And basically, nature divides it like this. But because, you know, in nature, things are in scarcity. Things are not in abundance. So even if you find something good, some good or pleasant like fruits or, you know, it’s seasonal, it will be in scarcity and you’ll have to eat a little bit of it.

But us as humans, we have cultivated nature in order to create for ourselves more and more abundance. Because we don’t like scarcity. So now, we start to take the pleasant in bigger quantities. Because it feels good. And I want more of this feel-good nature.

But what happens is that even if you take the best thing that is good, like organic fruits that are in season, that are according to your dosha and everything, but if you intake it in more than the right amount, it will create a bad effect.

But then we are so smart, then we can outsmart ourselves. So now we think, why is it so good? Because there is some sugar in it. So what we do, we take something that is not so good, but we put sugar in it. So when it tastes, it tastes good, but now it’s not really good.

Because if you read all the ingredients, they are not really natural and they are not really good, but it still feels good. And this is what is called food engineering. Now we engineer the experience to be good, even if the thing itself is not good.

So whether it is good or not, the fact is that we get addicted to the pleasantness. We get addicted to the pleasant.

So as I said, the yogi knows that the pleasant is a trap. This is why Raga, when Patanjali is describing Raga, our attachment, is describing it as one of the kleshas, as one of the root causes of human suffering.

Why? Because this pleasant experience creates a drive in you to experience it again and again and again and again. And you become dependent on it and you become addicted to it.

So the yogi is very, very careful, not only with the bad, but mostly with the pleasant.

There is a beautiful discussion between Yama, the god of death, and a young disciple, his name is Nachiketas. Nachiketas wanted to know the way to the absolute good.

And Lord Yama in the beginning tried to dissuade him, but then when he saw that he was really adamant, he started teaching. And how the teaching starts: the good and the pleasant present themselves to men. The wise prefer the good over the pleasant. The unwise prefer the pleasant over the good.

So to differentiate between the good and bad is quite easy. But to discriminate between the good and the pleasant is not easy at all.

And this is where the yogi, when things are pleasant, is very, very cautious.

Now Krishna said, one should raise oneself by oneself alone. Let no one lower oneself.

For the self alone is the friend of oneself and the self alone is the enemy of oneself.

So here the self is like a play of words. The word Atma can be the supreme soul, the individual self, or the mind.

So Krishna said one should raise oneself by oneself alone. So the Atman should elevate the mind towards it, because the mind tends towards the senses and through the senses towards the objects.

Let no one allow their mind to carry them down.

For the mind alone is the friend of oneself, and the same mind is the worst enemy of oneself.

The one who cultivates and trains the mind, his mind becomes his friend. The one whose mind is untrained, his mind becomes his own enemy.

So Swami Sivananda says: practice yoga. Discipline the senses and the mind. Elevate yourself and become established in yoga.

Do not sink into the ocean of samsara. Do not become a worldly-minded man. Do not become a slave to lust, greed, and anger.

Rise above worldliness, become divine, and attain godhood.

Sri Ramakrishna gives a beautiful example: a boat is in the water, this is its natural place. But let not the water enter the boat. If the water enters, the boat will sink.

So be in the world, but do not allow the world to enter you.

Keep the mind connected to the divine. Allow the divine light to flow through you into the world, but do not become dependent.

You alone are your friend. You alone are your enemy.

This is why one must be very careful about Sangha.

Sat Sangha elevates. Asat Sangha brings down.