How to Study Neville Goddard: A Neville Goddard Study Guide

Executive Summary

This study path is designed specifically for newcomers to establish a solid foundation in Neville Goddard's principles. It presents a curated sequence of his books and lectures, starting with the fundamental mechanics of creation and progressively building upon core concepts such as imaginal acts, the power of assumption, the nature of consciousness, and the role of feeling in realizing one's desires.

Key Concepts

• Imagination Creates Reality: Your imaginal acts are the cause of the circumstances of your life. An inner, imaginal change must precede any outer change.
• The Wish Fulfilled: To achieve a desire, you must experience in imagination what you would experience in the flesh were your goal already a reality.
• Assumption: Persistently assuming the feeling of your wish fulfilled is the key to bringing it into your world. You must live mentally in the reality of your assumption, ignoring sensory evidence to the contrary.
• I AM: Your consciousness, your awareness of being, is the one and only reality, the creative power referred to as God. What you attach to "I AM" through your assumptions becomes your experience.
• Impressing the Subconscious: The subconscious mind is the creative womb that gives form to your ideas. Ideas are impressed upon it through the medium of feeling.

Detailed Explanation

This study path provides a structured approach for those new to Neville's work, ensuring a firm grasp of the fundamentals before moving to more advanced concepts. The sequence is deliberate, designed to build understanding layer by layer.

The journey begins with How To Manifest Your Desires, which introduces the core technique: to experience in imagination the reality of your fulfilled desire. This establishes the primary role of imagination in all creation. Following this, The Law And The Promise reinforces the principle that all outer change is the result of a preceding imaginal change, and that any action unaccompanied by this inner shift is merely a futile rearrangement of surfaces.

Next, The Power Of Awareness breaks down the essential components of the creative process, with chapters dedicated to Consciousness, the Power of Assumption, and Desire. This text provides a systematic framework for understanding how your awareness operates. The path continues with The Creative Use Of Imagination and Your Faith Is Your Fortune, which delve deeper into the profound meaning of "I AM." These works teach that your unconditioned awareness of being is the ultimate creator, and that by affirming "I am strong" while feeling weak, you command that state into existence.

Finally, the path includes Radio Lectures, Freedom For All, and Feeling Is The Secret. The lectures offer practical examples of applying these principles, such as affirming a specific income. Freedom For All clarifies that your awareness of being—your "I AM"—is eternal and the only reality. The path concludes with Feeling Is The Secret, which explains the mechanism of creation: feeling is the language used to impress ideas upon the subconscious mind, which then gives them form in the visible world.

Important Quotes

If there is something tonight that you really want in this world, then experience in imagination what you would experience in the flesh were you to realize your goal, and then deafen your ears, and blind your eyes to all that denies the reality of your assumption.

— How To Manifest Your Desires

There can be no outer change until there is first an imaginal change. Everything you do, unaccompanied by an imaginal change, is but futile readjustment of surfaces.

— The Law And The Promise

The drama of life is a psychological one which we bring to pass by our attitudes rather than by our acts.

— Radio Lectures

This knowing that I AM, this awareness of being, is the only reality.

— Freedom For All

Related Concepts

• Imagination: This entire study path is centered on learning how to use your imagination creatively. The texts explain that imaginal acts are not fantasy but the very foundation of reality.
• Law of Assumption: The path teaches that the key to creation is to assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled. This principle is explored in works like The Power of Awareness and demonstrated in the Radio Lectures.
• States: The concept of moving into a desired state of consciousness is central. The Creative Use of Imagination explicitly teaches moving from a state of weakness to a state of strength through assumption, rather than waiting for the state to be given to you.
• Feeling Is The Secret: This work is the culmination of the study path, revealing that feeling is the essential medium for impressing the subconscious mind and bringing an imaginal act into the visible world.

Common Misunderstandings

• Confusing physical action with creative action. A common error is to believe that outer effort alone brings results. The teachings clarify that any physical act not preceded by an imaginal change is a "futile readjustment of surfaces."
• Waiting for external proof before assuming a state. One should not wait to feel strong before declaring, "I am strong." The assumption must come first; persisting in it causes the feeling and the fact to follow.

Practical Applications

To apply these teachings, a student should:

• Define a clear desire. Know exactly what you want to experience.
• Construct an imaginal scene. Create a short scene in your mind's eye which implies your desire is already fulfilled.
• Experience the wish fulfilled. Enter this scene in your imagination and feel what you would feel if it were physically true. Persist in this feeling until it takes on the tones of reality.
• Use affirmations. Persistently affirm that you are already what you want to be, such as "I am strong" or "I have a lavish, steady, dependable income," regardless of current appearances.

Frequently Asked Questions

As a beginner, where should I start with Neville Goddard's teachings?

This study path is designed for newcomers and recommends starting with 'How To Manifest Your Desires' to learn the foundational method of using imagination to realize your goals.

Is physical effort required to achieve my desires?

The teachings state that there can be no outer change without a preceding imaginal change. Physical actions taken without this inner shift are described as 'futile readjustment of surfaces.'

What does Neville mean by 'I AM'?

'I AM' refers to your unconditioned consciousness or awareness of being. This awareness is identified as the only reality and the creative power of God, which fashions itself into the likeness of whatever you assume yourself to be.

What is the role of feeling in this process?

Feeling is the secret to creation. According to the teachings, ideas are impressed upon the subconscious mind through the medium of feeling, and the subconscious gives form to what is impressed upon it.