In “Experiencing the Divine: A Practical Jewish Guide,” by Rabbi Kalonymus Kalman Shapira (the Pieseszner Rebbe), translated by Yaacov Dovid Shulman, the Rebbe says, (p 28):
Every feeling that is connected to something of this world opens a spark of our soul, and our soul is revealed a little bit. Let us then consciously draw it out even more. Let us greet it with words of love, awe and pure, God-directed mindfulness. Since this feeling based on physicality has opened and revealed our soul a bit, we have something to begin with. We can now knock upon the door of our heart and summon our soul from behind the gates of bronze, where it stands imprisoned. “Open for me, my sister, my friend” (Song of Songs). “Come forth to serve God with purity and passion, with faith, love and awe.”
I find it difficult to believe that “Every feeling is capable of revealing part of” my soul. I imagine that my feelings are not always so elevated that they reveal my soul in a way that will result in me serving Hashem with purity and passion, with faith, love and awe.
So, I ask, is his idea that feelings reveal the soul rooted in the sources or is it a new idea of the Pieseszner Rebbe? Is this idea accepted by contemporary Orthodox thought?