Rabbi Moshe Cordovero on Prerequisities to the Study of Kabbalah

"There are also those who imagine that before pursuing Kabbalah, they must first master the science of astronomy. They have other notions which keep them from following the straight path. They sanctimoniously give themselves the excuse that their bellies are not yet full of the bread and meat of the Gemara. For these poor people, their entire lives will not be sufficient to learn even a bit of Gemara, let alone to fill their bellies so that they could partake of this science and be sated. Thus the poor people go to their eternal rest bereft of wisdom."

-- Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Or Ne'Erev 11a

Rabbi Moshe Cordovero on Arousal of the Righteous Towards Shekhinah

"There is a need for the arousal of the righteous in this lower world towards the Shekhinah in order for the righteous to be the throne and dwelling for the emanation pouring into this world from the Shekhinah. It is because of their merit that this emanation from above flows to the lower ones. Come and see: what is the meaning of 'I am my beloved's and his desire is towards me' (Shir haShirim 7:2)? 'I am my beloved's' ─ I first turn to God and then, as a consequence, 'His desire is towards me'. Thus, it is clear that arousal is needed in order to have a sanctuary, a fixed place and a throne for emanation. So, the principle of arousal indicates that there should be a fixed place and a preparation for emanation. It means that the light of emanation does not appear unless it has some kind of receptacle in which to be stored. When there is a receptacle and a fixed place in which to be stored in the world, light and emanation descend. Then, the light is revealed and seen; much emanation descends into Malkhut in order to feed the lower ones, giving delight and peace."

-- Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Pardes Rimonim 8.20

Rabbi Moshe Cordovero on the Letters of Emanation and Performing Mitzvot

"There is no doubt that the letters that compose each and every pericope of the Torah, and every Gemara and chapter someone is studying, which concern a certain Mizvah, have a spiritual reality which ascends and clings to the branches of a certain sefirah, namely the sefirah that hints to this Mizvah, and when the person studies the corresponding Mizvah or the chapter or the pericope or the verse, those letters will move and stir on high.

"And behold, the voices and the realities of the letters produced by the twist of the lips bestow on them a certain act and movement like that of a body. And the reality of the letters ascends and it is found everywhere on the way of their ascent from one aspect to another, following the way of the descending emanation from one stage to another."

-- Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Or Yaqar vol. 12 p. 147 (transl. Idel in "Reification of Language in Jewish Mysticism" 1992)

Rabbi Moshe Cordovero on the Necessity of the Ten Sefirot

"It is incumbent upon the sefirot to be ten, neither nine nor eleven, since the upper number is the source of the sefirot, whereas its assemblage is their boundary and number."

-- Rabbi Moshe Cordovero, Eilimah Rabbati - Ein Kol 4:16 (transl. Z. Raviv in "Decoding the Dogma within the Enigma", 2007)