No. Life is about doing, not just thinking and feeling. Just as I can't think myself into shape physically, and I will need to exercise, so too I can't just think myself into a good person of devotion. It has to be imprinted in muscle memory.
How and why is this so?
In Kabbalistic terms, this world is called "Olam Haasiya", the world of doing. We are composed not only of a spiritual soul, but also an "animal soul" which gives us physical life and movement. There is a constant struggle between the demands of the animal soul, which is the seat of lust and passion, and the "spirit", which is the seat of, well, spirituality, morals and goodness.
"The commandments were given to mould the people." Thus says the Talmud. The commandments, which means all of Jewish ritual law and daily law, are physical actions of a spiritual nature. They are to mould our physical selves to be subservient to higher callings. This physical training can not be accomplished merely by meditation (although meditation is an authentic Jewish practice). It requires a regimen of behaviors to accustom ourselves to spiritual behavior.
If we were to content ourselves with mere belief, and allow ourselves to act physically as the mood strikes us, we would miss the point of faith altogether. Piaget talks about how so many people are moral in their behavior only to avoid being punished by society. If they could get away with stealing-affair-murder-and-so-forth, they would.
That is a direct result of the mistake that belief is enough. In truth, without moral behavior training, our spiritual muscles can attrify. Even belief and faith may not last, once we become addicted to impulse driven behavior.
Judaism teaches that each of the 613 commandments is to spiritually awaken one of the mystical 613 limbs and sinews of the human body. Through fastidious and devoted obedience to the commandments, we master "spiritual behavior", which is the recipe for an elevated and fulfilled life.
Again, the sages wisely warn us that "no person dies with even half of their lusts fulfilled."
If our goals are lust, gluttony and whatever other physical enticements of this world there are, we should know that we are headed for great disappointment and regret. If our goals are spiritual behavior, we are headed for great satisfaction in everything.
That includes physical pleasures as well. God does not want asceticism just as He does not want hedonism. He wants us to enjoy "this world and the next." Judaism teaches that the ONLY way to do that is through spiritual behavior, and that is defined by observing and obeying the commandments.
