the East from Egypt to India, continuously being with many awakened masters, so he learned one thing, that people have to be awakened.

Osho, is sannyas a human possibility or an ultimate destiny? Please tell us.

Those great knowers said “it will happen, it is going to happen” and emphasized it strongly to wake you from sleep: if it is going to happen anyway, then let it happen now. Why delay? Why postpone it till tomorrow? If it is going to happen tomorrow, let it happen today. Why suffer till tomorrow? Why endure anguish till tomorrow? Let it be today. Accept it today. If it is going to be anyway, why erect obstacles? All your obstacles will break and the event will occur. The wise said: do not create obstacles—that was their purpose when they said sannyas is destiny. And they also said it so that, if you understand destiny, you will be freed from the past. The moment you see that someone abused you yesterday and that it was bound to happen, then the abuser bears no responsibility. It had to be. That abuse was…