Cooperation is often misunderstood as the act of give and take, when it is about working together towards a common goal, says Rajyogi Brahmakumar Nikunj
The only thing that will redeem mankind is cooperation — Bertrand Russell.
Cooperation or teamwork is an art of working in unison towards a common purpose, knowing fully well that we can achieve more together than alone. One must remember the fact that human beings cannot lead a happy and comfortable life without co-operation, nor do animals survive without this magical virtue. Hence it is the foundation of all living things. A society exists because of co-operation, therefore it is both a psychological and social necessity, for human beings cannot lead a solitary life.
In modern society, progress of any kind and in any field would not have been possible without co-operation. Similarly, social unity and integration also depends upon co-operation because it mitigates the mutual differences, mental conflicts and inspires people to render possible help to maintain solidarity. In short, co-operation is essential in every sphere of individual and social life.
The question that arises is that when people are aware of the importance of the virtue, why is there so much competition, confrontation and lack of cooperation in every aspect of modern lifeIJ
Today mass degeneration of human values is visible in modern society — where everything is measured in terms of money and power. Accordingly most of the human activities are guided by greed for money and lust for power. This has led to cut-throat competition in all fields, including business and industry. Most of us have become conditioned to believe that competition brings out the best in us and it is the competition, and not cooperation, which is the key to success. The truth, however, is that intensely competitive structures cause high stress and moral corruption which damages physical, mental and social health. Besides, they foster dehumanising mentality causing distrust, rivalry and unfriendliness.
Today we see people getting united in groups — big or small — but only to protect, strengthen or improve their position vis-a-vis other groups, or the society at large.
This is mainly of the fact that for a long time the entire approach to cooperation has been of ‘giving’ with an eye on ‘taking’ rather, ‘taking’ more. Over the centuries, it has been forgotten that there is another philosophy of life, which is that of ‘giving’ rather than ‘taking.’
Remember, if we give more to the community than we take from it, we shall always have a ‘plus’ balance to draw upon. The well-known law of action begetting an equal re-action applies to every aspect in life, cooperation as well. Hence cooperation automatically begets cooperation, so in giving, getting is automatically reciprocated. Bhagwad Gita also says ‘Perform noble actions without expecting reward, reward will automatically follow.’ This is the law of karma in its simplified form.
In reality, even one’s long term self-interest is best served by working for the maximum common good of all. This is because in the universe, there is so much of inter-dependence. Hence whatever a person does, is bound to recoil or bounce-back on him, sooner or later. So why not practise the art of ‘giving’ like our ancestors and become devta, or the giver, rather then levta, or a takerIJ