According to Osho, to be Bhagwan is to live beyond personal identity and social bookkeeping—unconcerned with passports, phone lists, or roles—moving in such freedom and trust that life, and those around you, handle the trivia. It is a playful, egoless stance that refuses confinement by institutional labels, remaining unattached, available to the moment, and unburdened by the anxiety of ownership, contacts, or the need to manage oneself.
Being Bhagwan means not clinging to names, papers, or contacts—staying free, relaxed, and present while others handle the little things.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Why do you call yourself bhagwan ? Why do you call yourself god?
The last thing about it. I am not a philosopher. Always remember me as a poet. My approach towards life is that of poetry, is that of romance. It is romantic, it is imaginative. I would like you all to be gods and goddesses. I would like you to reveal your true being. Calling myself god is a challenge. It is a subtle challenge. There are only two ways to settle with it. One is, you say, 'This man is not god, and go away, because then what are you doing here? If this man is not god, then why waste your time? You go away. Or, you accept that this man is god, and then you start being with me, and your own godliness starts flowering. One day you will also be a god, a goddess. Accepting me as god is in fact deep down accepting the possibility that…
Question: BELOVED OSHO, IF THERE IS NO GOD, WHY WERE YOU BEING CALLED BHAGWAN? Buddhists and Jainas don't believe in God, don't believe that anybody created the world, but they use 'bhagwan'. They have a different origination for their word. In Jaina and Buddhist reference bhag means fortune, and bhagwan means the fortunate one, the blessed one; one who has attained to his destiny, who has matured. So when I started talking thirty-four years ago, people started using it... because in India, if you respect a man you don't use his name; that is thought to be disrespectful. That's why a wife will not use her husband's name. When there is a census, it is such a trouble in India because the husband is not at home, he has gone to the office and the officers come and the wife cannot say the name of her husband.
Question: OUR BELOVED MASTER, ONCE CHOKOMAN WAS ASKED, "WHAT IS THE PLACE OF RELIGIOUS EXERCISES OF THE ANCIENT BUDDHAS?" CHOKOMAN SAID, "JUST BY WALKING, THEY TROD ON IT." THE MONK WENT ON, "AND AFTER THEY HAD TROD ON IT?" CHOKOMAN REPLIED, "ICE MELTING, TILES BREAKING UP." THE MONK THEN ASKED, "HOW DOES THAT HAPPEN?" CHOKOMAN RESPONDED BY SAYING, "THE GENTLEMEN IN THE CITY, THE LITTLE CHILDREN OUTSIDE THE WALLS." ON ANOTHER OCCASION, A MONK ASKED CHOKOMAN, "WHAT IS THIS SWORD THAT WILL CUT A HAIR THAT IS BLOWN ONTO IT?" CHOKOMAN REPLIED, "YOU CAN'T TOUCH IT." THE MONK THEN ASKED, "HOW ABOUT ONE WHO USES IT?" CHOKOMAN SAID "HIS BONES AND BODY ARE SMASHED TO SMITHEREENS." THE MONK COMMENTED, "THEN, IT'S A GOOD THING NOT TO BE ABLE TO TOUCH IT!" -- AT WHICH CHOKOMAN STRUCK HIM.
[NOTE: This discourse will be in the book "India Coming Back Home", which has not been published, as of August 1992. INTERVIEW BY DHARMAYUG WEEKLY MAGAZINE WERE YOU CHANGED BY YOUR EXPERIENCES IN AMERICA? I am the center of the cyclone, so whatever happens around me makes no difference to me. It may be turmoil or it may be the beautiful sound of running water; I am just a witness to both, and that witnessing remains the same. As far as my innermost being is concerned, in every situation I am just the same. This is my whole teaching: that things may change, but your consciousness should remain absolutely unchanging. Things are going to change -- that is their nature. One day you succeed, one day you fail; one day you are at the top, another day you are at the bottom.
As you call yourself 'god', what is the meaning of this word? And are there more gods? Who are they?
Joey, I am God because I am not. And the moment you are not, you are also a God. God is not something special; God is our very being, God is our very existence. When I say I am God I am simply saying I exist. Existence and God are synonymous in my language. I say the trees are also God, and so are the rocks, and so are you. Yes, Joey, even a journalist is a God! He may not know. You may not be aware of your godliness. I am aware of it! And the moment I became aware of my godliness I became aware of everybody else's godliness. So it will be difficult for me to tell you how many Gods there are. Infinity... All beings are Gods at different stages of recognition, realization, awareness. But I can understand your problem. Joey is a Dutch journalist. People…