I forwarded today's Chizuk e-mail to Rabbi Twerski and wrote as follows:

Dear Rabbi Twerski,

I would greatly appreciate if the Rav could read through this piece by "Dov"... Today, he is sober in SA for over 10 years and he posts every day very wise advice on the forum. However, his approach, (see below), may sound a little "strange" to some, as it "seems" to go against some of the standard things we are taught in mainstream Yiddishkeit (perhaps). That is why I'd be most curious to hear the Rav's take on the issue.

Rabbi Twerski Replied:

I think that Dov's statement that one needs to focus primarily on being with Hashem and doing what Hashem wants, and to stop preoccupation with the yetzer hara is valid. The rebbe of Kotzk said, "An aveira is like mud. Whichever way you handle the mud, you get dirty."
twerski

I think its an interesting apporach. It is different for everyone. If one can do it I think it is certainly ideal to do but I would say that I do not have the spiritual make up (although I would say I certainly have the religious make up but that doesnt help) to do this. It takes having ALOT ALOT ALOT (thats an understatement) of trust in Hashem. Do i want to do that? Of course. Its just not realistic for me to transform my thought process to that approach. Maybe if i wokr on it little by little I will eventually get there, but that is probably a lifetime's work and frankly I dont have that much time to bring myself to freedom from lust.

-Yiddle

the fact is if you just pay attention to davening:

החזירנו בתשובה שלימה..... והשיבנו אליך ונשובה....כי אליך עינינו

those are just 3 of many that say "WE NEED GODS HELP TO DO TESHUVA"  ---- EVEN IF W'ERE NOT SICK!

kAL VCHOMER  an addict needs gods help.

Yiddle2 wrote on 28 Dec 2009 01:28:


Personally, I think this approach is a lot easier than "struggling with the yetzer Hara" all the time. We simply need to learn to ignore the struggle and say "this struggle might be good for others, but I can't deal with it at all, because I am lust-addict. Instead, I leave the whole "struggle issue" to Hashem. It's His business. For me, lust is a distraction, that's all. It distracts me from focusing "outwards" and doing Hashem's will for me today, to the best of my ability."

This approach makes freedom from the addiction a lot easier than those who are always "struggling" epic-struggles with it...

I did not get to this part of Tanya yet but it sounds somewhat like the vort from the Kotzker that Rav Twersky quoted

too much preoccupation with our minds on Mr Yetze Horah is not advised


כי המתאבק עם מנוול מתנוול גם כן



for he who wrestles with a filthy person is bound to become soiled himself.

Similarly, in the process of fighting the foreign thought, one’s mind becomes filled and tainted by it. He should therefore not seek to grapple with it.