According to Osho, the very urge to declare oneself God or messiah is a symptom of egoic delusion, not enlightenment. He lampoons the notion of a personal Creator giving endorsements: even the 'God' who replies is just another patient. Truth needs no trumpets—the deeper the realization, the fewer the claims. Drop grand titles; live simply; let clarity, compassion, and silence reveal your authenticity.
If someone shouts “I’m God,” it’s likely just ego; real wisdom is humble and quiet.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Question: BELOVED MASTER, ARE YOU GOD THE CREATOR? Sudheer, do you think I am mad? For almost a year, Grandpa Sulzberg had been a constant embarrassment to his family. He would mount a soap box on street corners in his neighborhood and proclaim himself the messiah. Then he would proceed to harangue the amused crowds that gathered, hurling fierce warnings and injunctions, reminding them of the dire consequences of their evil ways. In his long white robe which he had fashioned from a bedsheet, and his flowing, silvery beard, he did indeed look like a biblical patriarch. Old Sulzberg's delusion gradually worsened, and finally his sons and daughters and grown grandchildren held a conference and reluctantly agreed to send him to an institution. There, they hoped, with proper treatment, he might regain his sanity and then return home.
A friend has said: Osho, why do you call yourself Bhagwan? And he is a very bold man, because he also wrote: If you are really bold, you must reply to my question.
You ask, “Why do you call yourself God?” I have never said it. But now that you say it, I will say: I am God. And I say this because there is no way to be anything other than God. You are God too. In this whole existence there is nothing but God. So if someone claims, “I am God and you are not,” then that claim is criminal. I have never made any claim. I have never even said it. But I cannot say the opposite either—that I am not God—because that would be downright untrue. I can only say there is nothing but God. And what can I do, since there is nothing but God? You too are God. It may be you don’t know it; it may be you do. One who doesn’t know should try to know. God means: existence—purest existence. That which we are in…
Question: Second question: Osho, are you a messiah? What do you take yourself to be? But those footprints were very clear. The astrologer grew anxious—was his scripture wrong? He followed the tracks. In the direction the prints seemed to go, he walked, for it had become necessary to see this man. Walking along, he reached the tree under which Buddha sat—and then he was in deeper trouble. Seeing Buddha’s face, it seemed indeed the face of a chakravarti—his very presence had the aura a world emperor should have: the same halo, the same circle of light, the same fragrance, the same majesty. Yet the man looked like a beggar. A begging bowl lay beside him; not even a mat to sit upon. He was seated on a rock under a bush.
Osho, perhaps they never even said it?
No—no one says it. It gets attributed afterward. It isn’t necessary that they say it; later it is attributed—heavily attributed. Because we cannot live without God, without an avatar. We pick someone and instantly install him as an avatar. We want security, safety, support—a crutch. So if my words are right, that alone won’t do. For my words to be completely right, it is necessary that I become God! Even if I don’t claim it, four people will get together and claim that I am God. Then my words are right. For when have a man’s words ever been right in this world? Only God’s words are right! So to make the words right, you must declare a God. Very few people in the world have been so honest as to be free even of this “sattvic” ego. In fact, even being a guru gratifies a great ego. To claim…
Osho, are you really god?
While he was in the tub the call came -- Wright was reprieved. The lawyer's wife decided to give him the good news herself. As she entered the bathroom he was standing naked, bending over the tub to wipe it clean. "They are not hanging Wright tonight," she said. "Ah, nag, nag, nag!" the lawyer snarled. When you have preconceptions you are bound to be in a difficulty. You will misunderstand everything. Here, everything is a joke, nothing is serious. Neither my being Bhagwan is serious nor your being sannyasins is serious. We are just playing a game. I have decided to be the Master and you have decided to be the disciples. Sometimes we can even change the roles: you can be the Master and I can be the disciple! Just you will have to dig a hole sol can sit there and you all sitting on the platform,…