I think that there is value in the writings of Rabbainu the Ari [Izhak Luria], but only if one is prepared by learning and getting through the Talmud twice [the fast way], and also doing a few years in a Litvak yeshiva in order to learn Gemara in depth. Even though there is a lot one can learn by doing it all on one's own, still it is hard to get the idea of understanding the Gemara in depth (''how to learn'') without hearing classes from a Litvak Rosh Yeshiva. [ Without this preparation, learning Kabalah causes the ''breaking of the vessels'', destroying one's mind.] [Rav Nahman of Breslov pointed this out in the Le.M II, where he explains that the corrections of Rosh Hashanah one also gets by being in a Litvak Yeshiva (being with a rosh yeshiva with his students). Also, he brings the Midrash that we lost ''we will do'',-- so now let us hold on to ''we will listen''. That means learning by yourself is on the level of doing, [''We will do'']. But because of the sin of the Golden Calf, we lost that. I.e., it does not work anymore. The only way learning really gets absorbed is by listening. ]
Without a Litvak yeshiva is is easy to get ide tracked. And every discipline in fact has that danger. In general one needs to learn from an expert in that discipline. However when there is no choice one has to do as well as one can on one' own. Abraham Lincoln was self taught. He probably would have learned more thoroughly if he had had a good teacher, but he did the best that he could.
