Zohar and Nefesh HaChayim

Both texts engage with prayer (tefillah) and intention (kavanah), but with distinct emphases. Text 1 (Nefesh HaChayim) explicitly addresses 'כוונת' (kavanah/intention) in prayer, analyzing the verse 'בכל לבבכם' as clarifying two dimensions of intentional prayer. Text 2 (Zohar) describes mystical ascent and cosmic communion during prayer—the cherubim singing, wings spreading upward, incense rising—focusing on the theurgic and experiential dimensions rather than intentionality per se. While both presume kavanah operates within tefillah, Text 1 emphasizes intellectual/volitional clarification of intention, whereas Text 2 emphasizes mystical experience and heavenly correspondence. The disagreement is one of focus rather than contradiction.