According to Osho, there is no difference - because he refuses the label "godman." He says he belongs to no category; he is simply awareness, the same divine consciousness present in everyone and everything. Like Buddha's 'neti, neti,' he rejects all identities. His "I am God" means dissolving labels, not superiority. The invitation is to recognize your own watchfulness and live from that category-free presence.
I’m not a special holy man; I’m the same awareness you are—drop the labels and notice the watcher inside.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Question: BELOVED MASTER, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN YOU AND OTHER GODMEN? Sunil Sethi, I am not a godman, I am simply God -- as you are, as trees are, as birds are, as rocks are. I don't belong to any category. 'Godman' is a category invented by journalists. I simply don't belong to any category. You don't belong to any category either. All categories are false. The deeper you go into yourself, the more and more you will find that you simply are -- neither this not that. The seers of the Upanishads say: neti, neti -- neither this nor that. No category is applicable. There is a beautiful story about Buddha: He was sitting under a tree. One astrologer approached him -- he was very puzzled, because he saw the footprints of the Buddha on the wet sand and he could not believe his eyes.
Beloved master, do you consider yourself god, god's representative on earth, a prophet, and/or just a very clear individual? Having seen you a couple of times in morning discourse and listening to tapes and videotapes of you, you never seem to answer this question. How and why do you know or feel something I do not?
Harold Peltz, the first thing is that there is no God. Yes, there is godliness, but no God. The idea of God is anthropocentric. The Bible says: God created man in his own image. The truth is just the opposite: man has created God in HIS own image. God is nothing but a projection of human wishes, desires, longings. God is nothing but the projection of human mind. That does not mean that I am an atheist, but I am not a theist either. My position is exactly that of Gautama the Buddha. He was not an atheist and he was not a theist. He did not believe in God, he did not DISbelieve in God. What was his position? His position is very unique, his position is worth sharing. His space is worth communing with. And that is the space of all the meditators: they believe in godliness. The…
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: OSHO, ARE YOU A YOGI, OR A BHAKTA. OR A GYANI. OR A TANTRIKA? Nothing of the nonsense. Don't try to label me; don't try to categorize. The mind would like to put me in a pigeonhole so you can say this man is this and you can be finished with me. It is not going to be that easy. I will not allow. I will remain like mercury the more you will try to grasp me, the more I will become elusive. Either I am all or I am nothing -- only these two categories can be allowed, and all other categories in between are not allowed, because they are not going to say the truth. And the day you will realize me either as all or as nothing will be a day of great realization to you.
Osho, are you in the same category as Ram, Krishna, Buddha, Mahavira, Jesus, and Mohammed? Please dispel my doubts.
This whole world is a great stage where many dramas are running. Behind the onstage roles is one single essence—one paramatma. The same essence at times stands holding the bow in Ram, at times plays the flute in Krishna, at times sits in silent meditation in Buddha, at times practices naked austerity in Mahavira, at times hangs on the cross in Jesus, at times takes the sword in hand with Mohammed to “defend the religion.” But all of it is play—roles. If you divide into categories, each person is a category unto himself. And you say: “Please dispel my doubts.” How can I dispel your doubts? Become free of mind, and you will be free of doubt. As long as mind remains, doubts will arise. In the mind, doubts sprout like leaves on trees—one thing gives rise to another. The mind is full of prejudices. Now if you are a…