According to Osho, the greatest problem is man—the individual—because we deny the real (your own life and responsibility) and serve abstractions like ‘humanity,’ God, nation, or destiny. There is no collective ‘humanity’ and no predetermined path; only you, creating your way in aloneness. When you stop living for ideas and start living authentically for yourself, the root problem dissolves.
The biggest problem is that people ignore themselves for made-up ideas instead of living their own unique life.
From the Discourses
Passages where Osho speaks to this question — each links to the complete discourse.
Question: OSHO, WHAT IS THE GREATEST PROBLEM IN THE WORLD? THE greatest problem or the smallest problem, it is the same: man. And when I say man, I do not mean something abstract. I mean I, you, he, she. There exists no man as such, separate from human beings. There exists no humanity; it is only a name. The reality is the individual. And the problem arises because the reality has not been accepted. The real has been denied expression; and the unreal, the abstract, has been imposed upon it. You have been told continuously, "Live for humanity." Where is humanity? Have you ever come across humanity? Do you think you are ever going to have an encounter with humanity? It is just like all those big, bombastic, bogus words: God, motherland, fatherland, Holy Ghost. They don't exist, they are only projected. "Live for humanity" means don't live for yourself.
Osho, what is a problem?
Always be ready to change your mind because life cannot be changed just because of your ideologies. And we have learned ways how to look at life, how to interpret life, and we become fixated in certain routines. Let me tell you one anecdote. A mousy little man used to be very frightened of his boss. One day he told a fellow worker that he was sick. His friend said, "Why don't you go home?" "Oh, I couldn't do that!" "Why not? Don't be silly, he will never know. He is not even here today." Finally the man was convinced and went home. When he got there, he looked in the window -- and there was his boss, kissing and hugging his wife. So he ran all the way back to the office. "A fine friend you are!" he said to his pal. "I nearly got caught." Just an old…
Beloved Osho, why is the world so sick today? Why are misery and tension increasing?
It is the outcome of all the idiotic ideas that have dominated humanity in the past. It was bound to happen. All the religions are responsible for it. What they have done, whether knowingly or unknowingly, is the cause of the misery, suffering and anguish of the whole of humanity. Let us think of the most fundamental causes one by one. The first: All the religions have been imposing the idea that God has created the world and God is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent. He knows all, he is all-powerful, he is everywhere. This idea prevented man from doing anything to life to make it better, beautiful. When somebody all-knowing, all-powerful, everywhere present, is looking after the world, then what can you do? How far can you see? What can be your contribution? If God is the creator of the world, you cannot improve upon it. If you do anything you…
Confucius was looking at the cataract at luliang. It falls from a height of two hundred feet, and its foam reaches fifteen miles away. No scaly finny creature could survive therein.
YET CONFUCIUS SAW AN OLD MAN GO IN. THINKING THE OLD MAN WAS SUFFERING FROM SOME TROUBLE AND WAS THEREFORE DESIROUS OF ENDING HIS LIFE, CONFUCIUS BADE A DISCIPLE RUN ALONG THE BANK TO TRY TO SAVE HIM. THE OLD MAN EMERGED ABOUT A HUNDRED PACES OFF, AND WITH FLOWING HAIR, HE WENT CAROLING ALONG THE BANK. CONFUCIUS FOLLOWED HIM, AND WHEN HE CAUGHT UP WITH HIM HE SAID: I HAD THOUGHT, SIR, YOU WERE A SPIRIT, BUT NOW I SEE YOU ARE A MAN. KINDLY TELL ME, IS THERE ANY WAY TO DEAL THUS WITH THE WATER? NO, REPLIED THE MAN, I HAVE NO WAY; PLUNGING IN WITH THE WHIRL, I COME OUT WITH THE SWIRL. I ACCOMMODATE MYSELF TO THE WATER, NOT THE WATER TO ME. AND SO I AM ABLE TO DEAL WITH IT AFTER THIS FASHION. Falling in love means that now there is no way,…