The power of cooperation is the power to contribute to a bigger whole. It is said, ‘No man is an island’ (John Donne). It is also said, ‘If you want to walk fast, walk alone, but if you want to walk far, walk together’ (Ratan Tata).
Cooperation is not simply an act; it is a force that drives and interconnects all of us and makes the universe work. Just for a moment, pause to look around where you are as you read this – so many people have contributed to the room you are in, the chair you are sitting on. We are all part of something so much bigger. We are so interconnected with each other and with nature.
Even in relationships, the image of a perfect partnership is of a couple facing forwards, not towards each other; facing forward with equality and regard for fulfilling a higher purpose, a higher task. This realisation can only be maintained when we begin to understand who we really are.
We are spiritual beings beyond the masks of body or the roles we play. I am a living spirit. Those around me are also living spirits – there are not just 7 billion bodies in the world, there are 7 billion living spirits and each one’s core nature and identity is peace.
In this awareness there is an immediate change in perspective and in our relationships. A feeling of fraternity, of brotherhood develops and we can feel how we are all connected.
If we contemplate the way that nature works, we see that there is no competition but just an offering, a giving. We see that the sun just shines down its warmth and that trees just offer up their fruit, that the flowers offer their fragrance and allow the bees to collect the pollen all for the good of the whole. Why then have we lost the ability to do the same? Why are we attached, possessive, greedy? The answer lies in just two words: I and mine.
We have lost the ability to cooperate because of ego and attachment, the attitude of ‘I and mine’. It is ego that makes me into a lonely island. Then my attitude becomes one of needing this thing or another, that someone should provide me with what I need, that no-one is recognising my full worth, or of feeling rejected.
All of these thoughts are based on ego. In my self-absorption I then hold on to anything I have acquired, with possessiveness and attachment. So, what is required to be able to activate and develop this power of cooperation? Humility is required. Humility based on the true understanding of who I am, the being of light, the eternal soul.
Meditation can help to deeply experience this kind of humility. As I meditate and begin to experience the awareness of the true self, frequencies of love and peace are generated and spread all around me. The way I then speak and the actions I do will be offered from my very best awareness, of good wishes and pure feelings for all.
I will offer my strongest finger to lift the mountain — the mountain has to be lifted with the finger of cooperation from everyone. Courage and humility allow us to be used by the Divine, for something so much bigger than just the individual.
The power of cooperation is an incredible power that allows us to step into the flow of life and offer power and wisdom, a force of spirituality, to inspire global cooperation and deep renewal.
Gopi Patel is a Rajyoga teacher based at the Brahma Kumaris National Coordinating Office, London.