Nothing qualifies him as special. Many, many mystics reached the same peak of wisdom as Gautama Buddha. Osho, Papaji and Krishnamurti come to mind immediately. I recognize them as easily as I recognize Gautama. Many others are completely unknown. Thousands, probably.

Enlightenment, even the “complete and unsurpassed” one like that of Gautama, doesn’t make you special or a celebrity, people do. If you’re not set out to teach, no one will even know. If you are, the world might turn you into a celebrity, like in case of Osho, or create a religion around your teaching, like in case of Gautama. That’s the only thing that made Gautama special.

There will probably never be another enlightened being as well known as Gautama, because as a society, we are way past forming new mainstream religions. That probably will never happen again. And that’s actually a very good thing. As far as enlightenment is concerned, it is much better to listen to contemporaries, because they share your culture and language. And the more of the contemporaries speak, the better. It would actually be much better for everyone if Gautama was completely forgotten, completely.

We don’t read Newton’s original texts on physics, both because our understanding have evolved, but more importantly because our language has evolved. They’re pretty cumbersome to read. The obsession with ancient mystics is part of the enlightenment romanticism and must be completely abandoned. It’s an obsession, nothing else. No physicist will take you seriously if you’re obsessed with Newton, and similarly, whenever I meet a Buddhist I instantly know they’re not enlightened yet.