According to Osho, Buddha or Christ are not manufactured or reserved for a few; they are your intrinsic nature. Nothing needs to be developed—only uncovered. The treasure and the key are already within, but society’s conditioning buries them. Every person is born with the seed of Buddhahood; through awareness and rebellion against conditioned roles, one simply removes veils and discovers what has always been.
You already have a light inside; just clean off the dust that hides it.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, can buddha or christ be created or developed out of every common human being? Or is buddha or christ only born as such? Every man is buddha, every man is christ: I feel it is not true.
THE BUDDHA OR THE CHRIST CANNOT BE CREATED because the Buddha is your intrinsic nature. It need not be created. It has not to be developed either; it is already there, it is already the case. It has only to be unfolded, it has to be discovered. The treasure is there; you have to find the key to unlock the door. The treasure is not to be created, the treasure is not to be developed; you only have to find the right key. You have forgotten about the key -- the key is also with you. God provides you with everything that is needed on the journey; you come absolutely prepared. But society disturbs every child, distorts every child, because a Buddha or a Christ is useless to the society; they don't serve any utilitarian purpose. What can you do with a Buddha? What purpose is he going to serve?…
Osho, what are the reasons that very few persons in the world are interested in transforming their inner heat into spiritual light? Do you feel that the present generation is capable of creating enlightened ones like krishna, lao tzu and christ?
That also did not do because you cannot force yourself to be a Buddha, you cannot imitate. But Devadatta is forgotten and Buddha remains. The whole age is forgotten; only Buddha remains. Everything has disappeared; only Buddha remains. And then we compare Buddha with our own age. Because of that, this problem arises over whether a Buddha or a Jesus can be born today. It looks impossible. How is it possible in "this age of darkness, corruption, immorality"? How is this possible! Another factor also enters: whenever a person is dead for twenty centuries, we forget how we behaved with him when he was alive. Jesus was crucified not because he was a great Teacher or a great Enlightened One, but only because he was "immoral, undisciplined -- against the code and against the tradition". This behaviour was not that of a respectable man. And when he was killed, it…
Question: BELOVED OSHO, SINCE MY CHILDHOOD, I HAVE SEEN YOU AS A BUDDHA, EVEN BEFORE YOUR ENLIGHTENMENT I SAW YOU AS A BUDDHA -- THE SAME SERENITY, THE SAME NATURAL GLOW, THE SAME SPONTANEITY, THE SAME LOVE, THE SAME COMPASSION, THE SAME CAREFREENESS, THE SAME BLISSFULNESS AS IT IS TODAY. I HAVE SEEN MANY OF YOUR PHASES, AND I SAY AGAIN AND AGAIN THAT YOU WERE A BUDDHA BEFORE YOUR ENLIGHTENMENT. THE STORY OF YOUR ENLIGHTENMENT IS A DEVICE FOR US, IS A BEAUTIFUL ASSURANCE FOR US. I AM IMMENSELY GRATEFUL. I FEEL FORTUNATE THAT YOU SHOWERED YOUR LOVE AND COMPASSION ON ME FROM THE BEGINNING. YOU HAVE HELPED ME AT EACH STEP, AT EACH TURNING POINT OF MY LIFE. YOU CHANGED MY LIFE, YOU FILLED MY LIFE WITH LOVE AND JOY, YOU GAVE ME IMMENSE CLARITY, YOU MADE ME FREE. I BOW DOWN TO YOU.
Buddha is born when his mother is standing; no mother gives birth to a child standing. Have you seen any woman giving birth to a child standing? And the story does not stop there. Buddha is born from the mother's womb, himself standing on the floor. And the story still does not end. He walks seven feet; just born baby walks seven feet, and declares to the whole world that I am the greatest buddha, the suprememost that has ever been or that will ever be. Now, this is all nonsense. No gynecologist will support this. And how a just-born baby can walk, and can talk. But this is just to create the idea in your mind that Buddha is special. Mahavira does not perspire. He is a special human being. He is not just like you. Now this is impossible unless, instead of skin he has plastic.
Those phony holy people you meet in the churches, in the mosque and in the temples are not holy at all. They have no idea of the whole. They are very egoistic. Of course they have very pious egos, holier-than-thou, but a pious ego is the most egoistic phenomenon in the world. It is the most poisonous, because it is so subtle. Enlightenment is a forgotten language, it has to be remembered. Sannyas is just the beginning of turning in, looking in. Following Christ does not mean following Jesus. When Jesus disappears Christ is born in him. When Gautam Siddhartha disappears Buddha is born in him. They are totally different phenomena, but people have got them mixed-up. They think that to follow Christ means to follow Jesus. Nobody can follow Jesus because nobody can be like Jesus; God never creates the same person again.