בזכות התורה הקדושה הכתובה לפנינו נזכה לפרנסה בשפע וללא ביזיונות כדי שנוכל לעבוד את השם כאשר עם לבבנו!!
When a person is immersed in his bodily pleasures it is horrific, awful, crass and crude. That is where sadness comes from - which is counter-intuitive! You would think that pleasure=happy and lots of pleasure=lots of happiness but just the opposite is true. We see this בחוש - in a very concrete way, with people who are addicted to sex or food or the like. They are beyond miserable and needs tons of therapy to get out of it. They should be the HAPPIEST people! They are having a "good time" all the time.
How do the young people say it?
Not!
This excessive immersion in the body and sensual matters destroys one emotionally and spiritually.
But the Yetzer is much like a blog [not a holy one like ours:-)] - very outspoken and opinionated, even though its opinions are grounded in nonsense. Zugt the Yezter "Hey, you're just a simple guy. It's fun. She is ... [one of the various words used to describe alluring women]." Then he looks or does other things and his flesh has pleasure. That just proves that the Yetzer is correct. Who am I? The Vilna Gaon? The Chofetz Chaim? Naaahhhh! I am just a simple guy who went to HAFTR and Lavi. That is me. I don't enjoy all of those deep spiritual abstractions that my Rebbeim speak about or that I read about on Mevakesh.
At that point one must remind himself that the true SELF is not really happy. It is just a chemical reaction in his body that is causing momentary pleasure such as with a drug. The REAL SELF feels sick and depressed. Even Goyim get this. They have 12 step groups for people who should be very content with their lot. Gambling, drinking, drugs etc. gives them a rush. So enjoy!! Why go to a church basement with a few dozen other miserable people and try to break the habits? Because they are really destructive!!
After one confirms that the pleasure is not real or lasting he must then find other eitzos. One is to CRY OUT to the Ribbono Shel Olam to extricate him from this situation. To help him find a way to SANCTIFY the physical and not to be its slave. After all of these tefillos one should start feeling that he [or "she", of course] is a G-dly soul which temporarily inhabits a body and not a pleasure seeking animal. [My ninth grade biology teacher used to like to tell us that human beings are part of the animal kingdom. I often wanted to answer "Speak for yourself Mr. R."].
One thing that really helps is to say brachos with intense kavana!!
HATZLACHA BELOVED FRIENDS!!!:-)
Let us listen to a person who lived his soul....
