Danketsu Shin (Unity)

In Flashing Steel, Shimabukuro Hanshi and I discuss the importance and power of danketsu shin, or "cooperative spirit". We present the concept of danketsu shin from the perspective of its power and importance, using the example of a pencil. One pencil can easily be broken, but a dozen pencils in a bundle are nearly impossible to break. Danketsu (団結) means "unity" or "cooperation", and it is extremely powerful, as in the example of the the bundle of pencils or the recent triumph of the Venezuelan people over President Chavez' attempt to install himself as "President for Life". But danketsu cannot exist without something even more important -- a factor that has been in significant decline in Western civilization for many years: danketsu shin ... cooperative spirit.

I'm concerned that people no longer appreciate the importance of this. Unity and cooperation are wonderful, powerful things. I think we would all agree with that. But, like the idea of "peace on earth, goodwill to men" at the Christmas season we are currently in, too many of us now think of it as an inachievably high ideal. I hope and pray that's not the case!

But danketsu certainly can't exist unless people have danketsu shin -- the spirit of cooperation. It's a spirit begins with the desire and the willingness to cooperate. And that is a desire and willingness that many people seem to have forsaken in their drivenness to achieve their personal, often selfish, ambitions. Cooperation is not easy, because it requires a willingness to compromise, or to set the accomplishment of another person's or group's goals as a higher priority than one's own goals. And this is contrary to what most people seem to think is the way to "get ahead" in life.

Western culture now seems to depict cooperation as the way unsuccessful people function. We are told that successful people don't cooperate with others; they get others to cooperate with them. We shouldn't subordinate our ambitions to the goals of others, but persuade others to subordinate their goals to ours. My barometer of Western culture is television. And on nearly every channel I hear pundits proclaiming daily that life is about getting people to help you achieve your goals; not about helping other people achieve their goals, or about working together to achieve common goals. I hear almost no one advocating "give and take"; only take and take.

When I observe people, I notice that they basically fall into two broad categories: givers and takers. Givers are people who devote most of their effort to meeting the needs of others. They are rare. Takers are people who devote most of their effort to meeting their own needs. Takers are like locusts. They devour everything in their path and there is no shortage of them. Takers often try to camouflage themselves as givers. They donate huge amounts of money that they have taken from others, but they make sure they receive recognition for their donations. That's how I can tell they are actually takers. They seldom "give" unless they receive something in return -- like headlines, accolades, or their name on the new hospital wing. True givers give with no expectation of reward and no strings attached. They give purely because it is needed.

Danketsu shin is also the spirit of giving. That's why it is an appropriate topic for the Christmas season. Christmas is supposed to be about giving. In fact, it's about the greatest gift ever given: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son, ..." (John 3:16). The greatest gift you can give this Christmas won't cost you a nickel. Instead, it will cost you something far more valuable than money: a part of your own ambitions -- a part of your self! Because the greatest gift you can give this Christmas or any other time is danketsu shin -- a spirit of cooperation, a willingness to set aside your own desires, goals, and ambitions in order to help someone else achieve theirs.