0:05

Welcome to the

0:07

Reality Revolution. I am your

0:09

host, Brian Scott. Today

0:12

we are reading a book, or more

0:14

accurately, a pamphlet that Neville

0:17

wrote called The Search. We

0:19

are then going to read a transcript

0:21

from a final record that Neville

0:24

released in 1960 that

0:26

discusses the secret of imagining in a

0:28

mystical experience. The Search is

0:31

the most complete of Neville's early

0:33

mystical visions. This

0:35

essay encapsulates Neville's philosophy of

0:38

the omnipotence of the self. The

0:42

Search also demonstrates his literary grace

0:44

and power. Neville

0:46

was one of the few modern writers capable

0:49

of describing inner experience in a manner that

0:51

is at once relatable and relevant

0:53

to the reader. Neville

0:56

dedicates this work to his daughter Victoria, born

0:59

in 1942. For

1:02

those that don't know, Neville Goddard was an

1:04

amazing metaphysical writer who taught about

1:06

the Bible and his own visions and

1:08

the fact that imagination creates reality. The

1:11

reason you see Neville Goddard mentioned in so

1:13

many places is that his teachings resonate

1:16

on a deep primal level

1:19

and unlock spiritual wisdom I can't

1:21

even begin to explain. This

1:24

is quite different than our normal episode. We've

1:26

read many books and lectures and

1:28

this is a book, but a

1:30

very short one, more of a pamphlet. Honestly,

1:33

there is no way I can compare this to anything

1:35

else that we've read or talked

1:37

about with Neville. It has a poetry

1:39

to it that is unlike anything else

1:41

he wrote. The

1:46

Search by Neville Goddard The

1:49

Search Once in

1:51

an idle interval at sea, I meditated

1:54

on the perfect state and wondered

1:56

what I would be were I of two

1:58

pure eyes to behold iniquity. If

2:00

to me all things were pure, and were

2:02

I without condemnation. As

2:05

I became lost in this fiery brooding, I

2:07

found myself lifted above the dark environment of

2:09

the senses. So intense was

2:11

the feeling, I felt myself a being of

2:14

fire dwelling in a body of air. Voices,

2:17

as from a heavenly chorus, with the

2:19

exaltation of those who had been conquerors

2:21

in a conflict with death, were

2:24

singing, He is risen, He is

2:26

risen. And intuitively I

2:28

knew they meant me. Then

2:31

I seemed to be walking in the night. I

2:33

soon came upon a scene that might have

2:35

been the ancient pool of Bethesda, for

2:38

in this place lay a great multitude

2:40

of impotent folk, blind,

2:42

halt, withered, waiting

2:44

not for the moving of the water as

2:47

of tradition, but waiting

2:49

for me. As

2:51

I came near, without thought or

2:53

effort on my part, they were, one

2:55

after the other, molded as

2:58

by the magician of the beautiful. Eyes,

3:01

hands, feet, all

3:03

missing members, were drawn from some

3:05

invisible reservoir, and molded in harmony

3:08

with that perfection which

3:10

I felt springing within me. When

3:12

all were made perfect, the chorus

3:15

exalted, It is finished.

3:19

Then the scene dissolved, and I awoke. I

3:21

know this vision was the result of my

3:23

intense meditation upon the idea of perfection, for

3:26

my meditations invariably bring about union

3:29

with the state contemplated. I

3:31

had been so completely absorbed within the idea that

3:34

for a while I had become what I

3:36

contemplated, and the high purpose with which

3:38

I had for that moment identified myself,

3:41

drew the companionship of high things,

3:43

and fashioned the vision in harmony

3:46

with my inner nature. The

3:48

ideal with which we are united works

3:51

by association of ideas to awaken a

3:53

thousand moods to create a

3:55

drama in keeping with the central idea. discovered,

4:00

this close relationship of moods to

4:03

vision, when I was aged about

4:05

seven. I

4:07

became aware of a mysterious life

4:09

quickening within me like a stormy

4:11

ocean of frightening might.

4:13

I always knew when I would be

4:16

united with this hidden identity, for

4:18

my senses were expectant on the

4:20

nights of these visitations, and I

4:22

knew beyond all doubt that

4:24

before morning I would be alone with

4:26

immensity. I so dreaded

4:28

these visitations that I would lie awake

4:31

until my eyes from sheer exhaustion

4:33

closed. As my eyes

4:35

closed in sleep, I

4:38

was no longer solitary, but smitten through and

4:40

through with another being, and yet

4:42

I knew it to be myself. It

4:45

seemed older than life, yet nearer to me

4:47

than my boyhood. If I

4:49

tell what I discovered on these nights, I do

4:51

so not to impose my ideas on others, but

4:53

that I may give hope to those who seek

4:55

the law of life. I

4:57

discovered that my expectant mood worked as

5:00

a magnet to unite me with this

5:02

greater me while my fears made

5:04

it appear as a stormy sea. As

5:06

a boy, I conceived of this

5:08

mysterious self as might, and

5:10

in my union with it I felt its

5:13

majesty as a stormy sea which drenched me,

5:15

then rolled and tossed me

5:18

as a helpless wave. As

5:20

a man I conceived of it as love and

5:23

myself the son of it, and in

5:25

my union with it now what a

5:27

love enfolds me. It is

5:29

a mirror to all, whatever we conceive, it

5:32

as being that it is to us.

5:35

I believe it to be the center through

5:37

which all the threads of the universe are

5:40

drawn. Therefore, I

5:42

have altered my values and changed my

5:44

ideas so that they now depend upon

5:46

and are in harmony with this sole

5:48

cause of all that is. It

5:51

is to me that changeless

5:53

reality which fashions circumstances in

5:56

harmony with our concepts of ourselves, my

5:59

mystical experience. experiences have convinced me that

6:01

there is no way to bring about the

6:03

outer perfection we seek other

6:06

than by the transformation of ourselves. As

6:09

soon as we succeed in transforming ourselves,

6:12

the world will melt magically before our

6:14

eyes, and reshape itself

6:16

in harmony with that which

6:18

our transformation affirms. Two

6:21

other visions I will tell, because they bear out

6:23

the truth of my assertion that we, by

6:26

intensity of love and hate, become

6:28

what we contemplate. Once,

6:32

with closed eyes made radiant from

6:34

brooding, I

6:37

meditated on the eternal question, Who am

6:39

I? and felt myself

6:41

gradually dissolve into a shoreless sea

6:43

of vibrant light, imagination

6:45

passing beyond all fear of death. In

6:49

this state, nothing existed but myself, a

6:52

boundless ocean of liquid light. Never

6:55

have I felt more intimate with being.

6:59

How long this experience lasted I do not know,

7:01

but my return to earth was accompanied

7:03

by a distinct feeling of crystallizing again

7:06

into human shape. At

7:08

another time I lay on my bed, and

7:11

with my eyes shut, as in sleep, I

7:14

brooded on the mystery of Buddha. In

7:17

a little while the dark caverns of my brain

7:19

began to grow luminous. I

7:21

seemed to be surrounded by luminous clouds, which

7:25

emanated from my head as fiery pulsating

7:27

rings. I saw nothing but these

7:29

luminous rings for a time. Then

7:32

there appeared before my eyes a rock of

7:34

quartz crystal. While I gazed

7:36

upon it, the crystal broke into pieces

7:38

which invisible hands quickly shaped into

7:41

the living Buddha. As

7:43

I looked on this meditative figure, I

7:46

saw that it was myself. I

7:49

was the living Buddha whom I contemplated.

7:52

A light like the sun glowed

7:54

from this living image of myself,

7:57

with increasing intensity until it

7:59

exploded. Then the

8:01

light gradually faded, and once

8:03

more I was back within the blackness of my

8:06

room. Out of

8:08

what sphere or treasury of design came

8:10

this being mightier than human, his

8:13

garments, the crystal, the light. If

8:16

I saw, heard, and moved in a world

8:18

of real beings, when I seemed to

8:20

myself to be walking in the night, when

8:22

the lame, the halt, the blind were

8:25

transformed in harmony with my inner nature,

8:27

then I am justified in assuming that

8:30

I have a more subtle body than the physical. A

8:33

body that can be detached from the physical

8:35

and used in other spheres, for

8:38

to see, to hear, to move

8:40

our functions of an

8:43

organism however ethereal. If

8:46

I brewed over the alternative that

8:48

my psychic experiences were self-begotten fantasy,

8:50

no less am I moved to

8:52

wonder at this mightier self who

8:54

flashes on my mind a drama

8:57

as real as those I experience

8:59

when I am fully awake. On

9:02

these fiery meditations I have entered again

9:04

and again, and I know beyond all

9:06

doubt that both assumptions are true. Housed

9:10

within this form of earth is a body attuned

9:13

to a world of light, and

9:15

I have, by intense meditation, lifted it,

9:18

as with a magnet through, through

9:21

the skull of this dark house of flesh.

9:24

The first time I awoke, the fires within

9:27

me, I thought my head would explode. There

9:30

was intense vibration at the base of my

9:32

skull, then sudden oblivion of

9:34

all. Then I found

9:36

myself clothed in a garment of

9:38

light and attached by a

9:40

silvery elastic cord to the

9:43

slumbering body on the bed. So

9:45

exalted were my feelings, I

9:47

felt related to the stars. In

9:50

this garment I roamed spheres more

9:52

familiar than earth, but

9:54

found that as on earth conditions were

9:57

molded in harmony with my nature. self-begotten

10:00

fantasy, I hear you say.

10:03

No more so than the things of

10:05

earth, I am an immortal being conceiving

10:07

myself as man and

10:09

forming worlds in the likeness and image

10:11

of my concept of self. What

10:14

we imagine that we are, by

10:17

our imagination we have created this

10:19

dream of life, and

10:22

by our imagination we will re-enter that

10:24

eternal world of light, becoming

10:26

that which we were before we imagined the

10:28

world. In

10:30

the divine economy nothing is lost. We

10:33

cannot lose anything saved by descent from

10:35

the sphere, or the thing

10:37

has its natural life. There

10:40

is no transforming power in death, and whether

10:42

we are here or there, we

10:44

fashion the world that surrounds us

10:46

by the intensity of our imagination

10:48

and feeling, and we

10:50

illuminate or darken our lives by the

10:52

concepts we hold of ourselves. Nothing

10:56

is more important to us than our

10:58

conception of ourselves, and especially

11:00

is this true of our concept of the

11:02

deep, hidden one within us. Those

11:05

that help or hinder us, whether they know it

11:08

or not, are the servants

11:10

of that law which shapes outward

11:12

circumstances in harmony with

11:14

our inner nature. It

11:16

is our conception of ourselves which

11:19

frees or constrains us, though

11:22

it may use material agencies

11:24

to achieve its purpose. Because

11:27

life molds the outer world to

11:30

reflect the inner arrangement of our

11:32

minds, there is no way of

11:34

bringing about the outer perfection we seek

11:37

other than by the transformation of ourselves,

11:40

no help cometh from without. The

11:43

hills to which we lift our eyes are

11:46

those of an inner range. It

11:48

is thus to our own consciousness that

11:51

we must turn as to the

11:53

only reality, the only foundation

11:55

on which all phenomena can

11:57

be explained. We can rely

11:59

on the absolutely on the justice of

12:02

this law, to give us only

12:04

that which is of the nature of

12:06

ourselves. To attempt to change

12:08

the world before we change our concept

12:10

of ourselves is to struggle against

12:13

the nature of things. There

12:15

can be no outer change until there

12:17

is first an inner change, as

12:19

within so without. I

12:22

am not advocating philosophical indifference when

12:24

I suggest that we should imagine

12:26

ourselves as already that which we

12:28

want to be, living

12:30

in a mental atmosphere of greatness rather

12:33

than using physical means and arguments

12:35

to bring about the desired change.

12:39

Everything we do, unaccompanied by

12:41

a change of consciousness, is

12:44

but futile readjustment of surfaces. However

12:47

we toil or struggle, we

12:49

can receive no more than our subconscious

12:51

assumptions affirm. To

12:54

protest against anything which happens to us

12:56

is to protest against the law of our

12:59

being and our rulership over

13:01

our own destiny. The circumstances

13:03

of my life are

13:05

too closely related to my conception of

13:07

myself not to have been

13:10

launched by my own spirit from

13:12

some magical storehouse of my

13:14

being. If there is pain

13:17

to me in these happenings, I should look within

13:19

myself for the cause, for I

13:21

am moved here and there and made to

13:23

live in a world in harmony with my

13:25

concept of myself. Intense

13:27

meditation brings about a union with

13:30

the state contemplated and during

13:32

this union we see visions, have

13:35

experiences and behave in keeping with

13:37

our change of consciousness. This

13:39

shows us that a transformation

13:41

of consciousness will result in

13:45

a change of environment and

13:47

behavior. However our

13:50

ordinary alterations of consciousness, as

13:52

we pass from one state to another,

13:55

are not transformations because

13:57

each of them is so rapidly

13:59

succeeded by another in the

14:01

reverse direction. But whenever one

14:03

state grows so stable as to definitely

14:06

expel its rivals, then

14:08

that central habitual state defines the

14:10

character and is a true

14:12

transformation. To say that

14:14

we are transformed means that

14:16

ideas previously peripheral in our

14:19

consciousness now take a central

14:21

place and form the habitual

14:23

center of our energy. All

14:26

wars prove that violent emotions

14:28

are extremely potent in

14:30

precipitating mental rearrangements. Every

14:33

great conflict has been followed by

14:35

an era of materialism and greed

14:37

in which the ideals for which

14:39

the conflict ostensibly was waged are

14:41

submerged. This is inevitable

14:43

because war evokes hate, which

14:46

impels a dissent in consciousness from the

14:48

plane of the ideal to

14:50

the level where the conflict is waged. If

14:53

we would become as emotionally aroused

14:55

over our ideals as

14:57

we become over our dislikes, we

15:00

would ascend to the plane of our ideals as

15:03

easily as we now descend to the level of our

15:05

hates. Love and

15:07

hate have a magical

15:09

transforming power and we

15:11

grow through their exercise into the likeness

15:13

of what we contemplate. By

15:16

intensity of hatred we create in ourselves the

15:18

character we imagine in our enemies. Qualities

15:21

die for want of attention, so the

15:23

unlovely states might best be rubbed out

15:25

by imagining beauty for ashes and joy

15:27

for mourning, rather than by

15:29

direct attacks on the state from which we

15:31

would be free. Whatsoever

15:33

things are lovely and of good

15:36

report, think on

15:38

these things, for we become

15:40

that with which we are on rapport. There

15:43

is nothing to change but our

15:45

concept of self. Humanity

15:47

is a single being in

15:49

spite of its many forms and faces, and

15:52

there is in it only such seeming

15:54

separation as we find in our own

15:56

being when we are dreaming. The

15:59

pictures and search The circumstances we see in

16:01

dreams are creations of our

16:03

own imagination and have

16:05

no existence save in ourselves. The

16:08

same is true of the pictures and

16:10

circumstances we see in this dream of

16:12

life. They reveal

16:15

our concepts of ourselves. As

16:18

soon as we succeed in transforming

16:20

self, our world

16:22

will dissolve and reshape itself in

16:24

harmony with that which our change

16:26

affirms. The universe which

16:29

we study with such care is a dream, and

16:31

we the dreamers of the dream, eternal

16:34

dreamers dreaming non-eternal dreams. One

16:37

day, like Nebuchadnezzar, we

16:40

shall awaken from the dream, from

16:42

the nightmare in which we fought with demons, to

16:45

find that we really never left our

16:48

eternal home, that we

16:50

were never born and have never died save in

16:52

our dream. That

16:55

concludes this short

16:57

and powerful booklet, The

16:59

Search, by Neville Goddard. In

17:04

this wonderful booklet, Neville

17:06

presents a powerful and

17:09

deeply personal account of

17:11

his mystical experiences and

17:13

the profound insights they yielded about the

17:15

nature of reality, consciousness, and the self.

17:19

The essay encapsulates Neville's

17:21

core philosophy which

17:23

emphasizes the omnipotence of the

17:25

individual's imagination in shaping reality.

17:30

Goddard's vivid description of his vision, such as

17:32

the ancient pool of Bethesda and

17:34

his transformation into the living Buddha, demonstrates

17:37

his remarkable ability to convey

17:39

inner experiences in a relatable

17:41

and impactful manner. His

17:44

vision serves as allegories for his central message

17:47

that our consciousness is

17:50

the sole cause of all that we experience,

17:53

and that by transforming our

17:55

conception of ourselves, we can reshape our

17:58

world in harmony with our own. desires.

18:02

This pamphlet explores the intimate

18:04

relationship between moods and visions

18:06

suggesting that our emotional

18:08

states act as magnets, drawing

18:11

experiences that correspond to our inner

18:13

nature. Goddard asserts that

18:16

by cultivating a mood of expectancy and love,

18:18

we can unite with our greater me

18:21

and access a realm of boundless potential.

18:24

One of the most striking aspects of

18:26

the search is Goddard's insistence on the

18:29

primacy of imagination over physical

18:31

reality. He argues that

18:33

the outer world is merely a reflection

18:35

of our inner states and

18:37

that attempting to change external circumstances

18:40

without first transforming

18:42

your consciousness is futile.

18:45

This idea challenges conventional notions

18:47

of causality and

18:50

empowers you to take responsibility

18:52

for your life by focusing on your

18:55

internal world. What is

18:57

unique about this compared to his other books that he wrote

18:59

is Goddard's poetic language and

19:02

metaphysical insights imbue this

19:04

with a sense of timelessness and

19:07

universal relevance unlike any of his other

19:09

writings. This message

19:11

of self-transformation through the

19:14

power of imagination resonates with

19:16

me in such

19:18

a powerful way. It was so beautiful to

19:20

read and in dedicating this

19:22

to his daughter, he underscores the intimate and

19:24

personal nature of his

19:26

mystical experience, suggesting that these

19:29

insights are meant to be shared and passed

19:31

down to future generations.

19:34

That's the powerful part of this is he wants

19:36

us to be talking about this right now. And

19:40

the search serves as a powerful introduction

19:42

to his philosophy and a

19:45

testament to his literary

19:47

skill in conveying profound spiritual

19:49

truths. It

19:51

invites you to embark on your own inner

19:53

journey of self-discovery and to harness the Transformative

19:56

power of your imagination in creating a

19:58

life of your own. The of abundance

20:00

and love and for some. He

20:03

can help it. Listen. To the

20:05

short little beautiful book. Quit and

20:08

Not Be inspired. It's unlike anything

20:10

else and I read by now

20:12

for for the second part of

20:14

today's episode. This. Is a

20:16

transcript of a vinyl record never released

20:19

in Nineteen Sixty. as much more which

20:21

explains if I wanted to expose someone

20:23

to one piece of novels work, The

20:25

concisely and completely describes his outlook and

20:28

methods. This is what I would select.

20:31

This. Short Statement from Never Spoken

20:33

Word album captures his metaphysical vision

20:36

in a nutshell: The. Title

20:38

given was the Secret of

20:40

Imagining. This. Is different

20:42

than his lecture titled the Secret of

20:45

Imagining which we have also read yet

20:47

is quite wonderful. The. Secret

20:49

of imagining. It may

20:51

seem incredible, but it is true. The world

20:53

in which we live is a world of

20:55

imagination. In. Fact: Life itself

20:57

is an activity of imagining. All

21:00

that we behold though it appears

21:02

without it is with in our

21:05

imagination. of which this world of

21:07

mortality is but a shadow. Nothing

21:09

appears or continues in being by

21:11

a power of it's own. Events.

21:15

Happen because comparatively stable,

21:17

imaginable activities created them.

21:20

And they continue in being only as

21:22

long as they receive such support. Therefore,

21:25

the secret of Imagining is the

21:27

greatest of all problems to the

21:30

solution of which everyone should aspire.

21:33

For supreme power, supreme wisdom, and

21:35

supreme joyce lie in the solution

21:37

of this great mystery. When.

21:40

Man solved the mystery of

21:42

imagining. He will have discovered

21:44

the secret of causation and

21:46

that is. Imagining creates reality.

21:49

Divine. Imagining and human imagining are

21:51

not to powers at all, but

21:53

one of our distinction which exists

21:55

between them lies not in the

21:58

substance with which they operate. But

22:00

in the degree of intensity of the

22:02

operant power itself. Acting

22:04

at high tension and imaginable

22:07

act is an immediate objective

22:09

fact. He'd low and imaginable

22:11

act is realized in a

22:13

time process. Human. History.

22:16

With. It's forms of government's it's revolutions,

22:18

It's wars, and in fact, the

22:20

rise and fall of nations. Could.

22:23

Be written in terms of the imagine activities

22:25

of men and women. All.

22:28

Imaginative men and women. Are

22:31

Forever Casting Fourth Enchantments. And

22:33

all passive men and women who

22:36

have no powerful, imaginative lives are

22:38

continually passing under the spell of

22:40

their power. His imagination is the

22:42

only thing that acts. Or.

22:44

Is in existing beings or men.

22:47

As Blake believed then, we should never

22:49

be certain that it was not some

22:51

woman treading in the wind press who

22:54

began that subtle change in men's minds.

22:57

Are that the passion? Because. Of

22:59

which the earth has been drenched in blood.

23:02

Did. Not begin in the imagination of

23:04

some shepherd boy lighting up his eye

23:06

for a moment before it ran upon

23:08

its way. The.

23:10

Future is the imaginable activity

23:12

of man in It's Creative

23:14

March. Imagining.

23:17

Is the creative power. Not.

23:19

Only of the poet. The. Artist: The actor

23:21

in order. But. Of the scientist.

23:24

The. Inventor, the merchant and the artisan.

23:27

It's. Abuse in unrestrained, unlovely

23:29

image making. Is. Obvious.

23:32

But. It's abuse in undo repression

23:34

breeds a sterility. Which.

23:36

Robs a man of actual wealth

23:38

of experience. Imagining

23:40

novel solutions to ever more complex

23:43

problems is far more noble than

23:45

to restrain or kill out desire.

23:48

Life is the continuing solution

23:50

of a continuously synthetic problem.

23:53

Imagining creates events or world.

23:56

Created. out of men's imagining

23:58

comprises on numbered beliefs. Therefore,

24:01

there could never be a perfectly stable

24:03

or static state. Today's

24:06

events are bound to disturb yesterday's

24:08

established order. Imaginative

24:10

men and women invariably unsettle

24:12

a pre-existing peace of mind.

24:16

Hold fast to your ideal in

24:18

your imagination. Nothing

24:20

can take it from. From

24:22

images supplied by memory and the evidence

24:24

of the senses, it

24:26

is creatively transformative when it imagines things

24:29

as they ought to be, building

24:31

its world out of the generous

24:34

dreams of fancy. In

24:36

the procession of images, the ones that

24:38

take precedence naturally are those

24:40

of the senses. Nevertheless,

24:42

a present sense impression is only

24:44

an image. It does

24:46

not differ in nature from a memory image or the

24:49

image of a wish. What makes

24:52

a present sense impression so

24:54

objectively real is the individual's imagination

24:56

functioning in it and

24:58

thinking from it. Whereas in

25:01

a memory image or a wish, the

25:03

individual's imagination is not functioning in it

25:05

or thinking from it, but is functioning

25:07

out of it and thinking of it.

25:09

If the individual would enter into the

25:11

image in his imagination, as

25:13

the design on the cover of this record

25:16

suggests, then would he know what it

25:18

is to be creatively

25:20

transformative? Then would he

25:22

realize his wish and then

25:24

he would be happy. Every image

25:26

can be embodied, but unless

25:28

man himself enters the image and

25:31

thinks from it, it

25:34

is incapable of birth. Therefore,

25:36

it is the height of folly to

25:39

expect the wish to be realized by the

25:41

mere passage of time. That

25:43

which requires imaginative occupancy to

25:46

produce its effect obviously cannot be

25:48

affected without such occupancy. We

25:51

cannot be in one image and not

25:53

suffer the consequences of not

25:55

being in another. Imagination

25:57

is spiritual sensation. Enter

26:00

the image of the wish fulfilled, then

26:03

give it sensory vividness and tones of

26:05

reality by mentally acting as you would

26:07

act, were it a physical fact. Now

26:10

this is what I mean by spiritual sensation. Imagine

26:14

that you are holding a rose in your hand. Smell

26:16

it. Do you detect the odor

26:18

of roses? Well, if

26:21

the rose is not here, why is its fragrance

26:23

in the air? Through

26:26

spiritual sensation, that is, through

26:28

imaginal sight, sound, scent, taste and touch,

26:32

man can give to the image sensory vividness.

26:35

If he does, all things will conspire to

26:37

aid his harvesting, and on

26:39

reflection he will see how subtle were the

26:41

threads that led to his goal. He

26:44

could never have devised the means

26:46

which his imaginal activity used to fulfill

26:49

itself. If man

26:51

longs to escape from his present sense

26:53

fixation, to transform his present

26:55

life into a dream of what

26:57

might well be, he has but to

26:59

imagine that he is already

27:02

what he wants to be, and then

27:04

feel the way he would expect to feel

27:06

under such circumstances. Let him, like

27:09

the make believe of a child, who

27:11

is remaking the world after its

27:14

own heart, create his

27:16

world out of pure dreams of

27:18

fancy. Let him mentally enter

27:21

into his dream. Let

27:23

him mentally do what he would actually

27:25

do were it physically true. He

27:28

will discover that dreams are realized not by

27:30

the rich, but by the

27:32

imaginative. Nothing stands

27:34

between man and the fulfillment of his

27:36

dream, but facts, and facts

27:38

are the creations of imagining. If

27:41

man changes his imagining, he will change the

27:43

facts. Man and his

27:45

past are one continuous structure. This

27:47

structure contains all of

27:49

the facts, which have

27:51

been conserved and still operate below

27:53

the threshold of his surface mind.

27:57

For him, it is merely history. Him,

28:00

it seems unalterable, a

28:02

dead and firmly fixed past, but

28:05

for itself, it is living. It

28:08

is part of the living age. We

28:10

cannot leave behind us the mistakes of our

28:12

past, for nothing disappears.

28:16

Everything that has been is still in

28:18

existence. The past

28:20

still exists, and it

28:22

gives and still gives its

28:24

results. Man must go

28:26

back in memory. Seek for and

28:29

destroy the causes of evil however far back

28:31

they lie. This going

28:33

into the past, and replaying a scene

28:35

of the past in imagination, as

28:37

it ought to have been played the first time,

28:40

I call revision. And

28:42

revision results in repeal. Changing

28:45

our lives means changing the past. The

28:48

causes of the present evil are the

28:50

unrevised scenes of the past. The

28:52

past and the present form the whole structure

28:54

of man. It

28:57

is carrying all of its contents with it.

29:00

Any alteration of content will

29:02

result in an alteration

29:04

in the present and future. Live

29:07

nobly, so that mind can

29:09

store a past well worthy of recall. Should

29:12

you fail to do so, remember, the

29:14

first act of correction or cure

29:17

is always revised. If

29:19

the past is recreated into the present,

29:21

so will the revised past be recreated

29:23

into the present, or

29:25

else the promise that, though your sins

29:27

are like scarlet, they shall be as white as

29:30

snow, is a lie.

29:33

The question may arise as to how

29:35

by representing others to ourselves as better

29:39

than they really were, or

29:41

mentally rewriting a letter to make it

29:43

conform to our wish, or

29:46

by revising the scene of an accident, the

29:48

interview with the employer and so on,

29:51

could change what seems to be the

29:54

unalterable facts of the past. But

29:57

remember my claims for imagining. creates

30:00

reality. What it

30:02

makes it can unmake. It

30:05

is not only conservative, building a life

30:07

from images supplied by memory. It

30:10

is always creatively transformative, altering

30:12

a theme already in being. The

30:15

parable of the unjust steward gives the answer

30:17

to this question. We can

30:19

alter our world by means of a certain

30:21

illegal practice, by means of a

30:23

falsification of the facts. That is,

30:26

by means of a certain intentional alteration of

30:28

that which we have experienced.

30:30

And all this is done in one's own imagination.

30:33

This is a form of falsehood which

30:36

is not only not condemned, but

30:38

is actually approved in the

30:40

gospel teaching. By means of

30:43

such falsehood, a man destroys

30:45

the causes of evil and acquires

30:47

friends. And on the strength

30:49

of this revision proves, judging

30:51

by the high praise the unjust steward

30:53

received from his master, that

30:55

he is deserving of confidence. Because

30:58

imagining creates reality, we

31:00

can carry revision to the extreme,

31:03

and revise a scene that would

31:05

be otherwise unforgivable. We learn to

31:08

distinguish between man, who is all

31:10

imagination, from those states into

31:12

which he may enter. An

31:14

unjust steward, looking at another's

31:16

distress, will represent the other to himself

31:18

as he ought to be seen. Were

31:21

he himself in need he would, like the

31:23

man on the cover of this record, enter

31:26

his dream house in his imagination, and

31:29

imagine what he would see, and

31:31

how things would seem, and how people

31:33

would act, after these things

31:35

should be. Then in this

31:37

state he would fall asleep feeling the

31:39

way he would expect to feel under

31:41

such circumstances. Would that

31:43

all the Lord's people were unjust stewards,

31:46

mentally falsifying the facts of life,

31:49

to deliver individuals forevermore?

31:52

For the imaginal change goes forward

31:55

until at length the altered pattern is realized

31:58

on the heights of attainment. Our

32:00

future is our imaginal activity

32:02

in its creative march. Imagine

32:05

better than the best you know. A

32:09

couple of things we can take from

32:11

this powerful record is

32:14

that the world we experience

32:16

is fundamentally a product of imagination,

32:18

not just physically, but causally imagining

32:20

creates reality. And the

32:23

distinction between divine imagination and human

32:25

imagination is one of degree or

32:27

intensity. Not

32:29

of kind. An imaginal act

32:32

done with high intensity becomes an immediate

32:34

objective fact. Human

32:36

history and events, according to Neville,

32:38

from the individual to the collective

32:40

level are shaped by imaginative activities.

32:44

Highly imaginative individuals cast

32:46

enchantments that unimaginative fall

32:48

under the spell of. To

32:51

harness the power of imagination, you

32:53

must enter into and think from the state

32:56

of the wish fulfilled, abandoning the old

32:59

state, and persist in it

33:01

until it becomes your

33:03

habitual attitude. And this requires

33:05

faith and love for

33:07

the imagined state. Through

33:09

spiritual sensation, giving imaginary acts

33:11

sensory vividness, all things will

33:13

conspire to make that imagined

33:16

state a harvested reality. Facts

33:19

are products of imagining, so

33:21

changing imagination changes facts. And

33:24

this allows revision, going back in memory, to

33:26

replay past scenes as

33:28

they ought to have gone, thus changing the

33:30

present and the future. The

33:33

unjust steward parable illustrates the

33:36

transformative power of creatively imagining

33:38

and revising situations, seeing

33:40

people and things as they ought to be, rather

33:43

than merely as they were or are. And

33:45

this kind of falsehood that delivers people from

33:47

evil. From

33:50

a spiritual's perspective, Neville's ideas are

33:52

just fascinating and continually empowering and

33:55

placing ultimate responsibility

33:57

and creative capacity within you.

34:00

The individual. For

34:02

the third part of this episode, we're going to read a mystical

34:05

experience. This is the second

34:08

side of the vinyl record released in 1960. In

34:11

this lecture, Neville makes one of his

34:14

earliest descriptions of his

34:16

mystical experience of being born from above,

34:18

which plays out as being reborn from

34:21

within his skull, an

34:23

event that he said awaits everyone. This

34:26

talk represents Neville crossing the threshold

34:28

into his latter-day career, in which

34:31

he gave increasingly greater emphasis

34:34

to mystical revelation. The

34:37

Mystical Experience by

34:40

Neville Goddard I

34:43

accept literally the saying that all the world is

34:45

a stage, and I believe that

34:47

God plays all the parts, the

34:49

purpose of the play, to transform

34:51

man, the created, into

34:54

God the creator. God

34:56

loved man, his created, and became

34:58

man in faith that this act

35:00

of self-commission would transform man, the

35:02

created, into God the creator. The play

35:05

begins with the crucifixion of God, on

35:08

man as man, and ends with the

35:10

resurrection of man as God. God

35:12

becomes, as we are, that we may become

35:14

as he is. God

35:17

becomes man, that man may become

35:19

first a living being and secondly

35:21

a life-giving spirit. I live, yet not

35:23

I, but God lives in me, and the life I

35:25

know, I live in the flesh, I

35:28

live by the faith of God, who loved me

35:30

and gave himself for me. God

35:32

took upon himself the form of man, and

35:35

became obedient unto death, even death on

35:37

the cross of man, and

35:39

is crucified on Golgotha, the skull

35:41

of man. God himself enters

35:44

death's door, the human skull,

35:46

and lays down in the grave of man to make

35:49

man a living being. God's

35:51

mercy turned death into sleep, then

35:53

began the prodigious and unthinkable

35:56

metamorphosis of man. into

36:00

God. No

36:02

man unaided by the crucifixion of God

36:04

could cross the threshold that

36:06

admits to conscious life. But

36:09

now we have union with God in His

36:11

crucified self. He lives

36:13

in us as our wonderful

36:16

human imagination. Therefore

36:18

man is all imagination, and God is man

36:20

and exists in us and we in Him.

36:24

The eternal body of man is the imagination.

36:27

That is God Himself. When

36:29

He rises in us, we will

36:32

be like Him and He will be like us. Then

36:35

all impossibilities will dissolve at the

36:37

touch of exaltation, which His

36:39

rising in us will impart to our nature. Here

36:42

is the secret of the world. God

36:45

died to give man life and

36:48

to set man free. For however

36:50

clearly God is aware of His creation,

36:53

it does not follow that man,

36:55

imaginatively created, is aware of God.

36:58

To work this miracle, God had to die,

37:01

then rise again as man. And

37:03

none has ever expressed it so clearly as Blake.

37:06

Blake says, or rather,

37:08

has Jesus say, unless I

37:10

die, thou canst not

37:12

live. But if I die,

37:14

I shall arise again, and thou with me. Wouldest

37:17

thou love one who never died for thee, or

37:20

ever die for one who had not died for thee? And

37:24

if God dieth not for man and giveth

37:26

not Himself eternally for man, man

37:29

could not exist. So

37:32

God died. That is to say,

37:34

God has freely given Himself for man. Deliberately

37:37

He has become man and has forgotten

37:39

that He is. God

37:41

in the hope that man, thus created,

37:43

will eventually rise as God. God

37:46

has so completely offered His own self for

37:48

man that He cries out on

37:51

the cross of man. My God,

37:54

my God, why hast thou

37:56

forsaken me? He

37:58

has completely forgotten that He is God. But

38:02

after God rises in one man, that

38:04

man will say to his brothers, Why

38:07

stand we here trembling around calling on

38:09

God for help, and not

38:12

ourselves in whom God dwells?

38:15

This first man that has been raised from

38:17

the dead is known as Jesus, the

38:20

first fruits of those who have fallen

38:22

asleep. For man, God

38:24

died. Now by a man

38:26

has come also the resurrection of the dead. Jesus

38:29

resurrects his dead father by becoming him.

38:32

In Adam, the universal man,

38:35

God sleeps. In

38:37

Jesus, the individualized God, God

38:39

wakes. In waking, man

38:41

the created has become God the

38:43

creator, and can truly say, Before

38:45

the world was, I am. Just

38:48

as God, in his love for man,

38:51

so completely identified himself with man that

38:53

he forgot that he was God. So

38:56

man in his love for God must so completely

38:58

surrender himself to God that he lives the life

39:00

of God and no longer that of man. God's

39:03

play, which transforms man into God,

39:06

is revealed to us in the

39:08

Bible. It is completely consistent in

39:10

imagery and symbolism. The New

39:12

Testament is hid in the Old Testament, and the

39:14

Old is manifested in the New. The

39:17

Bible is a vision. It is

39:19

not a doctrine or a ritual. The

39:21

Old Testament tells us of

39:23

God's promises. The New Testament

39:25

tells us not how these

39:27

promises were fulfilled, but how

39:29

they are fulfilled. The central

39:31

theme of the Bible is the direct, individual,

39:35

mystical experience of the birth

39:37

of the child, that

39:39

child of whom the prophet spoke. To

39:42

us, a child is born, to

39:44

us a son is given, and

39:46

the government will be upon his shoulder, and

39:49

his name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty

39:52

God, Everlasting Father, Prince

39:54

of Peace, of the increase of

39:57

his government, and of peace there

39:59

will be no end. When

40:02

the child is revealed to us, we see

40:04

it, we experience it, and

40:06

the response to this revelation can be stated in

40:09

the words of Job, I

40:12

had heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but

40:15

now my eye sees thee. The

40:19

story of the Incarnation is not fable,

40:22

allegory, or some carefully reasoned formula to

40:24

enslave the minds of men, but

40:26

mystical fact. It is

40:29

a personal mystical experience of the birth of

40:31

one's self out of one's own skull, symbolized

40:34

in that of a child wrapped

40:36

in swaddling clothes and lying on

40:38

the floor. There is

40:40

a distinction between hearing of this birth of

40:42

a child from one's own skull, a

40:45

birth which no scientist or historian

40:47

could ever possibly explain, and

40:49

actually experiencing the birth, holding in

40:52

your own hands and seeing with

40:54

your own eyes this miraculous child,

40:57

a child born from above out

40:59

of your own skull, a birth contrary

41:01

to all the laws of nature. The

41:04

event, as it is recorded in the Gospels,

41:07

actually takes place in man, but

41:10

of that day or that hour, when

41:12

the time will come for the individual to be

41:14

delivered, no one knows but the

41:16

Father. Do not marvel that I

41:18

say to you, you must

41:21

be born from above, the

41:23

wind blows where it wills and

41:26

you hear the sound of it, but

41:28

you do not know whence it comes or whither

41:30

it goes. So it is, with

41:33

everyone who is born of the Spirit. This

41:36

revelation in the Gospel of John is true. Here

41:39

is my experience of this birth from

41:41

above. Like

41:44

Paul, I did not receive it from man, nor

41:46

was I taught it, but it

41:48

came through the actual mystical experience

41:51

of being born from above. None

41:56

can speak truly of this mystical birth from

41:58

above, but the one who

42:00

has experienced it. I had

42:02

no idea that this birth from

42:04

above was literally true, for

42:07

who before the experience could believe that the

42:09

child, the wonderful counselor,

42:12

the mighty God, the Everlasting Father,

42:15

the Prince of Peace, was

42:17

inwoven in his own skull? Who,

42:20

before the experience, would understand that

42:23

his Maker is his husband and

42:26

the Lord of Hosts is his name? Who

42:29

would believe that the Creator went

42:31

in unto his own creation, man,

42:34

and knew it to be himself, and that

42:36

this entrance into the skull of man, this

42:39

union of God and man, resulted

42:42

in the birth of a son out of the

42:44

skull of man? Which birth

42:46

gave to that man eternal life and

42:48

union with his Creator forever? If

42:51

I now tell what I experienced that night, I

42:54

do so not to impose my ideas on others,

42:57

but that I may give hope to those

42:59

who, like Nicodemus, wonder how can a man

43:01

be born when he is old? How

43:04

can he enter a second time into his mother's

43:06

womb and be born? How

43:09

can this be? Well,

43:12

this is how it happened to me. A

43:15

heavenly dream in which the

43:17

arts flourished was suddenly interrupted by the

43:19

most intense vibration centered at the base

43:21

of my skull. Then

43:24

a drama, as real as those

43:26

I experienced when I am fully awake,

43:29

began to unfold. I

43:31

felt myself within my skull, trying to

43:33

force my way out through its base.

43:36

Something gave way, and I

43:39

felt myself move head downward through

43:41

the base of my skull. I

43:44

squeezed myself out, inch by inch.

43:46

When I was almost out, I held

43:49

what I took to be the foot of the bed

43:51

and pulled the remaining portion of me out

43:54

of my skull. There

43:56

on the floor I laid for a few

43:58

seconds. rose

44:01

and looked at my body on the bed. It

44:04

was lying on its back and tossing

44:06

from side to side like one in

44:08

recovery from a great ordeal. As

44:11

I contemplated it, hoping that it would not

44:13

fall off the bed, I

44:16

became aware that the vibration which

44:18

started the whole drama was not only

44:20

in my head, but now was also

44:22

coming from the corner of the room.

44:24

As I looked over

44:26

to the corner, I wondered if that

44:28

vibration could be caused by a very

44:30

high wind, a wind strong

44:32

enough to vibrate the window. I

44:35

could not believe that the

44:37

vibration which I still felt within my head

44:40

was related to that which seemed

44:42

to be coming from the corner of the room.

44:47

Looking back to the bed, I

44:49

discovered that my body was gone, but

44:52

in its place sat my

44:54

three oldest brothers. My

44:56

oldest brother sat where the head was. My second

44:59

and third brothers sat where the feet were. None

45:02

seemed to be aware of me, although I

45:05

was aware of them and could discern their

45:07

thoughts. I suddenly became aware

45:09

of the reality of my own invisibility. I

45:12

noticed that they, too, were disturbed by the

45:14

vibration coming from the corner of the room.

45:17

My third brother was the most disturbed and

45:19

went over to investigate the cause of the

45:22

disturbance. His attention was attracted

45:24

by something on the floor, and looking down, he

45:26

announced, It is Neville's baby. My

45:29

other two brothers, in most

45:32

incredulous voices, asked, How

45:34

can Neville have a baby? My

45:37

brother lifted the infant wrapped in swaddling clothes

45:39

and laid him on the bed. I

45:42

then, with my invisible hands, lifted

45:44

the babe and asked him, How is

45:46

my sweetheart? He looked

45:48

into my eyes and smiled, and

45:50

I awoke in this world to ponder

45:53

this greatest of my

45:55

many mystical experiences. One

45:58

other vision I will tell, because it bears out

46:00

the truth of my assertion that the Bible

46:02

is mystical fact, that everything

46:04

written about the promised child is

46:07

in the Law of Moses, and the

46:09

prophets, and the Psalms, and

46:11

it must be mystically experienced in the

46:14

imagination of the individual. The

46:17

child's birth is a

46:19

sign and a portent, signaling the

46:21

resurrection of the patriarchs in

46:23

the imagination of him in whom

46:25

the child is born. Six

46:27

months after the birth of the child, a

46:30

vibration similar to the one which preceded

46:32

his birth started in my head. This

46:35

time its intensity was centered at the top of my

46:38

head. Then came

46:40

a sudden explosion, and I

46:43

found myself in a modestly furnished room. There,

46:47

leaning against the side of an open door

46:49

was my son David of biblical fame. He

46:51

was a lad about twelve years old. What

46:54

struck me forcibly about him was

46:56

the unusual beauty of his face and figure.

46:59

He was, as he is described in the first

47:01

book of Samuel, ruddy, with

47:04

beautiful eyes and very handsome.

47:07

Not for one moment did I feel

47:09

myself to be anyone other than Neville. Yet

47:13

I knew that this lad David was

47:15

my son, and he knew

47:18

that I was his father. As

47:20

I sat there contemplating the beauty of my son,

47:23

the vision faded, and I

47:25

awoke. What conclusion

47:28

can be reached from these mystical

47:30

experiences? A chamber of

47:32

man's image, in man's imagination, is

47:34

engraved with every patriarch and character in the

47:37

Old Testament, and that after the birth

47:39

of a child, out of the skull of man,

47:42

signifying that man's rebirth from

47:44

above, there will begin the

47:46

resurrection of the patriarchs. Each

47:48

in his turn will be

47:50

revealed as the son of

47:52

the man who resurrects him. When

47:55

all are resurrected from the dead, that

47:57

man in whom they are resurrected will

48:00

know himself to be of the Elohim, the

48:02

God who became man, that man may become

48:04

God." So in this

48:06

final reading we get Neville fully talking about

48:09

the promise as he did in many lectures

48:12

describing his own mystical experience, which

48:14

many thought was completely

48:16

out of left field compared

48:19

to his earlier lectures,

48:21

even if you compare it to what we read

48:24

earlier with the secret of imagining. You

48:26

can take from it what you will, but

48:29

all three of these wonderful readings

48:32

are so amazing and carry the

48:34

whole breadth of Neville from

48:36

his mystical experiences to

48:38

his practical teaching on the

48:40

secret of imagining. You

48:43

can find all episodes of the

48:45

Reality Revolution at therealityrevolution.com and

48:48

welcome to the Reality Revolution.