There are two paths to dealing with and refining one’s Yetzer HoRa - one’s evil inclination. Either through battle or through peace.
These two paths generally mirror the two paths in Avodah: The Avodah of prayer which (as explained earlier) is an Avodah of battle, and the Avodah of Torah study which as the Possuk states: דְרָכֶיהָ דַרְכֵי־נֹעַם וְכָל־נְתִּיבוֹתֶיהָ שָלוֹם “Its ways are ways of pleasantness, and all its paths are peace”.
This is because the system in which the Avodah of prayer refines the Yetzer HoRa is from below to above. The method being that the refiner (the Divine soul) permeates the refined (the animal soul) and operates from within. Which is why it is a battle and requires a concerted effort.
However, the refinement which the Avodah of Torah study achieves, operates from above to below. (As is known that the Torah is referred to as ‘bread from heaven’). This refinement is a much smoother process and happens automatically, as a result of one’s Torah study he draws down and reveals G-dliness upon himself, as a result of which the Yetzer HoRa becomes nullified and refined on its own.
