Category:Cooperating with God

Theme Analysis

The eternal constitutional position of every living entity is to cooperate with the Supreme Personality of Godhead. Because the soul is a part and parcel of the Lord, its natural function is subordinate, cooperative service. When the living entity forgets this relationship and attempts to lord it over material nature for personal sense gratification, it falls into the illusion of material existence and inevitably suffers. True happiness can only be reclaimed when the soul voluntarily dovetails its desires with the desires of the Supreme Lord. This active, loving cooperation is the exact definition of pure devotional service.

In the Bhagavad-gītā, Lord Kṛṣṇa explains that He is the central figure of creation and the supreme enjoyer, while the living entities are meant to be His cooperators. Just as the parts of the body must cooperate to feed the stomach for the entire body to be nourished, the living entities must satisfy the Supreme Lord to experience true satisfaction. If the master is fully satisfied, the servant is automatically satisfied. Therefore, a pure devotee does not work for personal material gain but looks unto the Lord to cooperate with His divine mission, acting merely as an instrument under the direction of the Supersoul.

By completely cooperating with God, the living entity transcends the miseries of the material world and enters the Vaikuṇṭha planets or Goloka Vṛndāvana. In the spiritual sky, the liberated souls enjoy the exact same facilities and transcendental bliss as the Supreme Lord Himself. Even in this current life, a person who is fully in cooperation with the wishes of the Lord—guided by bona fide brāhmaṇas and Vaiṣṇavas—has absolutely no cause for despondency. Such conscious cooperation brings about ultimate happiness, peace, and prosperity, both individually and globally.

• The Constitutional Position: Every living entity is an eternal part and parcel of the Supreme Lord, meant strictly for subordinate, cooperative service.
• The Cause of Suffering: Declining to cooperate with God and attempting to enjoy independently causes the soul's entanglement in the material energy.
• The Definition of Devotion: True devotional service means voluntarily dovetailing one's personal desires with the desires of the Supreme Personality of Godhead.
• The Supreme Reward: By cooperating with the Lord, the living entity is reinstated in the spiritual world, enjoying the exact same transcendental bliss and facility as the Supreme Lord.

• Explore the synthesized essence of this category in this Vanipedia article: Cooperating with God - The Essence of Devotional Service.