I think both Kabbalists and anti-Kabbalists would be best served by studying the classic Secondary Ethical works of Kabbalists first
EG
M'silat Y'sharim
Tomer D'vorah
Shaarei Q'dushah
Sh'mirat Halashon [especially areas on Ahavat Yisra'el]
Nefesh haChaim
Ru'ach haChaim on Avot
A whole sub-set of:
• Breslover Writings
• R Aryeh Kaplan's writings
Also I would recommend the Baal Hatnya's Hilchot Talmud Torah [but NOT necssarily the Tanya itself] for beginners
For some pre-cursors I would suggest
Midrash Rabbah
Tanna d'vei Eliyahu
Even En Jacob
+++++++++++++++
A Kabbalist friend who mentors others - warned all initiates to cover part one of Moreh N'vuchim first - in order not to see anything in Kabbalah as physical, but rather as conceptual
He stated, only after the Moreh stamped out all anthopomorphisms FIRST was kabbalah safe to say what it said. Without the Moreh [at least part 1] to teach the proper path [pun intended] people could fall into traps.
Another Kabblistic Master teaches Parshah from a mildly kabbalistic perspective
He often opined that people were too "eager" for Kabbalah and he suggested becoming grounded in Talmud and Rambam first - and along side with - any Kabbalah.
From other statements he made I think Shulchan Aruch would also do the trick.
Another "sanitized" set of writings are the works of the Maharal, who reformatted Kabbalistic concepts using non-Kabbalistic terminology. This way he avoided some of the pitfalls of S'PHIROT etc.
To me ALL mystical traditons - EG even Gnostics - are about bridging the gap between the Divine and the Human
Thus the first step here is Psalms - and the Midrashim on Psalms that lead one to "uvo tidbaq" AKA d'veiqut.
Shir Hasheerim is from the same genre and depicts a love story, alternatively between Hashem and Israel or between Israel and the Torah. Its Midrashim are also instructive in cleaving to the Divine.
That said, I don't recommend Kabbalah to the vast majority of Jews. I see it for "y'chidei s'gulah" for the advanced esoteric types.
I don't know enough about the Zohar or the writings of the Arizal to make an intelligent comment. I do know that the Ari's writings did cause or create several baalei t'shuvah with whom I am acquainted.
To me Torah essentially performs a dual mission to foster:
1 Ethics/menschlicheit
2 Q'dushah/holiness
Those are the litmus tests
Ahavat Israel is. Close third
KT
RRW
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