Live The Answer Now
Executive Summary
This lecture teaches that every fact in the world first exists as a dream or desire in consciousness. To make a dream a visible reality, you must live as though it were already a fact. This is achieved by entering and occupying a new spiritual “state” in your imagination. By assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled and persisting in that feeling until it takes on the tones of reality, your desire will blossom into fact in a way you could not have consciously devised.
Key Concepts
- Every objective fact is a dream made visible.
- Spiritual states of the soul (like poverty or wealth) are eternal, and individuals are travelers who pass through them.
- You occupy a state by using your imagination to feel its reality—what you would see, hear, and touch if your dream were true.
- To make a state real, you must think from it, not of it.
- You become what you contemplate, whether you enter a state deliberately or unknowingly through sympathy.
- Persisting in the assumption of your wish fulfilled will cause it to harden into fact.
- Your imagination influences others because everyone is contained within you; the whole world is yourself pushed out.
Detailed Explanation
The central principle of this lecture is to “live the answer now.” This means that instead of waiting for a desire to become a physical fact, you must treat it as a fact in your imagination first. Neville explains that every dream you dare to live in the now will eventually blossom into reality. The mechanism for this is the conscious occupation of spiritual states.
A “state” is described as an eternal condition of the soul, such as wealth, health, poverty, or sickness. Individuals are travelers who pass through these permanent states. You can enter a state deliberately through a conscious act of imagination, or unknowingly by contemplating something until you become it. The lecture provides the example of a woman who, by feeling sympathy for missionaries, entered their state in a dream and experienced a spiritual lesson about becoming what you behold.
To deliberately occupy a desired state, you must ask yourself how you would feel if your dream were real. You use your imagination to construct a scene implying fulfillment, engaging your spiritual senses of sight, sound, and touch. By thinking from this state, it becomes your sole reality, while simply thinking of it keeps it as a mere possibility. The key is to clothe yourself in the feeling of the wish fulfilled and remain in that new state. Once you have successfully moved into the state, you must not look back at your former circumstances, just as Lot’s wife was warned not to.
This principle is not a passive force; you are its power. It is your responsibility to move out of undesirable states and into those you wish to experience. The lecture illustrates this with the story of a woman healed of stomach problems not by any physical treatment, but by being guided to move out of the state that contained the ailment. Similarly, a horse owner’s dream of his jockey making a mistake caused the event to happen in reality, demonstrating that your inner assumptions can direct the actions of others to fulfill your imaginative activity, as everyone is ultimately contained within your own consciousness.
Important Quotes
Every fact is a dream made visible, so I invite you to live as though your dream were already a fact!
— Live The Answer Now
A state may be entered either deliberately or unknowingly, but you are going to become what you contemplate.
— Live The Answer Now
Think of a state and it seems a mere possibility. But enter it by thinking from the state, and it is the only reality.
— Live The Answer Now
Whatever you desire, believe you have received it and you will.
— Live The Answer Now
The whole vast world is only yourself pushed out.
— Live The Answer Now
Common Misunderstandings
- Misunderstanding: This creative principle works on its own.
- Correction: The lecture explicitly states, “you are its power, as it does not operate itself. I can tell you how to move into another state, but you must move into it.”
- Misunderstanding: You need permission or help from others for your dream to come true.
- Correction: Neville teaches that you “need not ask anyone's permission or help.” Because everyone is within you, your imaginal acts can and do influence others to play their part in your drama.
- Misunderstanding: Simply thinking about what you want is enough.
- Correction: The lecture makes a crucial distinction: “Think of a state and it seems a mere possibility. But enter it by thinking from the state, and it is the only reality.”
Practical Applications
To apply this teaching, you must first identify your desire. Then, construct a scene in your imagination which implies that your desire is already fulfilled. Being the star of this production, you should use all your senses to make it real. Ask yourself what you would see, hear, and feel. For instance, you might imagine a friend congratulating you and feel their touch or hear their specific words. Clothe yourself with the feeling of this new reality and persist in wearing this feeling until it becomes natural. Once you have successfully moved into the new state, you must not dwell on or return to your former state. This process can be used to change any aspect of your life, from health to wealth, and can be done for others as well as for yourself.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does Neville mean by a 'state' in this lecture?
A state is an eternal, spiritual state of the soul, like poverty or wealth. The lecture explains that individuals are like travelers who pass through these permanent states, and your life is the expression of the state you are currently occupying.
How do I 'occupy' a state?
You occupy a state by using your imagination to feel its reality. This involves thinking from the state of your fulfilled desire, asking yourself what you would see, hear, and feel if it were already true, and persisting in that feeling until it seems real.
Can my imagination really affect other people?
Yes. The lecture teaches that because the entire world is within your imagination, your inner assumptions influence the behavior of others to bring about your desired reality. The story of the horse owner whose dream caused the jockey to lose the race is given as an example of this principle.
What does it mean to not 'look back' like Lot's wife?
Once you have moved into the state of your fulfilled desire in imagination, you should not look back mentally to your former, unwanted state. To do so is to preserve it, just as salt is a preservative, which can prevent your new state from hardening into fact.
Full Lecture Transcript
Read Neville Goddard's complete lecture below — the actual transcript this study guide is drawn from. Highlight any passage and ask the AI to explain it.
Neville 01-15-1968
LIVE THE ANSWER NOW
Every fact is a dream made visible, so I invite you to live as though your dream were already a fact! I am convinced that every dream (desire) I have dared to live in the now has gradually and unnoticed blossomed into fact in my life. I also know, not only from personal experience but from eternal vision, that the spiritual states of the soul are eternal. That like a traveler, individual man passes through states but the states remain forever. Without the help of any man or government you could lose everything you possess and become dependent upon society. All you need do is enter the state of poverty. Or again: without asking for help you could assume wealth by occupying the state. Remain faithful to it and you will discover that the state has its own way of externalizing itself. You must, however, give the desired state occupancy. How do you occupy a state? By asking yourself how you would feel, what you would see, hear, touch, taste, and smell if your dream were real. Take time to set the stage. Being the star of your production, place yourself center stage, then allow a friend to enter and see you in your new state. Write the script - the words he would say when he sees you. Feel his touch. Clothe yourself with the reality of the state you have just created in your imagination. You need not ask anyone's permission or help, but moving into the new state in your imagination, simply remain there until you feel its reality. Then let the feeling go its way toward fulfillment. A friend recently wrote, saying: "Not understanding why I read the Bible but never attend church, a friend brought a group of missionaries from the Mormon church to the house to convert me. Regretfully, I invited them in, and no matter what I said they would not listen. Rather, they expressed their own opinions and would not let me speak. "That night - while reviewing my day - I thought of these people, and wondered how anyone could give such love, devotion, sincerity, time, energy, and money, to what I called `reverent baloney.' "Dwelling upon that thought, I fell asleep and dreamed I was in a very strange and barren land, with craters everywhere. Hundreds of people were walking down a long roadway, leaving behind a girl, who was possessed by a screaming voice. Curious there, as I am here, I wanted to see the girl. When I saw her pity poured forth from me. I sat beside her, put my arms around her to offer sympathy, when suddenly the voice began to scream from within me. Then the girl arose, and walked away completely cured as I awoke." My friend was shown how discriminating one must become. The moment you contemplate something you
become the very thing you behold. Entertaining a state in sympathy, my friend entered it. That night her heavenly Father taught her a great lesson. That no matter how awake one may be in this world, no one is exempt from falling into a state. Blake understood this truth when he said: "From this I realize that neither the just nor the wicked are in a supreme state, but to be every one of them states of the sleep which the soul may fall into in its deadly dreams of good and evil, when it left paradise following the serpent." The serpent, the wisest of God's creations, is the personification of God's wisdom and power. It was he who told the woman: "You will not surely die, but will become as the gods, knowing good and evil." Entering a world of death, you will seem to die to those who cannot follow you - but not to yourself. Instead, you are restored to an unaccountably young body. You may leave an old body with missing hair and teeth, to find yourself in a healthy, new body with your hair and teeth intact. This I know to be true, for my vision is open and I have seen those who have departed this life. I know they are not gone, but are restored to wear a new, young, and healthy body. Now, a state may be entered either deliberately or unknowingly, but you are going to become what you contemplate. The world's wise men believe we are heading for the end, but its climax has already occurred. While on the cross, these words were spoken: "It is finished." This age has already ended and an entirely new and different age - into which we are all moving - has begun. To Blake, space was a woman, while everything in it was Man, and Man was God. Blake saw the world as a play of six thousand years, with a door opening to Eden every two hundred years. We think we are moving in one direction, yet everything is taking place now, and every two hundred years an individual can enter the New Age. Let me now tell you of a vision the lady had, who shared the dream of the screaming girl. One night as she was mentally reviewing her day, a long table appeared before her inner eye. A judge, robed in black and wearing a white wig, was sitting at one end holding a gavel. Looking directly at her, the judge raised his gavel, lowered it to the table and proclaimed: "The incurrent eyewitness." The word incurrent means giving passage to a current that flows inward, such as a sponge when placed in water. This lady has been conditioned by Divine Providence to receive spiritual communion. Whether she likes it or not she will be compelled to receive it, for she is already awake! She will bring back vision after vision paralleling scripture, for scripture only records finished history. Blake described the Bible as: "The Divine written law of Horeb and Sinai," which is the Old Testament. "And such the Holy Gospel of Mount Olivet and Calvary," which is the New Testament. Every conceivable part that Man could play is openly described in the Old Testament, for each individual recorded there represents a state of this age. The New Testament describes the entrance into the New Age. It reads as though it happened to one person, as a biography; but the New Testament records states which unfold in the individual. Blake's poem, "Little Boy Lost," records a true revelation:
"Nought loves another as itself, Nor venerates another so. Nor is it possible for thought Greater than itself to know. And Father, how can I love you Or any of my brothers more?" When the priest heard this, he took the little boy by the hair, and screamed: "What a fiend is here!" Then he burned the little boy, as he had burned others before. The little boy spoken of here is everyone in this world. I know, for it is impossible to transcend a thinking being. Therefore, it is impossible for a thinking being to know a thought greater than self. If God - the creator of all life - wants to be known and loved by you, He must become you, for He cannot discover any other than Self. That is why it was necessary for God to become as you are - that you may be as He is; for if God did not become you, you could never know Him. Being a thinking being, you are unable to know a thought greater than yourself; for God - the Father of all life - became individualized in order for you to discover that you are He. And because God is a Father, he must have a child. Therefore, one day God's son, David, will call you Father and your true identity will be revealed. There is no other way to discover your Fatherhood. I urge you to dream nobly. Although your dream may seem impossible, invite it into your consciousness by feeling it is real. Wear this feeling as you would a suit of clothes, and persist until the feeling takes on the tones of reality. Do that, and in a way no one knows, your desire will appear as an eruption of your continuous thought. Your desire started in motion when you wore it. Its appearance is simply a hidden continuity which came to the surface. Dwell upon a thought, and you will realize that it is not original. That the thought itself is complete and therefore every thought is Divine plagiarism! Enter a mood and watch the thoughts that come to you while there. If you want to be known, get into the mood by feeling recognized as you move about. Then as the feeling becomes familiar you will be amazed how things will reshuffle themselves and you will get the publicity you desire. It may not be very flattering, but if you really want to be known, you will be. "Whatever you desire, believe you have received it and you will." Knowing what you want, assume you have it and let no one divert you. Do your father's will, believing in the feeling of your wish fulfilled. Try it, for this simple principle will not fail you. But remember: you are its power, as it does not operate itself. I can tell you how to move into another state, but you must move into it. No one can do it for you. You see, states are permanent and it is up to you to get out of the state you are now in if it is undesirable to you. One day a lady in New York City came to see me regarding her stomach problems. While she was there we talked of higher things, and after the silence she returned to her home on Staten Island. Arriving there, she
went into a favorite German restaurant and ate all the food she hadn't been able to eat in years, with no ill effects. I didn't give this lady any pills. I don't even know what a stomach looks like! I simply got this lady to move from the state that had the bad stomach! Leave the state containing poverty and move into the state containing wealth, and wealth will take on reality. This room has reality and substance because you are thinking from it. Think of a room, however, and it is but a shadow. Think of a state and it seems a mere possibility. But enter it by thinking from the state, and it is the only reality. Blake said: "If the spectator could only enter into the image in his Imagination; if he could make a friend and companion of his image, he would rise from the grave and meet the Lord in the heavens." Now, buried in a state, you are a spectator of other states. But if you will rise from your present state and bury yourself in another, you will express it. If you can be what you want to be, why not become it? Why sit in a state you dislike and argue, when you can move into another state in your imagination? But once you have moved into the state of your fulfilled desire, don't be like Lot's wife. Don't look back at your former state and preserve it, for salt is a preservative. Every character in the Bible is a state of consciousness that you, an individual, will pass through, for you are immortal. Having descended into a world of death, you pass through states; but you cannot die. Blake tells us: "The oak is cut down by the ax and the lamb is stayed by the knife, but their forms eternal remain forever. Step out of this garment and you will instantly step into another. Ninety per cent of those who leave are totally unaware of what has happened. Observing their passage, we think they have died, but they do not die to themselves. They do not even recognize the change, any more than you do when you are asleep. The moment you become aware that you are dreaming, you wake up. But if you do not awaken it is because you have passed through the gate we call death, to continue your dream. In your night dream you take everything for granted - until you begin to become aware that you are dreaming. If you find yourself waking, try to grab a solid object, like a post - but not an animal, no matter how tame he appears to be. Hold the object and will yourself to wake up, and you will awaken in your dream to find yourself in a world which is just as real as this one. When this happens don't get panicky, as you will come back. Instead, if you have any red blood in you investigate the world you find yourself in, and you will discover the people there are just as stupid, just as ambitious, and just as sound asleep as they are here. I have been shut out of this world many times, to return to find this body cataleptic for maybe twenty or twenty-five seconds before I could animate it again. If sometime I do not get back, the doctors will cut up the body to see why I died. They will come to some conclusion; but if they are honest with themselves, they will know that there was no physical reason for my death. I simply left and did not return. But while you are here, why not live well? I think we will all agree that it is easier living when we have wealth than when we are poor. I have no desire to have lots of things, but if anything can be mine by the simple act of assumption, why not assume it? No power on earth can stop you from imagining. The morning paper records what happened, but they do not tell you the cause. Who knows who is dreaming what is happening today?
Two years ago I watched the Kentucky Derby on television. Willie Shoemaker was riding a horse which was favored to win. The night before the race, the owner of the horse had a dream in which he saw Shoemaker leading by lengths - misjudge the finish line and ride the saddle to ease the horse too soon. That is exactly what happened. Shoemaker, a truly great jockey, misjudged the finish line, then - realizing his mistake - he could not get enough energy again to win the race and therefore lost it. But who controlled Shoemaker's behavior? The owner told Shoemaker the dream before the race and he listened attentively; then, in the physical event, he couldn't do anything about it. Shoemaker took the brunt. He was condemned and received his sentence, which was a financial loss to him; but Shoemaker didn't have the dream - the owner of the horse did! You do not have to have a dream of the night to influence the behavior of others. You can dream during the day and influence them, as everyone is contained within you. "All that you behold, though it appears without it is within, in your Imagination of which this world of mortality is but a shadow." (William Blake) If everyone is contained within you, you do not need their permission to be used to externalize your dream! The owner used the horse, the jockey and everyone who bet on the event, to externalize his dream. He entered the state unknowingly but couldn't escape its effect. He lost the race in the same manner in which he had envisioned it. You can sit quietly and enter a glorious dream. If it's shadowy, you are not in it. Persist until you enter it, and it will become the only reality. Live in the state of your fulfilled desire now, knowing that in a way unknown and unnoticed by you it will erupt to become an objective fact. Take the challenge of scripture: "Whatever you desire, believe you have received it and you will." Dare to believe you have what reason and your senses deny. Persist in your assumption and it will harden into fact. Try it and see! And remember: the Father who became you is speaking to you through the medium of dream and revealing himself in vision, for this world is His play! One day you will leave this play, knowing you are God the Father who conceived it all. Beginning as the one God, we fell as the gods. But we will return to the one God, for it takes all of us to form the Lord. "Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, is one Lord." Take the challenge of scripture and assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled - not only for yourself, but for your family and friends. When you imagine for another, you are really giving it to yourself, as there is no other. The whole vast world is only yourself pushed out.
Now let us go into the silence.
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