Competition and Cooperation are two sides of the same coin in this world of Duality. Competition is the trait that has brought us to populate the whole world once we started to leave Africa. Competition was a trait that the Europeans most successfully embodied which led them to go on to dominate the world. Jared Dimond explores that European phenomenon in his book “Guns, Germs & Steel”. What I’ve observed is that competitive empirical models tend to arise in lands that are small with limited capacity to expand, yet are fertile due to oceanic rainfall (which will continue to come after deforestation, which is a result of empire building- most rainfall will drop or stop once forests are lost. This is known due to the different isotopes found in Oceanic vs. forest created rain). The Europeans just so happen to take their journey beyond their native lands and around the world due to what Jared Diamond surmises as due to Guns, Germs and Steel.

There is an underlying trait that I observe in our western cultures that is very pervasive and causes much of our drive for survival and thus much of the destruction of the environment and that is one of the struggle for perfection to out compete others in a world of scarcity. The irony is that this mentality derives from limited resources due to population stress and resource depletion. The end of this journey towards perfection in a competitive world is collapse. The end of the journey in a world of cooperation is stagnation. Both lead in their extremes lead to the end of evolution. In fact it is the dance of the two that keeps the game of life on planet earth at play.

The real challenge, though, at a time like this, where the pendulum has swung too far to the extreme of competition, is to loose the cultural and mental programing for competition. This programing manifests as the search for perfection in all areas of our lives and the world, yet resulting in perpetual discontent.  This perpetual discontent is what creates addictive behavior as well, as one searches for material solutions to solve their material and immaterial discontent. This is spread to others by instilling in others that they are not perfect and thus resulting in their discontent. This is where Buddhist teachings and practices are great at learning to accept things as they are and then to embody the Christian ethics of Love and Non-Judgement. The Service and Unconditional Love piece is also critical as we learn to work with and get along with others and learn to accept them for who they are. The Buddhist practices are culminated by the Christian Teachings which is why many see the Buddha and Christ as the same soul. Of course there is room to say that Mohammed (Peace Be upon Him) continued that incomplete journey by reacting to the single deification of Christ as a result of the Roman Empire seeking power and Jesus students inferiority complexes. By saying he was prophet and prophets continue to arise, this is saying we can all be like a Christ/Buddha. Both Mohammed (Peace Be upon his Him) and Stiener also talked about the second coming of Christ, some say around our time, which would only be a result of the times forcing the arising of that Christ Consciousness, which are certainly in precarious times.

Learning to embody unconditional love and acceptance is very critical to spark true evolution of the human soul and the evolution of the human into planetary co-creators that can enhance creation, not just an evolution perpetuated by fear, which will further swing the pendulum towards a destructive path.