This is the meaning of the statement in the sacred Zohar, Parashat Pekudei (p. 229b), that “the good deeds (i.e., the mitzvot) which man does elicit a garment from the light of the supernal splendor…(i.e., from the level of keter), and they behold…the ‘pleasantness of G-d…,’” and also, as the Zohar concludes, they experience the “pleasurable thirst” (i.e., the pnimiyut of keter).
וְזֶהוּ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזּוֹהַר הַקָּדוֹשׁ פָּרָשַׁת פְּקוּדֵי (דַּף רכ"ט עַמּוּד ב'): "דְּאִינּוּן עוֹבָדִין טָבִין דְּעָבִיד בַּר נַשׁ מָשְׁכֵי מִנְּהוֹרָא דְּזִיוָוא עִילָּאָה לְבוּשָׁא כוּ', וְחָמֵי כוּ' בְּנוֹעַם ה' וְכוּ'".
Though there, [the Zohar] speaks of the Lower Garden of Eden, where the garments derive from the truly practical commandments so that they result not from the supernal will, as above, but from the merit of physical action,
וַהֲגַם דְּהָתָם מַיְירִי בְּגַן עֵדֶן הַתַּחְתּוֹן, שֶׁהַלְּבוּשִׁים שָׁם הֵם מִמִּצְוֹת מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת מַמָּשׁ,
while in the Upper Garden of Eden, the garments derive from the love and devotion of the heart with respect to Torah and prayer, as stated in the Zohar ad loc. (p. 210),
אֲבָל בְּגַן עֵדֶן הָעֶלְיוֹן הַלְּבוּשִׁים הֵם מֵרְעוּתָא וְכַוָּונָה דְלִבָּא בְּאוֹרַיְיתָא וּצְלוֹתָא, כְּמוֹ שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּזֹּהַר שָׁם (דַּף ר"י),
however, this devotion (from whence these garments derive) refers to the devotion of one’s occupation with Torah for its own sake, out of one’s love for G-d.
הֲרֵי הַכַּוָּונָה הִיא כַּוָּונַת עֶסְקוֹ בַּתּוֹרָה לִשְׁמָהּ מֵאַהֲבַת ה',
The commandment to study Torah also belongs to the class of practical commandments,
וּמִצְוַת תַּלְמוּד תּוֹרָה הִיא גַּם כֵּן מִכְּלַל מִצְוֹת מַעֲשִׂיּוֹת,
for “the movement of one’s lips [in speech] is regarded as an act,” and “meditation does not count as speech”50; thus, one does not discharge his duty by meditation alone.51
דַּ"עֲקִימַת שְׂפָתָיו הָוֵי מַעֲשֶׂה", וְהִרְהוּר לָאו כְּדִבּוּר דָּמִי, וְאֵינוֹ יוֹצֵא יְדֵי חוֹבָתוֹ בְּהִרְהוּר לְבַדּוֹ,
The same applies to prayer52; here, too, one must actually articulate the words.
וְכֵן בִּתְפִלָּה.
Since both Torah study and prayer require action, even the garments that are created by devout Torah and prayer are considered to be derived from the tangible and active aspect of mitzvot; they, too, are garments that derive from the light of keter.
And certainly so, considering that the superiority of devotion (kavanah) over speech and action (inasmuch as devotion can create garments for the soul in the Upper Garden of Eden) is not due to its own merits…, as in the loving service of G-d,
וּמַה גַּם, כִּי מַעֲלַת הַכַּוָּונָה עַל הַדִּבּוּר וּמַעֲשֶׂה אֵינָהּ מִצַּד עַצְמָהּ כוּ',
but because of the radiance from the supernal will…,
אֶלָּא מִצַּד הֶאָרַת רָצוֹן הָעֶלְיוֹן כוּ',
When a mitzvah is performed, the radiance of the supernal will is more manifest in its more spiritual aspect—in its devout and loving intent—than in its tangible and physical aspect.
as explained at length in Likkutei Amarim, Part I, ch. 38; see there.
כְּמוֹ שֶׁנִּתְבָּאֵר בְּלִקּוּטֵי אֲמָרִים חֵלֶק א' פֶּרֶק ל"ח בַּאֲרִיכוּת, עַיֵּין שָׁם.
The Alter Rebbe explains there that the illumination from the supernal will that shines within the devotion that accompanies an action is likened to a “soul,” relative to the illumination that shines in the action itself, which is likened to a “body” or garment for the soul. The difference is thus only in the degree of contraction or emanation of this radiance.
From the above, it is clear that even the garments for the soul that are created from the devotion and feeling that accompany Torah and prayer also result only from the radiance of the supernal will, which is the supernal keter.
The Zohar states that once the soul possesses, while in the Lower Garden of Eden, the garments of the mitzvot that derive from physical actions, it then rises to the upper Garden of Eden.