The lesson about mould (fungal growth) is one that we have all had first-hand experience with – right. I remember as a kid we had gone on a trip, and when we returned, we found the entire bread loaf covered in grey/blue/black things. Cheese is another such example. I am sure we have all had things go bad in our refrigerators.

Another similar thing is staleness, which can mean unpalatable or tasteless like stake bread or a stale routine because it has become tedious with familiarity.

My question to you is, do you keep the mouldy or stale items with you? Do you eat them? The answer is obvious – Ewwww, No. We throw these items away immediately and clean the surroundings as well. And if you have a routine that has become tedious, you try to change things a little – try something different.

Why? Because it is not healthy – it is not suitable for the body to eat or come in contact with stale/mouldy items. What about our minds? Our minds are full of stale and mouldy thoughts. Some thoughts have existed for centuries. And what do we do with such thoughts – keep bringing them up in our minds over and over again as a collective human society. Let’s look at a few of them.

I should lose weight.
He/She/They should respect me.
Nobody loves me.
I should have more money.
Why is so and so better than me?
People should love each other.

Do any of these thoughts feel like this is the first time you have heard them? No, every human on the planet goes through a similar set of thoughts at multiple points in their lives. And in some cases – these thoughts are like a tape recorder – they are always playing. Only the tape keeps changing. Sometimes it is – He needs to commit to me, tape and sometimes it is – I need a promotion a tape, or sometimes it is – I need to be a healthier tape. We all have our own version of the same tape. And these tapes have been around for centuries, only recycled into new minds every so often.

Unlike mouldy or stale food, we keep regurgitating the same thoughts again and again. Why? Because either we are not aware of these thoughts or do not know how to stop them. The question of why these thoughts exist is an interesting one but irrelevant for our purposes.

If you are not aware of these thoughts, try and listen to them at least once or twice a day, and you will realize it is the same thing repeatedly. Because if these thoughts are not repeated and re-inforced, they won’t exist, and everybody is fighting for survival, including thoughts and Ego. And once we become aware of them – we need to realize that these are just thoughts and not reality. Thoughts are just a figment of our imagination that look real and have the power to make us experience them as though they were real. You can do this by watching them and questioning them. Meditation and yoga also help. Or, even listening to spiritual talks, podcasts or reading such books also help.

This is important because unless we get rid of mouldy/stale thoughts, we will never be free of them and will be forced to live that script repeatedly. And world history is a classic example of it – if you watch our history, you will realize it is on a repeat like wars. People fighting for power money – is a common thread that has continued since we came into being.

And if we are to evolve genuinely, we have to change the way we think and have a fresh set of thinking. What that will be can emerge only when there is space.

Are you ready to get rid of stale, mould ridden thoughts?