Kabbalah Library
Shamati (I Heard)
116. He Who Said, “Mitzvot Do Not Require Intention”
I heard
“Mitzvot [commandments] do not require intention,” and “The reward for a Mitzva [sing. of Mitzvot] is not in this world.” This means that one who says that Mitzvot do not require intention believes that the reward for a Mitzva is not in this world. An intention is the reason and the flavor in the Mitzva. And this is the real reward of the Mitzva.
If a person tastes the flavor of a Mitzva and understands its reasoning, no greater reward is needed. Thus, if Mitzvot do not require intention, the reward for a Mitzva is not in this world anyway, since one does not feel any taste or any reason in the Mitzva.
It follows that if one is in a state where he hasn’t any intention, then one is in a state that the reward for a Mitzva is not in this world. Because the reward for a Mitzva is the taste and the reason, if one does not have it, he certainly has no reward for a Mitzva in this world.
