1. Baal HaSulam, Shamati, Article No. 68, "Man's Connection to the Sefirot”
One cannot correct one’s thought, but should only aim the heart—make one’s heart straight to the Creator. Then all of his thoughts and actions will naturally be to bestow contentment upon his Maker. When he corrects his heart to be a heart and desire of Kedusha, the heart will then be the Kli in which to place the upper light. And when the upper light shines in the heart, the heart will grow stronger and he will add and supplement continuously.
Now we can interpret our sages’ words, “Great is the learning that yields action.” It means that through the light of the Torah he is led into action, as the light in it reforms him. This is called “an act.” This means that the light of the Torah builds a new structure in his heart.
2. RABASH, Article No. 12 (1988), "What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?"
It is our inability to do anything for the sake of the Creator. Only the light of Torah will correct the heart, for the heart is called “desire,” and by nature, it is a desire only to receive. But how can a person go against nature?
This is why the Creator said, “I have created the evil inclination; I have created the Torah as a spice.” It follows that he is not learning Torah for the intellect, to understand, but he is learning in order to understand so as to achieve Dvekut with the Creator, who is clothed in the Torah, and this pertains to the heart. Through the light he will receive, it reforms him, meaning that the will to receive for his own sake can receive strength from above that enables it to work for the sake of the Creator.
3. RABASH, Article No. 12 (1988), "What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?"
They are learning Torah in order to correct the heart, these are called “wise-hearted,” since everything is named after its action. For this reason, the Torah they learn with this intention is called “wise-hearted” and not “wise-minded,” since they need the Torah in order to correct the heart.
4. RABASH, Article No. 12 (1988), "What Are Torah and Work in the Way of the Creator?"
Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra says (in the “Introduction to the book Panim Masbirot,” Item 10), “Know that all the Mitzvot that are written in the Torah or the accepted ones, which the forefathers have established, although the majority of them are in deed or utterance, they are all in order to correct the heart. This is because the Lord wants all the hearts, and He understands the inclination of every thought. It is written, ‘To those whose hearts are straight,’ and conversely, ‘a heart filled with thoughts of transgression.’ Know that the Torah was given only to men of heart.”
5. RABASH, Article No. 37 (1985), "Who Testifies to a Person?"
He must perform every act of Torah and Mitzvot in order to bring himself into the aim to bestow. Afterwards, when he has a complete understanding of how much he needs to engage in order to bestow, and he feels pain and suffering at not having this force, then it is considered that he already has something for which to pray—for work in the heart—since the heart feels what it needs.
For such a prayer comes the answer to the prayer. This means that he is given this strength from above so he will be able to aim in order to bestow, for then he already has the light and Kli. However, what can one do if, after all the efforts he has made, he still does not feel the lack of not being able to bestow as pain and suffering? The solution is to ask the Creator to give him the Kli called, “A lack from not feeling,” and that he is unconscious, without any pain from being unable to bestow.
6. RABASH, Article No. 794, "The Place of Attainment"
We should interpret that GAR means mind, where it should be only by faith. We must believe that this was His will. VAK means “heart,” meaning an impression in the heart, and here, it is apparent in one’s quality of love and fear. This should be with clear attainment, meaning that the impression should be revealed in him, and not by faith.
However, to the extent that the impression is felt in the heart, so is the measure of one’s attainment. Here it is a commandment to expand his feelings. Conversely, in the mind, his greatness depends on the extent to which he can work in the manner of above reason.
It follows that they are two opposite things. If his mind is above reason, and the impression he feels in the heart is in the mind, this is called Gadlut [greatness/adulthood]. That is, on one hand, it is above attainment, yet it is felt in the heart. The measure of Gadlut depends on this, on the measure of oppositeness between mind and heart, for then one must overcome above reason, and the heart is precisely within reason, meaning in the feeling.
7. RABASH, Article No. 2 (1991), “What Is, ‘Return, O Israel, Unto the Lord Your God,’ in the Work?”
What does it mean that the Creator heals the brokenhearted? The thing is that it is known that the essence of man is the heart, as our sages said, “The Merciful one wants the heart.” The heart is the Kli [vessel] that receives the Kedusha from above. It is as we learn about the breaking of the vessels, that if the Kli is broken, everything you put in it will spill out.
Likewise, if the heart is broken, meaning the will to receive controls the heart, abundance cannot enter there because everything that the will to receive receives will go to the Klipot [shells/peels]. This is called “the breaking of the heart.” Hence, a person prays to the Creator and says, “You must help me because I am worse than everyone, since I feel that the will to receive controls my heart, and this is why nothing of Kedusha can enter my heart. I want no luxuries, only to be able to do something for the sake of the Creator, and I am utterly incapable of this, so only You can save me.”
By this we should interpret what is written (Psalms 34), “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted.” That is, those who ask the Creator to help them so their heart will not be broken and will be whole.
8. Maimonides, Mishneh Torah
How is there intention? One should clear his heart from all the thoughts and see himself as though he is standing before the Shechina [Divinity]. Therefore, one should settle oneself a little prior to the prayer, to aim his heart, and then pray. The first Hassidim [adherents of the Hassidut movement] would spend one hour prior to the prayer, one hour after the prayer, and extend the prayer by one hour.
9. RABASH, Article No. 24, "Three Times in the Work"
A prayer is work in the heart. That is, since the root of man’s heart is the will to receive, and he needs the opposite, meaning that it will work only to bestow and not receive, it follows that he has a lot of work in inverting it.
And since this is against nature, he must pray to the Creator to help him come out of his nature.
10. RABASH, Article No. 18 (1990), "Why the Speech of Shabbat Must Not Be as the Speech of a Weekday, in the Work?”
A prayer is usually called “work,” for a prayer is called “work in the heart,” which is an intention, meaning the intention of the heart. That is, a person should aim while observing Torah and Mitzvot, why he is observing the Torah and Mitzvot, whether for his own sake or does he aim for the sake of the Creator?
11. RABASH, Article No. 24 (1990), “What Does, ‘Everything that Comes to Be a Burnt Offering Is Male,’ Mean in the Work?”
If the thought is faith above reason, equivalence of form, then the thought, which is male, influences the heart, which is female, as it is written, “The heart understands.” This is the meaning of what The Zohar says, “Bina is the heart,” and she is female.
12. RABASH, Article No. 942, "Concerning the Mind Controlling the Heart"
The mind serves the heart, which is the will to receive, just as the hands and legs and the rest of the assistants that one has. For this reason, there is no other way but to purify the heart, for which reason we pray, “Purify our hearts to serve You in truth.” The mind cannot determine for man to walk on the good path or to the contrary. Rather, as was said at the time of the giving of the Torah, “We will do and we will hear.”