According to Osho, miracles as supernatural events don't happen; they are projections of the mind's craving for something special and sensational, mythologized like detective stories. The real 'miracle' is an ordinary, original, unpretentious life—authentically doing your own thing, as Jesus did before followers embroidered legends. Drop fascination with wonders and live truthfully; transformation is natural, not magical.
There are no magic tricks; the only real miracle is being simple, honest, and yourself.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Osho, do you believe in miracles?
I AM A MIRACLE, you are a miracle, everything is a miracle. Only miracles exist, nothing else exists. Look again, afresh, and you will see the whole life consists only of miracles. Have you seen anything in life which is not a miracle? A seed sprouting -- what more of a miracle do you want? A bird on the wing and the stars in the night and the smile on a child's face, and the possibility of love and the possibility of ecstasy and the possibility of knowing God -- miracles and miracles. Miracles abound. But you must be thinking of some other foolish kind of things that you call miracles. I have heard: Once Jesus was going to give a sermon from a boat on Lake Galilee. The boat was stopped a little farther into the lake. Jesus entered the lake, walking on the water, and asked some of…
Question: OSHO, DO MIRACLES REALLY NOT EXIST? Devadatta brought a mad elephant who was known to have killed many people and so was kept always in chains. He brought him and left him without chains close to where Buddha was sitting. And the elephant came rushing, because after many days he had got the chance to kill somebody. He was murderous. But just coming close to Buddha, a sudden break: no, this is not the man to kill. He lowered himself, went on his knees and touched Buddha's feet. Now if elephants, mad elephants, rocks and trees are so careful about Buddha -- and I would like them to be so careful, there is no harm in it. I would like them to be so careful about everybody, why only about Buddha? But when he eats the poisonous food his own body does not bother; the poison takes no care.
Beloved Osho, you really are too much! The other night you said that you don't do miracles, but this morning, in front of my own eyes, I saw old maitreya levitating when you danced with him. Isn't that a miracle?
Anando, I still say the same: I do not do miracles. But that does not mean that miracles don't happen. I was not doing anything, and Maitreya was levitating. I had to move quickly because if he levitates too much -- he is old and may get hit with the ceiling. A group of men gave a testimonial dinner to Goldberg, and after they had praised him for an hour, Goldberg finally got up to speak. "Gentlemen," he said, "when I came to this town forty-one years ago, I walked down a dirt road with one suit of clothes, one pair of shoes, carrying a dirty old suitcase. And to show you what hard work can do, along with the great opportunities this country can offer, today I own three banks, five apartment houses and ten oil wells!" Everybody applauded, and right after the dinner one salesman walked up to…
If you do not do miracles, then how is it that miracles are happening to me?
The question is from Chaman Bharti. I do not do miracles, but they happen. The happening is a totally different phenomenon. They are happening every day. I am not doing them, you are not doing them, they are happening. We are creating a space where it becomes possible for them to happen. The real miracles are never done, they happen. And those which are done are not miracles, they are just magic tricks. When the doer is there, how can there be a miracle? A miracle means something out of God, something from the beyond, something that nobody has done but has suddenly concretised out of nothing. Christians have a very wrong notion when they say, 'Jesus did this, Jesus did that.' Jesus never did anything, not a single miracle. Miracles happen, that is true. Miracles always happen. The whole life is so miraculous! If you have a little alertness…
Beloved Osho, what is a miracle?
Sadhananda, it depends. To me, everything is a miracle. I never come across anything that is not a miracle; only miracles exist. Everything is such a surprise, it is so unbelievable! But if your eyes are closed, if your eyes are full of dust, if your mind is too knowledgeable, if you think you know all, then nothing is a miracle. To know "I don't know anything" makes everything a miracle. It depends on your inner state, it depends on you. And to live a life without miracles is not to live at all. You can have a million miracles every day, you are entitled to have them. But because you don't know how to connect yourself with the miraculous, you are being cheated by stupid people. Somebody produces a Swiss-made watch and you think this is a miracle. Then you become victims of ordinary magicians. Don't be befooled. The…