רָצוֹן וְכִסּוּפִין

The primary formation of the soul is through the yearning, longing, and good desires of a Jew for Hashem, blessed be He, each according to his level, where he longs, yearns, and pines to reach a level higher than his own. Through these longings, a holy soul is formed (31).

But in order for his soul to go from potential to actuality, he must speak with his mouth his longings and yearning, and through this, it takes effect, that his request is fulfilled, and he merits to reach what he longs for. And this is the virtue of conversing between himself and his Creator, that one must converse and speak between himself and his Creator every day, and speak with a full mouth his good desires and longings, that is, what he lacks in the service of Hashem, which he wants and yearns for Hashem, blessed be He, to fulfill for him. And he requests, prays, and pleads before Hashem, blessed be He, for this, that He have compassion on him to fulfill his good desires and longings. And through this, he merits to bring from potential to actuality, to accomplish what is needed (there).

Through good longings for Hashem, blessed be He, one shapes the letters of the Torah for good, and it becomes for him an elixir of life and brings good to the world. And conversely, through evil longings, Heaven forbid, one shapes the letters of the Torah to the contrary, and it becomes for him an elixir of death, in the aspect of “and sinners will stumble in them” (Hosea 14:10), and brings evils to the world, Heaven forbid (there).

And the general principle is that the longings and yearning for something holy are very precious, for through them, a soul is formed and completed through speech, as mentioned above. And this soul can reincarnate into a wicked person and bring him to repentance. And conversely, how many evils are caused by longings for something that is not good, Heaven forbid, for the soul that is formed through evil longings sometimes reincarnates into a tzaddik and can cause him to sin, Heaven forbid (there).

One who cannot study at all, such as an ignoramus, or one who has no book, or is on a journey or in the wilderness, and the like, but his heart burns within him and he greatly longs and yearns to study Torah, then the very desire of his heart to study is itself the aspect of studying from a book [see inside, entry 142] (142).

Through a person having a desire other than the will of Hashem, blessed be He, a kingship is created for the Other Side. For a person must nullify his will so that he has no desire, except as Hashem, blessed be He, desires, whether he has wealth and children or not, Heaven forbid. And similarly, all other desires should not exist, except as Hashem, blessed be He, desires, and then he enthrones His kingship, blessed be He, alone (177).

Regarding an extraordinary desire where one does not know at all what he wants [see Emunah, entry 55, Achilah, entry 17] (Likutay Moharan II, 7, 10).

The essence is the will, and even though everyone desires and wants to serve Him, blessed be He, nevertheless, not all desires are equal. And there are many differences in will, even in one person himself, at every time and every moment, there are many differences between the desires. And the general principle is that the essence is the will and the longings, that one should long for Him, blessed be He, and within this, one prays, studies, and performs mitzvot [see Mamon, entry 50] (Sichot Haran 51).