Why does a sannyasin's life not change fundamentally after receiving sannyas?

Osho, you said that the moment you give sannyas you set us free. But why is it that, even after being set free, the life of a sannyasin does not change from the very roots? As it is, even after sannyas he still lives in his old state of mind. Sometimes he even falls below the ordinary level. Why doesn’t the fragrance of liberation instantly make him an honest, great human being? Doesn’t this indicate “sanchit,” that everything is bound by past karma, preordained?

A gentleman came and said, “I meditate so much, yet my body keeps aging. A meditator’s body shouldn’t age!” These are your “root-level” revolutions! A meditator’s body shouldn’t age? What is wrong with old age? Whoever is young will grow old. A meditator too will grow old. A meditator too will die. The only difference: when he grows old, he remains a witness—knowing the one aging is not “I.” And when he dies, he dies awake—knowing the one that is dying was his body, not he. Death will happen. Otherwise Buddha, Mahavira, Krishna, Mohammed, Christ—none would ever have died. Being meditators, how could they? A meditator attains the immortal! Then he could not die, nor grow old. You are entangled in falsehoods and have hoarded the trivial within. I try in every way to snatch these trivialities from you, and you hide them away in some corner. In truth I…

Osho, sannyas was born in this land; it was granted the dignity of Gaurishankar (Everest). But today its honor has become merely superficial. Inside, the individual and society alike are afraid of it. Why have sannyas and the sannyasin lost their meaning? Please explain.

In my sannyas there is no prohibition—no “leave this, run from that.” Awakening is enough. Cowards run. Those who awaken remain where they are and are free there. My sannyas does not want to give you knowledge; it wants to give you meditation. Meditation means emptiness; it means: I do not know. Life is such an ultimate mystery that nothing definitive can be known about it. And I want to give sannyas a new posture—creativity. I will call him a sannyasin who sings a new song; who strikes a new music from the veena; who dances a new dance; who makes this world a little more beautiful, brings a little more blessedness to the earth. Then sannyas can regain its dignity. And I would have the sannyasin not imitate. Listen, understand, contemplate—but live from your own individuality. Therefore I give my sannyasins no codes of conduct—only processes to awaken the…

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.

That's what sannyas is: becoming a child again again reclaiming the innocence of childhood which the society has destroyed. It will be difficult, because to live with people who live in lies, without lies living with them is difficult. People who are all pseudo and phony, to live with them as true is to invite danger -- but it is worth. This life is bound to go, so even if one has to sacrifice one's life for truth one should not be worried about it. Truth is far more valuable than life itself because life ends in death but truth never ends. Truth is eternal, timeless, deathless. Manoj Bharti. One thing to be remembered: that from this moment meditation becomes your goal; everything else is secondary. So arrange your life in such a way that everything revolves around meditation.

First, a few things about sannyas.... It is an initiation into the formless. It is not an initiation into some rigid form, it is not giving you a certain discipline -- on the contrary it is an initiation into freedom, into a formless creative chaos. The old concept of sannyas all over the world was to give you a rigid discipline, to give you a character, to give you a certain form, a pattern, a life style. My sannyas is not like that at all; it is a radical charge. I don't give you any character, because to me the man of character is a dead man. I would like to take all character from you so you are left in a creative chaos... so each moment one has to respond to life, not out of a certain pattern.