Lessons from Cockroaches

There's a winged wanderer in the insect world whose name is infamous in all households. Out of 3,500 species, only Periplaneta americana is the notorious one, known as the American cockroach, often seen scuttling on kitchen counters and sinks. Both adults and kids hate this, of all insects, save the mosquitoes and flies. Even as a child, I really hate seeing it flying around. I would always hit them with my slippers, and rejoice over their dead spattered body. With such morbid act, I used to keep all of them at bay. My friend told me his story on cockroach. He wrathfully kills them one by one, and like a prized collection, he puts them in an empty liquour bottle. It seemed that he collected more than a hundred.

But this abhored creature has an interesting story. For most of us, we haven't yet learned that cockroaches are among the toughest organisms that have remained virtually unevolved throughout natural history. Cockroaches have ruled on Earth long before humans emerged. That enough provokes me to think who the pest really are: is it them or us? In an article on January 1981 edition of National Geographic magazine, cockroaches were hailed as survivors due to many reasons. Cockroaches are not picky when it comes to food. Nothing is different between a fresh fruit and a stinking carcass. They eat whatever is given. Seems like only cockroach has a lot to teach on the quality of acceptance. Cockroaches have sophisticated mouth, well-equipped with powerful jaws and teeth structures; a cross among pairs of scissors and pliers and can openers. This mouth prevents them to starve.

Another thing is, according to insect scientists, spotting a cockroach at your kitchen gives you an estimated of 200 growing population of cockroaches. Expect a village of scavengers living in the darkest, wettest, and deepest corners of the house. Their rapid growth makes pesticides one of the bestselling household commodities. They come in different forms: sprays, chalks, patches, etc. But using all these, still it's impossible to wipe out all cockroaches.

An ideal paradise for cockroaches is a moist place full of garbage. They would feast on anything spoiled and rotten. We have always thought that they are bringers of microbes that may cause infection. But studies have shown that there is little evidence on it. They haven't caused even a single epidemic. It seems that we have always co-existed with cockroaches well.

"They seem to pester your life, but they are messengers of your consciousness. They are the very reflection of your prejudices, troubled choices, and unrelenting ignorance towards learning your Soul."

We often hate them, though they don't even know what hate means. They are always around to eat, that's all. And whether we admit it or not, we have always been their accommodating hosts. We provide them food and shelter out of our own mess and the desire to stack up things we don't need. We want to get rid of them and we seem to be oblivious of the irony of allowing them to thrive. We often deny it, that the moment we see one of them dashing over our meals or hovering over our curtains we have always attracted them to come into our lives. They are messengers of our need for order and cleanliness that we have always neglected. And beyond that they seem to bring the metaphor of a cluttered Soul.

Often, difficult people, sickening things, unwanted situations are all likened to a pest we call cockroach. We all hate them, and do all things to reject them by hook or by crook. We have thought that they often ruin our lives. Yet whatever we do, they stay. They persist as we resist them. Nonetheless, what we call "pest" are long existent even before we perceive them as pest. These pest are the inconsiderate boss, the moneygrubbing parent and relative, the annoying in-law, the disgusting moneylender, the mind-numbing buddy.

Even if you hate them, you can't afford to reject them. Nor you can stand the chance of getting rid of them. They seem to pester your life, but they are messengers of your consciousness. They are the very reflection of your prejudices, troubled choices, and unrelenting ignorance towards learning your Soul. They come to your lives because you need to unclutter your sacred space, to brighten and dry it from the darkness and wetness of unexamined negligence. These "cockroaches" mirror the things you hate about yourself, and they nudge you to "turn the other cheek", so you can stop blaming and see yourself more responsible in overhauling your own frailties. Have you ever been inconsiderate, moneygrubbing, annoying, disgusting and mind-numbing to others? If so, then your hatred towards the pests becomes reversible, and you will begin to understand them. Like the redefined name of God in Moses Code, you can now say "I am that, I am" to whoever and whatever you cast your rejections and hatred. I am that. You can now see clearly, and stop hating anymore.

You don't have to waste your time eliminating your pest. For the pest is you if choose to stay that way, and you attract what you reject. Now, begin to unclutter your Soul, so the cockroaches will naturally go away. The pest you see will not be a pest anymore, but an organism that reminds you of the wonder of life.






Cockroach (photo by Wm Jas)
Anger (photo by shawnchin)