Five Lessons — Neville Goddard: Master Class (1948)

Manifestation is a process by which the conditioned consciousness of man becomes objectified in the external world. Consciousness is the only reality, the cause and substance of the whole world, therefore everything that a person sees around is a reflection of its internal content. In its essence, manifestation is a "resurrection" of what a person is aware of himself, since he always reproduces his state of being externally. The world in every detail is a mirror that testifies to the state of consciousness in which a person lives.

Manifestation of desires — this the art of achieving your goals and dreams through the mechanism of engaging the imagination and feelings. It consists in raising consciousness to the natural feeling that you already are what you desire, which automatically attracts the manifestation of this state into physical experience. The key principle of such manifestation is thinking from the end, when a person doesn't just think about desire, but looks at the world from the state already accomplished goal. Any assumption, even if it is now denied by the senses, provided it is constantly supported in consciousness, it will inevitably be affirmed and become a fact in reality.

How does a manifestation work?

The manifestation works on the fundamental principle that consciousness is the only reality, the cause and substance of the whole world. The external world in every detail is only objectification of your inner state and self-image. The process of manifestation is the transformation of an invisible subjective state into a visible objective fact through the mechanism of belief and feelings.

The key factor is working with the subconscious: the conscious mind puts in ideas, and the subconscious gives them shape, accepting as truth what you feel as fact. For manifestation to occur, it is necessary to think "from the end"«, that is, to look at the world not on your wish, and from the state its implementation. Any assumption, even if it is denied by the senses, provided it is constantly supported in consciousness, it will inevitably be confirmed and become a fact in reality.

Manifestation does not require external effort, struggle, or help from other people. Since the world is mirror of your consciousness, you don't need to change anyone but yourself; once you change your inner sense of self, the world will automatically rearrange itself according to your new essence.

The full text of Neville Goddard's legendary masterclass, "Five Lessons" (1948). Learn how to use the law of assumption to change your reality.

LESSON 1 – CONSCIOUSNESS IS THE ONLY REALITY

This is going to be a very practical course. So I hope that each of you has a very clear idea of what you want, because I'm convinced that you can make your desires come true with the techniques that you'll receive here this week in these five lessons.

The Bible as a Psychological Allegory

So that you can get the most out of these instructions, let me state right away that the Bible contains absolutely no mention of any real people who ever existed or of any events that ever happened on earth.

Ancient storytellers did not write history, but created allegorical object lessons about certain basic principles, which they dressed up in the garb of history and adapted these tales to the limited perception of extremely uncritical and gullible people.

For centuries, we have mistaken personifications for real people, allegory for history, the means of conveying a teaching for the teaching itself, and the crude literal meaning for the ultimate, true meaning.

The difference between the form of the Bible and its substance is as great as the difference between a grain of wheat and the germ of life within that grain. Just as our digestive organs distinguish between food that can be assimilated by our system and that which must be rejected, so our awakened intuitive faculties detect beneath allegory and parable the psychological germ of life of the Bible; and in feeding upon it we also reject the form that conveyed the message.

The arguments against the historicity of the Bible are too long; therefore, they are not suitable for inclusion in this practical psychological interpretation of its stories. Therefore, I will not waste time trying to convince you that the Bible is not historical fact.

Tonight I will take four stories and show you what the ancient storytellers wanted you and me to see in them. The ancient teachers tied psychological truths to phallic and solar allegories. They did not know as much about the physical structure of man as modern scientists do, just as they did not know as much about the heavens as our modern astronomers do. But what little they did know they used wisely, constructing phallic and solar structures to which they tied the great psychological truths they had discovered.

You will find many elements of phallic worship in the Old Testament. Since it has no practical use, I will not emphasize it. I will only show you how to interpret it.

The mystical meaning of the names of God and the Son

Before we move on to the first of the psychological dramas that we can put into practice, let me mention two outstanding names from the Bible: the one that you and I translate as GOD or JEHOVAH, and the one that we call his son, that is, JESUS.

The ancients wrote these names using small symbols. The ancient language called Hebrew was not a language that was simply spoken aloud. It was a mystical language that no man had ever spoken. Those who understood it understood it the way mathematicians understand the symbols of higher mathematics. It was not something that people used to communicate thoughts, the way I use language now.

They said that the name of God is written like this: JOD HE VAU HE (JOD HE VAU HE). I will take these symbols and explain them in our ordinary, down-to-earth language in this way.

• First letter, JOD in the name of GOD is a hand or a seed. Not just a hand, but the hand of the one who directs. If there is one organ of man that distinguishes him and separates him from all created things, it is his hand. What we call a hand in an ape is not a hand. It is used only to bring food to the mouth or to swing on branches. The hand of man creates, it shapes. You cannot really express yourself without a hand. It is the hand of the builder, the hand of the director; it directs, shapes and builds in your world. The ancient storytellers called the first letter IOD the hand, or the absolute seed from which all creation will come.
• The second letter, HE, they gave the symbol of a window. A window is an eye. A window is to a house what an eye is to the body.
• Third letter, VAU, was called a nail. A nail is used to fasten things together. The conjunction "and" in Hebrew is simply the third letter, or VAU. If I want to say "man and woman," I put VAU in the middle, it connects them.
• The fourth and last letter, HE, is another window or eye.

In our modern, down-to-earth language, you can forget about eyes, windows, and hands and look at it like this. You're sitting here right now. This first letter, IODINE, is your "I AMness," your consciousness. You are aware of your awareness—that is the first letter. From this awareness arise all other states of consciousness.

The second letter, XE, which is called the eye, is your imagination, your faculty of perception. You imagine or perceive something that seems different from yourself. It is as if you are lost in dreams and are contemplating mental states in a detached way, making the thinker and his thoughts separate entities.

The third letter, WOW, is your ability to feel that you are already what you want to be. When you feel that you are that, you begin to realize that you are that. To walk as if you are already what you want to be is to take your desire out of the imaginary world and put a WOW on it. You have completed the drama of creation. I realize something. Then I begin to realize that I really am what I have been realizing.

The fourth and last letter in God's name is another XE, another eye, meaning the visible objective world, which constantly bears witness to what I am aware of myself as. You do nothing with the objective world; it always shapes itself in harmony with what you are aware of yourself as.

You are told that this is the name by which everything was created, and without it nothing that was created was created. This name is simply what you have right now, sitting here. You are aware of your existence, aren't you? Absolutely. You are also aware of something other than yourself: the room, the furniture, the people.

Now you can become selective. You may not want to be someone else, or to own what you see. But you have the ability to feel what it would be like if you were someone else right now. When you assume that you are already who you want to be, you complete the name of God, or IOD HE WOW HE. The end result, the objectification of your assumption, is not your concern. It will appear automatically as soon as you accept the consciousness that you already are.

Now let's move on to the name of the Son, because it gives the Son authority over the world. You are that Son, you are the great Joshua, or Jesus of the Bible. You know that we adapted the name Joshua as Jesus.

The Son's name is almost the same as the Father's name. The first three letters of the Father's name are the first three letters of the Son's name: YOD HE VAW. Then you add SHIN and AYIN, and the name of the Son is read as YOD HE WAU SHIN AYIN.

You have already heard what the first three mean: YOD HE VAW. YOD means that you are aware; HE means that you are aware of something; and VAW means that you have become aware of yourself as you were aware. You have power because you have the ability to conceive and become what you conceive. This is the power of creation.

But why is it added to the name of the Son? TIRE? Through the infinite mercy of our Father. Note, the Father and the Son are one. But when the Father begins to realize himself as man, he puts into this state called man that which he did not give to himself. For this purpose he adds SHIN; SHIN is symbolized by a tooth.

The tooth is that which consumes, that which absorbs. I must have within me the power to absorb that which I do not like at present. I have, through my ignorance, given birth to certain things which I now dislike and which I would like to leave behind. If I had not had within me the flame capable of consuming this, I would be condemned to live forever in the world of my own errors. But in the name of the Son there is the SHIN, or flame, which enables the Son to separate himself from the states which he has previously expressed in the world. Man is incapable of seeing anything other than the contents of his own consciousness.

If I now consciously detach myself from this room, withdrawing my attention from it, then I will no longer be aware of it. Something inside me absorbs it. It can live in my objective world only on condition that I support its life in my consciousness.

It is the SHIN, or tooth, in the name of the Son that gives him absolute authority. Why could it not be in the name of the Father? For one simple reason: in the Father nothing can cease to exist. Not even unpleasant things can disappear. If I have ever given expression to something, it remains forever locked up in the immeasurably greater “I” that is the Father. But I would not want to sustain the life of all my errors in my own world. Therefore, in my infinite mercy, I gave myself, by becoming a man, the power to separate myself from those things which I, through my ignorance, had brought into my world.

These are the two names that give you power. You have power if, as you walk the earth, you know that your consciousness is God, the only reality. You are aware of something that you would like to express or possess. You have the ability to feel that you are already that and possess that which a moment ago was only imagined. The final result, the embodiment of your assumption, is completely beyond the competence of the third-dimensional mind. It is born in a way that no human being knows.

If these two names are clear in your mental vision, you will see that these are your eternal names. Sitting here, you are this YOD HE VAU HE; you are YOD HE VAU SHIN AYIN.

Story One: The Creative Act and the Struggle with the Ideal

The Bible stories are concerned solely with the power of the imagination. In reality, they are dramatizations of the technique of prayer, for prayer is the secret of changing the future. The Bible reveals the key by which man enters into a measurably larger world in order to change the conditions of the smaller world in which he lives.

A fulfilled prayer means that something has been done as a result of that prayer—something that would not have been done otherwise. Thus, man is the source of action, the directing mind, and the doer of prayer.

The stories of the Bible contain a powerful challenge to the human mind. The basic truth—that they are psychological dramas, not historical facts—needs constant repetition, because it is the only justification for these stories. With a little imagination, we can easily trace the psychological content in all biblical stories.

«And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creepeth upon the earth. And God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him.» (Genesis 1:26, 27).

Here, in the first chapter of the Bible, the ancient teachers laid the foundation that God and man are one, and that man has dominion over all the earth. If God and man are one, then God can never be so far away as to be even «near,» for «near» implies separation.

The question arises: What is God? God is man's consciousness, his awareness, his "I AM." The drama of life is psychological: we bring about circumstances by our attitude, not by our actions. The cornerstone on which everything is based is man's concept of himself. He acts as he does and experiences as he experiences solely because his concept of himself is that, and for no other reason. If he had a different concept of himself, he would act differently and have different experiences.

A person, accepting the feeling of a fulfilled desire, changes his future in harmony with his assumption, because assumptions, even if they are false, if they are constantly supported, turn into fact.

It is difficult for the undisciplined mind to accept a state that is denied by the senses. But the ancient teachers discovered that sleep or a sleep-like state helps man to make his assumption. Therefore they dramatized man's first creative act as one in which he was in a deep sleep. This not only sets the pattern for all future creative acts, but also shows us that man has only one substance that is truly his own for the creation of his world, and that is himself.

«"And the Lord God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam (man), and he slept. And he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof. And the rib which the Lord God had taken from man, made he into a woman.". (Genesis 2:21, 22).

Before God creates this woman for the man, he brings to Adam the beasts of the field and the birds of the air and instructs Adam to name them. «"And whatever Adam called each living soul, that was its name.".

If you take a symphony or a Bible dictionary and look up the word "thigh" as it is used in this story, you will see that it has nothing to do with the thigh. It is defined as the soft creative parts of a man that hang down from the thigh.

Ancient storytellers used this phallic construction to reveal a great psychological truth. An angel is a messenger of God. You are God, as you have just discovered, because your consciousness is God, and you have an idea, a message. You struggle with the idea because you do not know that you are already what you are thinking about, nor do you believe that you could become it. You would like to, but you do not believe that you can.

Who wrestles with the angel? Jacob. And the word Jacob by definition means «one who supplants» (one who takes someone’s place).

You would like to transform yourself and become what your mind and your senses deny. When you struggle with your ideal, trying to feel that you are already it, this is what happens. When you really feel that you are it, something comes out of you. You can use the words: «"Who touched me, for I felt power go out of me?"»

For a moment, after a successful meditation, you become unable to continue the act, as if it were a physical creative act. You are as powerless after you have successfully prayed (manifested) as you are after a physical creative act. When satisfaction comes, you no longer feel hungry. If hunger remains, you have not allowed this idea to ignite within you, you have not really realized yourself as you wanted to be. When you have come out of the depths, you still have the thirst.

If I can feel that I am what a few seconds ago I knew I was not but wanted to be, then I no longer have the hunger to become that. I no longer feel thirsty because I feel pleasure in that state. Then something contracts inside me - not physically, but in my feelings, in my consciousness, because that is the creativity of man. Man becomes so extinguished in his desire that he loses the urge to continue this meditation. He does not stop physically, he simply loses the desire to continue this meditative act.

«"When you pray, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours.". When the physical creative act is complete, the sinew in the man's thigh contracts, and he finds himself in a state of impotence or arrest. Similarly, when a man prays successfully, he believes that he is already what he has desired to be, and therefore he cannot continue to desire to be what he already knows himself to be. In the moment of pleasure, whether physical or psychological, something comes out, which in time becomes evidence of the man's creative power.

Story Two: King Judah, Tamar, and the Only Gift of Man

Our next story is in Genesis 38. There is a king named Judah, whose first three letters also begin with YOD HE VAU. Tamar is his daughter-in-law.

The word Tamar means palm tree or the most beautiful, the most attractive. It is graceful and beautiful in appearance, and it is called a palm tree. The tall, majestic palm tree blooms even in the desert - where it is, there is an oasis. When you see a palm tree in the desert, you will find what you are most looking for in this scorched land. There is nothing more desirable to a person walking in the desert than the sight of a palm tree.

In our case, practically speaking, our goal is the palm tree. It is that grand, beautiful thing that we are looking for. What you and I want, what we sincerely desire, is personified in this story by the beautiful Tamar.

We are told that she dresses in the attire of a harlot and sits in a public place. Her father-in-law, the king of Judah, passes by; and he falls so in love with this veiled woman that he offers her a kid for intimacy with her.

She asked: «"What will you give me as a pledge that you will give me the kid?"» Looking around, he asked: «"What do you want me to give you as collateral?"» She replied: «"Give me your ring, your bracelets, and your staff.".

Then he took off his ring and his bracelet from his hand and gave them to her, along with his scepter. And he went in to her and knew her, and she bore him a son.

This is the story; and now for its interpretation. Man has but one gift which is truly his to give, and that is himself. He has no other gift, as is stated in the first creative act of Adam, who brought forth woman from himself. There was no other substance in the world but himself from which he could create the object of his desire. So also Judas had but one gift which he could give, which was himself, which was symbolized by the ring, bracelets, and staff, for these were the symbols of his kingly power.

A person offers something that is not themselves, but life demands that they give up the only thing that symbolizes themselves. «"Give me your ring, give me your bracelet, give me your scepter"». They are what make him King. When he gives them away, he gives away a part of himself.

You are that great king Judah. Before you can know your Tamar and make her bear your likeness in the world, you must enter into her and give yourself. Suppose I want security. I cannot get it by simply knowing people who have it. I cannot get it by pulling strings. I must know myself to be secure.

Let's say I want to be healthy. Pills won't do it. Diet or climate won't do it. I have to realize I'm healthy by accepting the feeling that I'm healthy.

Maybe I want to rise in this world. Just by looking at kings, presidents, and noble people and living in their image, I will not become worthy. I must realize myself to be noble and worthy, and walk as if I already am who I want to be now.

When I walk in this light, I surrender myself to the image that has been troubling me, and over time it gives birth to a child in me; which means I objectify the world in harmony with who I am aware of myself as.

You are the king of Judah, and you are also Tamar. When you realize yourself to be what you want to be, you become Tamar. Then you crystallize your desire in the world around you.

No matter what stories you read in the Bible, no matter how many characters these ancient storytellers brought into the drama, there's one thing you and I must always remember: it all takes place in the mind of an individual. All the characters live in the mind of an individual.

When you read a story, try it on yourself. Know that your consciousness is the only reality. Then decide who you want to be. Then accept the feeling that you already are who you want to be, and stay true to your assumption, living and acting on your conviction. Always fit the story to this template.

Story Three: Blind Isaac and the Shift in Focus

Our third interpretation is the story of Isaac and his two sons, Esau and Jacob. We are presented with a picture of a blind father who is tricked by his second son into giving him the blessing that belonged to his first son. The story emphasizes the fact that the trick was done through the sense of touch.

«And Isaac said unto Jacob, Come near, I pray thee, that I may feel thee, my son, whether thou be my very son Esau or not.» And Jacob went near unto Isaac his father, and he felt him… And it came to pass, as soon as Isaac had made an end of blessing Jacob, and Jacob was scarce gone out from the presence of Isaac his father, that, behold, Esau his brother came in from his hunting.”. (Genesis 27:21, 30).

This story can be very helpful if you reenact it now. Again, remember that all the characters in the Bible are the personification of abstract ideas and must be embodied in an individual. You are both the blind father and the two sons.

Isaac is old and blind, and sensing the approach of death, he calls his firstborn son Esau, a rough, hairy boy, and sends him into the forest to bring some game.

The second son, Jacob, a smooth-skinned boy, overheard his father’s request. Desiring to claim his brother’s birthright, Jacob, the smooth-skinned son, killed a kid from his father’s flock and skinned it. Then, wearing the hairy skin of the slain kid, he tricked his father into believing that he was Esau.

Father said: «"Come closer, my son, so I can feel you. I can't see you, but come closer so I can touch you."». Notice the emphasis in this story on feeling.

He came closer, and his father said to him: «"The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau"». And feeling this rudeness, the reality of Esau's son, he pronounced the blessing and gave it to Jacob.

The story goes that as soon as Isaac had finished blessing, and Jacob had barely left him, his brother Esau returned from hunting.

This is a very important verse. Don't be upset by our practical approach to it, because sitting here you are also Isaac. This room you are sitting in is your current Esau. It is the gross, sensory world that you know through the organs of your body. All your senses tell you that you are here, in this room. Everything tells you that you are here, but maybe you don't want to be here.

You can apply this to any purpose. The room you are sitting in at any time—the environment you are in—is your gross or tangible world, or the son who is personified in history as Esau. What you would like to have instead of what you have, or who you would like to be—is your smooth-skinned condition, or Jacob, the one who displaces.

You don't send your visible world hunting, as many people do, through denial. By saying it doesn't exist, you make it even more real. Instead, you simply take your attention away from the realm of sensation, which is the room around you at this moment, and focus your attention on what you want to put in its place, on what you want to make real.

The secret to focusing on your goal is to bring it here. You have to make the «somewhere» «HERE» and then imagine that your goal is so close you can feel it.

Let's say that right now I want a piano to be here in this room. Just seeing the piano in my mind's eye somewhere else won't do. But to visualize it in this room as if it were already here, to put my imaginary hand on the piano and feel it solid and real, is to take that subjective state, personified as my second son Jacob, and bring it close enough that I can feel it.

Isaac is called blind. You are blind because you do not see your goal with your physical organs, you cannot see it with your objective senses. You only perceive it with your mind, but you bring it so close that you can feel it as if it were solid and real NOW. When that is done and you are lost in its reality, feeling that it is real - open your eyes.

When you open your eyes, what happens? The room you turned off just a moment ago returns from the hunt. You have not had time to give the blessing—to experience the imaginary state as real—as the objective world, which seemed unreal, returns. It does not speak to you in words, as it is written about Esau, but the very room around you tells you by its very presence that you have deceived yourself.

She tells you that when you were lost in contemplation, feeling that you were now who you wanted to be, feeling that you now possessed what you wanted to possess, you were simply deceiving yourself. Look at this room. She denies that you are anywhere else.

If you know the law, now you say: «"Although your brother came with cunning, deceived me, and took away your birthright, I gave him your blessing, and I cannot take it back.".

In other words, you remain true to this subjective reality and do not take away its birthright. You have given it a birthright, and it becomes objective in this world of yours. In this limited space of yours, there is no room for two things to occupy the same space at the same time. By making the subjective real, it resurrects itself in your world.

Take the idea you want to embody and assume that you already are it. Lose yourself in the feeling that this assumption is solid and real. When you give it this feeling of reality, you give it a blessing that belongs to the objective world, and you do not need to help bring it into being any more than you help a child or a seed that you plant in the ground. The seed that you plant grows without human help, because it contains within itself all the power and all the plans necessary for self-expression.

You can reenact the drama of Isaac blessing his second son tonight and see what will happen in your world in the near future. Your present surroundings will disappear, all the circumstances of your life will change, and make way for the coming of that for which you have given your life. When you go, knowing that you are what you were meant to be, you will objectify it without any outside help.

Story Four: The Death of Moses and the Erasure of the Past

The fourth story for today is taken from the last of the books attributed to Moses. If you need proof that Moses did not write it, read this story carefully. It is found in the 34th chapter of Deuteronomy. Ask any priest or rabbi, «Who wrote this book?» and they will tell you that Moses wrote it.

In Deuteronomy 34 you read about a man who writes his own obituary, which is to say that Moses wrote this chapter. A man can sit down and write what he wants to put on his tombstone, but here we have a man who writes his own obituary. And then he dies and so completely erases himself that he challenges his descendants to find the place where he buried himself.

«"And Moses the servant of the Lord died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the Lord. And he was buried in a valley in the land of Moab, over against Beth-peor: and no man knoweth of his sepulchre unto this day. And Moses was an hundred and twenty years old when he died: his eye was not dim, neither was his natural force abated.". (Deuteronomy 34:5, 6, 7).

You must learn the art of writing your own obituary tonight—not tomorrow—and die so completely to who you are that no one in this world can tell where you buried the «old man.» If you are sick now and recovering, and I know you because you were sick, where can you point and tell me that you buried that sick man there?

If you are impoverished and borrow from every friend you have, and then suddenly find yourself bathed in wealth, where did you bury that poor person? You have so completely erased poverty from your mental vision that there is nothing in this world that you can point to and say, «That’s where I left it.» A complete transformation of consciousness erases all evidence that the world ever existed as anything other than it does now.

The most beautiful technique for realizing a person's purpose is given in the first verse of the 34th chapter of the book of Deuteronomy:

«And Moses went down from the plains of Moab unto mount Nebo, to the top of Pisgah, that is over against Jericho: and the Lord shewed him all the land, Gilead even unto Dan…»

You read this poem and you say, "So what?" But take a symphony (dictionary) and look at these words. The first word, Moses, means to draw out, to rescue, to get out. In other words, Moses is the personification of the power in man that can draw out of man what he seeks, because everything comes from within, not from without. You draw out from within yourself what you now want to express as something objective for yourself.

You are Moses, coming out of the plains of Moab. The Word Moab is a contraction of two Hebrew words: Mem and Ab, which means mother-father. Your consciousness is the mother-father, there is no other reason in the world. Your "I AM", your awareness is this Moab, the mother-father. You are always drawing something from it.

The next word is Nevo. In your dictionary, Nebo is defined as prophecy. Prophecy is something subjective. If I say, "So-and-so will happen," it is an image in the mind; it is not yet a fact. We must wait and either prove or disprove this prophecy.

In our language, Nevo is your desire, your dream. It is called a mountain because it seems difficult to climb, and therefore it seems impossible to achieve. The mountain is something bigger than you, it towers over you. Nevo represents who you want to be, as opposed to who you are now.

Word Pisgah by definition means to contemplate. Jericho — is an incense (a pleasant aroma). A Gilead means hills of witnesses. The last word is prophet Dan.

Now put all this together in a practical sense and see what the ancients were trying to tell us. As I stand here, having discovered that my consciousness is God, and that I can, simply by feeling myself to be what I want to be, transform myself into the likeness of what I believe myself to be; I know now that I am all that is needed to climb this mountain.

I am defining my goal. I don't call it Nebo, I call it my desire. Whatever I want, this is my Nebo, this is my great mountain that I am going to climb. Now I begin to contemplate it, for I will climb to the top of Pisgah.

I must contemplate my goal in such a way that I get a response that is pleasing. If I don't get a response that is pleasing to me, then Jericho is not visible, because Jericho is a pleasant aroma. When I feel that I am what I want to be, I cannot hide the joy that comes with that feeling.

I must always contemplate my goal until I have the feeling of satisfaction that Jericho represents. Then I do nothing to make it visible in my world; for the hills of Gilead, that is, men, women, children, the whole vast world around me, come to bear witness. They come to bear witness that I am what I have claimed to be and what I hold within myself. When my world corresponds to my assumption, the prophecy (Dan.

If I now know who I want to be, and assume that I am that, and walk as if I am that, I become that. And in becoming that, I die so completely to my former concept of myself that I cannot point to any place in this world and say, This is where my former self is buried. I have died so completely that I defy posterity to ever find the place where I buried my old self.

There is probably someone in this room who will change themselves so completely in this world that their closest circle of friends won't recognize them.

I was a dancer for ten years, dancing in Broadway shows, in vaudeville, in nightclubs, and in Europe. There was a time in my life when I thought I couldn't live without certain friends in my world. I would set the table every night after the theater, and we would all have a nice dinner. I thought I could never live without them. Now I confess that I couldn't live with them. Today we have nothing in common. When we meet, we don't cross the street on purpose, but it's almost a cold meeting because we have nothing to talk about. I'm so dead to that life that when they meet these people, they can't even talk about old times.

But there are people who are living today and are still in that old state, getting poorer and poorer. They always like to talk about the old days. They never buried that person; he is very much alive in their world.

Moses was 120 years old—a full, wonderful age, as the number 120 indicates. One plus two plus zero equals three—the numerical symbol for expression. I am fully aware of my expression. My eyes are not dim, and the natural functions of my body are not impaired. I am fully aware that I am what I do not want to be.

But knowing this law by which man transforms himself, I accept that I am what I want to be, and I walk on the assumption that it is already done. When I become that, the old man dies, and everything that was connected with that former concept of myself dies with it. You cannot take any part of the old man into the new. You cannot put new wine into old wineskins or put new patches on old garments. You must be a completely new being.

When you assume that you are what you want to be, you don't need anyone else's help to make it happen. You don't need anyone else's help to bury an old person either. Leave the dead to bury their dead. Don't even look back, for no man who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the Kingdom of God.

Don't ask yourself how it will happen. It doesn't matter if your mind denies it. It doesn't matter if the whole world around you denies it. You don't need to bury the old. "Let the dead bury their dead." By remaining true to your new concept of Self, you will bury the past so much that you will challenge the whole vast future to find where you buried it. And to this day, no man in all Israel has found the tomb of Moses.

Practice: Three Steps to Changing the Future (Dream-Like State)

Here are four stories that I promised you tonight. You should apply them to your daily life. Even if the chair you are sitting on right now seems hard and unsuitable for meditation, you can use your imagination to transform it into the most comfortable chair in the world.

Let me now define the technique that I want you to use. I believe that each of you has come here tonight with a clear picture of what you want. Don't say it's impossible. Do you want it? You don't have to use your moral code to make it happen. It's outside your code at all.

Consciousness is the only reality. Therefore, we must form the object of our desire from our own consciousness.

People have a habit of neglecting the importance of simple things, and the suggestion of creating a sleep-like state (SATS) to help you accept what your mind and senses deny is one of those simple things you might neglect.

However, this simple formula for changing the future, which was discovered by ancient teachers and given to us in the Bible, can be proven by anyone.

First step in changing the future is Desire. That is, define your goal — know clearly what you want.

Second step Construct an event that you think you would encounter AFTER your wish is fulfilled—an event that assumes the wish has already been fulfilled—something in which the action of your “I” would be dominant.

Third step — to immobilize the physical body and induce a dream-like state. Then mentally feel yourself directly in this proposed action, all the time imagining that you are actually performing the action HERE AND NOW. You must participate in the imaginary action, not just stand by and watch. FEEL that you are actually performing the action so that the imaginary sensations become real to you.

It is important to always remember that the proposed action must be one that FOLLOWS the fulfillment of your desire, one that implies its fulfillment. For example, suppose you wanted a promotion. Then accepting congratulations would be an event that you would encounter after your desire was fulfilled.

Having chosen this action as the one you will experience in your imagination to represent the promotion, still your physical body and induce a state bordering on sleep. It is a state of drowsiness, but one in which you can still control the direction of your thoughts; a state in which you are attentive without effort. Then imagine your friend standing before you.

Place your imaginary hand in his hand. Feel it solid and real, and have an imaginary conversation with him in harmony with the FEELING OF BEING RAISED.

You don't visualize yourself at a distance in space or time when you are congratulated on your success. Instead, you DO "somewhere" HERE, and the future is NOW. The difference between FEELING yourself in action here and now and visualizing yourself in action as if you were on a movie screen is the difference between success and failure.

This difference will be easier to understand if you visualize yourself climbing the stairs right now. Then, with your eyes closed, imagine the stairs are right in front of you and FEEL LIKE YOU ARE ACTUALLY CLIMBING THEM.

Experience has taught me to limit the imaginary action that implies the fulfillment of a desire, to compress the idea into a single act and reproduce it again and again until it acquires a sense of reality. Otherwise your attention will begin to wander along associative paths, and a multitude of related images will appear before your attention, and in a few seconds they will take you hundreds of miles from your goal in space and years from it in time.

If you decide to climb a particular flight of stairs because it is a likely event that will occur after your wish is granted, then you should limit the action to climbing those stairs only. If your attention wanders, bring it back to the task of climbing those stairs, and continue doing so until the imagined action has all the solidity and clarity of reality.

The idea should be held in the mind without any noticeable effort on your part. You should, with a minimum of effort, imbue your mind with the feeling of a fulfilled desire.

Sleepiness facilitates change because it facilitates effortless attention, but it should not be a state of sleep in which you are no longer able to control the movements of your attention. It should be a moderate degree of sleepiness in which you are still able to direct your thoughts.

The most effective way to make a wish come true is to accept the feeling of having your wish fulfilled, and then, in a relaxed and sleepy state, repeat over and over, like a lullaby, any short phrase that predicts the fulfillment of your wish. For example: «"Thank you, thank you, thank you"», as if you are appealing to a higher power for giving you what you wanted.

I know that when this course ends on Friday, many of you will be able to tell me that you have achieved your goals. Two weeks ago, I walked off the stage and walked to the door to shake hands with the audience. I can confidently say that at least 35 people out of a class of 135 told me that what they wanted when they joined this class, they have already achieved.

This happened just two weeks ago. I didn't do anything to make it happen except give them this prayer technique. You don't have to do anything to make it happen—just apply this prayer technique.

With your eyes closed and your physical body still, induce a dream-like state and act as if you were an actor playing a role. Experience in your imagination what you would experience in the flesh if you were now in possession of your purpose. Do the "somewhere" HERE and the "then" NOW. And the greater (greater) YOUR SELF, using a broader focus, will use all means and call them good that lead to the creation of what you have assumed.

You are free from all responsibility for how it will happen, because when you imagine and feel that it is already so, your measurable greater self determines the means. Do not think for a moment that anyone will suffer in order for it to happen, or that anyone will be disappointed. It is none of your concern anyway. I must convey this to you. Too many of us, raised in different walks of life, are so concerned about others.

You ask, «If I get what I want, won’t it mean harming someone else?» There are ways that you don’t know about, so don’t worry about it.

Close your eyes now, because we are going to enter a long silence. Soon you will be so lost in contemplation, feeling that you are who you want to be, that you will be completely unaware of the fact that you are in this room with other people.

You're going to get a shock when you open your eyes and find that we're here. It should be a shock when you open your eyes and find that you're not really who you felt like you were or what you felt you had a moment ago. And now we're going to dive deep.

*** SILENCE PERIOD ***

I don't need to remind you that you are now what you have assumed yourself to be. Don't discuss this with anyone, not even yourself. You can't worry about HOW it will happen when you know that you ALREADY are.

Your three-dimensional reasoning, which is a very limited reasoning indeed, should not be drawn into this drama. It does not know. What you have just experienced as truth IS truth.

Let no man tell you that you should not have it. What you feel you have, you will have. And I promise you this: after you realize your purpose, upon reflection, you will have to admit that this conscious reasoning mind of yours could never have come up with such a way.

You are what you have appropriated for yourself at this very moment. Don't discuss it. Don't look to anyone for encouragement for fear that it might not happen. It has already happened. Go about your Father's business, doing things as usual, and let these things happen in your world.

LESSON 2 – ASSUMPTIONS BECOME FACT

This Bible of ours has nothing to do with history. Some of you may still be inclined to believe tonight that while we can give it a psychological interpretation, it can still be left in its present form and interpreted literally. You cannot do that. The Bible contains no mention at all of the people or events that you have been taught to believe. The sooner you begin to erase that picture, the better.

The Bible as a Psychological Drama

Tonight we're going to go over a few stories, and I want to remind you again that you have to play all of these stories out in your own mind.

Keep in mind that although they seem to be stories about people who are fully awake, the drama actually takes place between you sleeping (your deeper self) and you are aware, who is not asleep. They are personified as people, but when you get to the point of application, you must remember the importance of the sleepy state.

All creation, as we told you last night, takes place in a state of sleep, or in a state bordering on sleep—a sleepy, drowsy state. Last weekend we told you that the first man had not yet awakened. You are Adam, the first man, who is still in a deep sleep. Your creative self is your fourth-dimensional self, whose home is simply the state you enter when people say you are asleep.

The Story of Jesus and Barabbas: Freedom from Desire

Our first story for today is found in the Gospel of John. As it unfolds before you, I want you to compare it in your mind’s eye with the story you heard yesterday from the book of Genesis. Historians say that the first book of the Bible (Genesis) is a record of events that took place on earth about 3,000 years before the events described in the book of John. I ask you to approach this rationally and see if it doesn’t seem to you that the same author could have written both stories differently.

This is a very familiar story of the trial of Jesus. The Gospel of John records that Jesus was brought before Pontius Pilate, and the crowd demanded his life. Pilate said:

«But you have a custom that I release one to you at the Passover. Do you want me, then, to release to you the King of the Jews?» Then they all cried out again, saying, ‘Not this man, but Barabbas!’ Now Barabbas was a robber.”​—John 18:39, 40.

Pilate could not release Jesus against the wishes of the crowd, so he released Barabbas and handed Jesus over to them to be crucified.

Now remember that your consciousness is God. There is no other God. And you are told that God has a son whose name is Jesus. If you look up the word “Barabbas,” you will see that it is a contraction of two Hebrew words: BAR (son or child) and ABBA (father). Barabbas is the son of a great father. And Jesus is called the Savior, the Son of the Father.

In this story we have two sons. And we have two sons in the story of Esau and Jacob. Pilate here plays the same role as Isaac (who was blind). Justice must be done blindfolded:

«Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment!» (John 7:24)

What does Barabbas mean to you?

You have a son who is robbing you at this very moment, taking away what you could be. If you realize that you want something, you go in the company of Barabbas.

To desire is to admit that you do not currently possess what you desire. You are robbing yourself by living in a state of desire. If I continue to desire something, I am denying my Jesus (my savior), because as long as I desire, I am admitting that I AM NOT that.

I cannot have and continue to want what I have at the same time. I can enjoy it but not want it.

The mystical meaning of Easter (Passover)

This is Passover. Something has to change right now, something has to “pass.” A person cannot move from one state of consciousness to another unless they release from their consciousness what they are currently holding in it, because that is what anchors them where they are.

To observe the psychological holiday of Easter, I move from one state of consciousness to another. I do this, releasing Barabbas — a thief who deprives me of the state I could embody.

The state I seek to embody is personified as Jesus the Savior. If I become what I want to be, then I am saved from what I was.

Do not condemn the crowd for demanding the release of Barabbas. These characters are eternal in the mind of every person. We constantly support the life of either Barabbas or Jesus. If we are wise, we should demand liberation from the state of mind that limits us.

Jacob and Esau: Rejection of the old self“

To explain the mystical transformation, you must now identify yourself with the ideal. If you remain true to it, you resurrect it without the help of any man. Without the help of man, the stone was rolled away, and what seemed dead was resurrected.

You walk in the awareness that you You are already who you want to be.. This state has its own way of manifesting itself in this world.

That is why James was called the Displacer (One who takes the place of another). Jesus must displace Barabbas, just as Jacob must displace Esau.

The best way to do this is to assume that you are already who you are looking for. Your assumption, even though it is false now, if supported, will become a fact. You will know that you have changed your self-concept when you look at the people you know and see them differently.

The Garden of Gethsemane and Judas' Suicide

The Garden of Gethsemane is a properly prepared mind. You prepare it every day: you read good literature, listen to music, and have ennobling conversations.

«Whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely… think about these things!» (Phil. 4:8)

In the story of Jesus, a crowd led by Judas is looking for him. And when Jesus says, “I am he,” thousands fall to the ground. This is not a physical drama. It is you in your prepared mind (the garden) when you can control your attention. When you can stay true to your purpose and not let your attention wander, you are that disciplined presence in the Garden of Gethsemane.

Judas' Suicide — is a change in your concept of yourself. When you assume that you are who you want to be, you die to your former concept (Judas commits suicide) and now live as Jesus.

The word “Judas” means “praise.” When you identify with the ideal, you cannot hide your joy. It rises, explodes from within. No one took your life, you gave it yourself by refocusing your attention.

Joshua, Jericho, and Rahab (Taking the Promised Land)

In the Old Testament, the name Joshua (Joshua/יהושה בן נון) means “Jehovah saves,” the Savior of the great deep. He is given the promise:

«Every place that the sole of your foot will tread on, I have given it to you.» (Joshua 1:3)

Wherever you can stand mentally, you can make it happen. Joshua wants to take the fragrant city of Jericho, but the walls (your senses and mind that say “it’s impossible”) block the way.

Then he hires Rahab, a spy and a prostitute.

• Spy: the ability to travel so quietly that you are not noticed. In meditation, you are physically here, but mentally you are thousands of miles away. No one can see where you really are right now.
• Harlot: the ability to give oneself and appropriate status without asking permission or proof of one's talents.

Rahab remains in the upper room (high state of consciousness). Joshua blows the trumpet seven times. Seven is silence, Saturday, absolute conviction that the thing IS. When you accept the feeling of a fulfilled desire and fall asleep without worries, the walls (obstacles) collapse under their own weight.

The Tabernacle in the Desert and the “Cloud of Consciousness”

In the book of Numbers, God commanded Israel to build a portable tabernacle covered with skins. Isn't that a man? You are that temple.

«And on that day… the cloud covered the tabernacle… And when it was taken up, they journeyed.» (Numbers 9:15-22)

What is this cloud? In meditation, bordering on sleep, the cloud rises. It takes the form of your assumption. The cloud is the garment of your consciousness, and where your consciousness is placed, there you will be in the flesh.

Use your bedtime wisely. Embrace the feeling of having your wish fulfilled and fall asleep in that mood.

«In a dream, in a vision of the night… then He opens the ear of man and seals up His teaching.» (Job 33:15-16)

You place the cloud in the desired location and your three-dimensional body (tabernacle) will be forced to make a journey to catch up with it. Warning: Don't take this lightly. Things will happen to make you end up where you thought you would be before you went to sleep.

Law of Return Force and Techniques

If people fail, it is because they do not know the “law of reverse effort.” When you accept the feeling of a wish being fulfilled, it should happen with a minimum of effort. If you force it by willpower, you will get the opposite result.

You don't force yourself to be ideal by will, you Imagine that you are already one..

Technique 1: Concentration on action

1. Understand what you want.
2. Construct a single event that involves fulfilling a wish (e.g., shaking hands).
3. Limit the event to this one action.
4. Repeat it in your imagination over and over again until it takes on a complete sense of reality.

Technique 2: Focus on a short phrase

If you have difficulty visualizing the action:

1. Condensate the idea into a simple phrase (3-4 words): «"Isn't this wonderful?"», «"Thank you"», «"It's finished"».
2. Induce a state bordering on sleep (raise a cloud).
3. Repeat the phrase over and over again, like a lullaby, feeling that the wish has already been fulfilled.

Phenomena of deep meditation and the “Wise Virgins”

When you really go deep during meditation, you may notice strange but completely natural phenomena of expanding consciousness:

• Dry hands after meditation — proof that you have successfully “lifted the cloud.”.
• Excessive kidney activity after waking up (a medical phenomenon that doctors cannot explain).
• Liquid blue light in the forehead area, it looks like a flame of burning alcohol.
• Floating dots or geometric grids before the eyes (not spots on the liver, but possibly objectified blood flow or internal vision).

Don’t be afraid. This is a natural extension for those who are developing their “Garden of Gethsemane.”.

The moment you begin to discipline your mind, you become the policeman for your thoughts. Refuse to listen to destructive things. Build an image wise virgin — listen only to what brings joy (oil for the lamp). Anyone who finds joy in discussing negativity will not be able to identify with this great work.

LESSON 3 – FOUR-DIMENSIONAL THINKING

There are two real worldviews that every person possesses, and the ancient storytellers were fully aware of these two views. One they called the «carnal mind» and the other the «mind of Christ.».

We recognize these two centers of thought in the statement:

«"But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually discerned.". (1 Cor. 2:14)

To the natural (carnal) mind, reality is limited to a moment called "now"; that moment alone seems to contain all reality, everything else is unreal. To the natural mind, past and future are purely imaginary. In other words, my past, when I use the natural mind, is just an image in my memory of things that were. And to the limited focus of the carnal or natural mind, the future does not exist. The natural mind does not believe that it can visit the past and see it as something present, something objective and concrete to itself, nor does it believe that there is a future.

For the mind of Christ, the spiritual mind, which in our language we will call the four-dimensional focus, the past, present, and future of the natural mind are a single whole in the present tense. It encompasses the entire array of sensory impressions with which man has encountered, is encountering, and will encounter.

The only reason you and I function as we do today, and are not aware of the larger view, is simply because we are creatures of habit, and habit makes us completely blind to what we should otherwise see; but habit is not law. It acts as if it were the most persuasive force in the world, but it is not law.

We can create a new approach to life. If you and I would spend a few minutes each day taking our attention away from the realm of the senses and focusing it on the invisible state, and remaining true to that contemplation, experiencing the reality of the invisible state, we would eventually become aware of this larger world, this measurably larger world. The contemplated state is already a concrete reality, displaced in time.

Tonight, as we turn to our Bible, you judge for yourself what stage of your development you are at now.

Healing the Madman: Purification of Prejudice

Our first story for today is taken from Mark chapter 5. This chapter tells three stories as if they were the individual experiences of the main characters.

In the first story, we are told that Jesus came across a crazy, naked man who lived in a cemetery and hid behind the tombs. This man begged Jesus not to cast out the demons that were tormenting him.

But Jesus said to him:

«"Come out of the man, you unclean spirit.". (Mark 5:8)

Thus Jesus has cast out the demons so that they can now destroy themselves, and we see this man, for the first time, clothed, in his right mind, sitting at the feet of the Master. We will understand the psychological meaning of this section by changing the name Jesus to "enlightened mind" or "four-dimensional thinking.".

The Woman with the Bleeding Issue and Jairus' Daughter

Later in this chapter we are told that Jesus meets a high priest named Jairus, and Jairus, the high priest of the synagogue, has a child who is dying. She is 12 years old, and he begs Jesus to come and heal the child.

Jesus agrees, and as he heads to the high priest’s house, a woman in the marketplace touches his garment.

«And immediately Jesus, perceiving in himself that power had gone out of him, turned about in the crowd and said, »Who touched my clothes?” (Mark 5:30)

A woman who was healed of a bleeding issue she had suffered from for 12 years confessed that she was the one who touched him.

«"And He said to her, Daughter, your faith has saved you; go in peace.". (Mark 5:34)

As he continues on his way to the high priest's house, he is told that the child is dead and there is no need to go to resurrect her. She is no longer sleeping, she is dead.

«"And Jesus, hearing the word that was spoken, saith unto the ruler of the synagogue, Be not afraid, only believe.". (Mark 5:36)

«And when he was come in, he saith unto them, Why make ye ado, and weep? The damsel is not dead, but sleepeth.» (Mark 5:39)

At this the whole crowd began to mock and laugh, but Jesus, closing the door on the mocking crowd, took with him his disciples and the father and mother of the dead child into Jairus' house.

They entered the room where the girl was lying.

«And He took the girl by the hand and said to her, »…Girl, I say to you, arise!’” (Mark 5:41)

«"And she awoke from that deep sleep, and arose, and went her way: and the high priest and all the rest were astonished. And he charged them straitly that no man should know it; and he commanded that they should give her meat.". (Mark 5:43)

You are sitting here this very night, pictured in this 5th chapter of Mark. The cemetery has only one purpose: it is simply a record of the dead. Are you living in a dead past?

If you live among the dead, your prejudices, your superstitions, and your false beliefs that you keep alive are the tombstones behind which you hide. If you refuse to let them go, you are as mad as the madman in the Bible who begged the enlightened mind not to cast them out. There is no difference. But the enlightened mind is incapable of protecting prejudices and superstitions from the intrusion of reason.

Freedom from destructive beliefs of the past

There is not a person in the world who has a prejudice, whatever its nature, who can stand it in the light of reason. Tell me that you are against a certain nation, a certain race, a certain "ism," whatever it is—I don't care what it is—you cannot bring that belief of yours to the light of reason and keep it alive. In order for it to remain alive in your world, you must hide it from reason. You cannot analyze it in the light of reason and let it live. When this fourth-dimensional focus comes and shows you a new approach to life, and drives out of your mind all these things that have been tormenting you, you are purified and clothed with your common sense. And you sit down at the feet of understanding, which are called the feet of the Master.

Now, clothed and in your right mind, you can raise the dead. What died? The child in this story is not a child. The child is your ambition, your desire, the unfulfilled dreams of your heart. It is a child living in the mind of a man. For, as I have said before, the whole drama of the Bible is psychological. The Bible contains no reference at all to any person who ever existed, or to any event that ever took place on earth. All the stories of the Bible unfold in the mind of an individual.

Psychological content: Giving shape to ideas and desires

In this story, Jesus is the awakened intellect of man. When your mind functions beyond the range of your present senses, when your mind is healed of all its former limitations, then you are no longer insane; you are this presence, personified as Jesus, the power that can resurrect the yearnings of the human heart.

Now you are a woman with a bleeding issue. What kind of bleeding is this? A womb that is constantly bleeding is not a reproductive womb. She suffered from this for 12 years, she was unable to conceive. She could not give form to her desire because of this bleeding. You are told that her faith stopped her. When the womb closes, it can give form to a seed or an idea.

When your mind is cleansed of the former concept of Self, you assume that you are what you want to be, and by remaining true to that assumption, you give form to your assumption or resurrect your child. You are a woman cleansed of the bleeding, and you move toward the house of the dead child.

The child, or the state you desired, is now your fixed concept of self. But now, having accepted what I previously desired to be, I cannot continue to desire what I know myself to be. So I don't discuss it. I don't tell anyone who I am. It is so obvious to me that I am what I wanted to be that I walk around as if I ALREADY am.

When I walk as if I were what I once wanted to be, my world of limited focus does not see it and thinks that I no longer want it. The child is dead in their world; but I, who know the law, say, "The child is not dead." The girl is not dead, she is only asleep. Now I will awaken her. By my assumption I awaken and make visible in my world what I assume, for assumptions, if sustained, invariably awaken that which they assert.

I close the door. What door? The door of my senses. I simply completely shut out everything that my senses reveal. I deny the testimony of my senses. I suspend the limited reason of the natural man and go in this bold assertion that I am what my senses deny.

Having closed the door of my senses, whom do I take into this disciplined state? I take no one into this state except the child's parents and my students. I close the door to the mocking and derisive crowd. I no longer seek confirmation. I completely reject the evidence of my senses that ridicules my assumption, and I do not discuss with others whether my assumption is possible or not.

Who are the parents? We have discovered that the father-mother of all creation is the I AMness of man. The consciousness of man is God. I am aware of this state. I am the father-mother of all my ideas, and my mind remains true to this new concept of self. My mind is disciplined. I take students into this state, and I close access to this state to anything that would deny it.

Now the child, without human help, is resurrected. The state I desired and assumed I had is objectified in my world and testifies to the strength of my assumption.

You are your own judge, I cannot judge you. You are either living now in a dead past, or you are living like a woman whose bleeding has stopped. Could you really answer me if I asked you a question:

«"Do you now believe that you need only assume, without outside help, that you are who you want to be in order to make that assumption real in your world? Or do you believe that you must first fulfill some condition imposed on you by the past, that you must belong to a certain order, or be someone special?"»

I am not criticizing any particular church or group, but there are those who believe that anyone outside their church or group is not yet saved. I was born a Protestant. You talk to a Protestant, to him there is only one Christian, the Protestant. You talk to a Catholic, there is no Christian in the world but the Catholic. You talk to a Jew, to him Christians are pagans, and Jews are the elect. You talk to a Muslim, Jews and Christians are infidels. You talk to anyone else, and all of the above are untouchable. It doesn’t matter who you talk to, they are always the elect.

If you believe you have to be one of them to be saved, you are still that crazy person hiding behind those prejudices and biases of the past, and you are begging not to be cleansed.

Some of you say to me, "Don't ask me to give up my belief in Jesus as a man, or in Moses as a man, or in Peter as a man. When you ask me to give up my belief in these characters, you are asking too much. Leave me these beliefs, because they comfort me. I can believe that they lived on earth and at the same time follow your psychological interpretation of their stories.".

I say: Come out of the dead past. Come out of this cemetery and go, knowing that you and your Father are one, and your Father, whom men call GOD, is your own consciousness. This is the only creative law in the world.

Who do you perceive yourself to be? Although you cannot see your purpose through the limited focus of your three-dimensional mind, you are already who you assume you are. Walk in that assumption and remain true to it.

Time in this dimension of your being beats slowly, and you may, even after objectifying your assumption, not remember that there was a time when this present reality was only an attitude of the mind. Because of the slow rhythm of time here, you often cannot see the connection between your inner nature and the outer world that bears witness to it.

Judge for yourself the position you now occupy in this 5th chapter of Mark. Are you raising a dead child? Is there still a need to close this womb of your mind? Is it still bleeding and therefore cannot be fertile? Are you now the madman living in a dead past? Only you can be the judge and answer these questions.

Now we turn to the story in John chapter 5. It will show you how beautifully ancient storytellers spoke of two different views of this world—one, a limited three-dimensional focus, and the other, a four-dimensional focus.

The Pool of Bethesda and the Awareness of «I AM»

This story tells of a lame man who is quickly healed. Jesus comes to a place called Bethesda, which by definition means House of Five Porches. In these five porches lie countless sick people—blind, lame, withered, and others. According to tradition, at a certain time of the year an angel would go down and stir up the water in the pool that was near these Five Porches. When the angel stirred up the water, the first person to enter was always healed. But only the first, not the second.

When Jesus saw a man who had been lame from birth, he said to him,

«"Do you want to be healthy?"» (John 5:6)

«"The sick man answered Him, 'Sir, I have no man to put me into the pool when the water is troubled. But while I am coming, another steps down before me.'". (John 5:7)

«Jesus saith unto him, Arise, take up thy bed, and walk.» (John 5:8)

«"And immediately the man was made well, and took up his bed, and walked. And that same day was the Sabbath.". (John 5:9)

You read this story and think that some strange man who possessed miraculous powers suddenly said to the cripple, «Get up and walk.» I cannot repeat too often that this story, even as it introduces countless individuals, unfolds in the mind of an individual.

The bath is your consciousness. The angel is an idea, which is called the messenger of GOD. Since consciousness is God, when you have an idea, you receive an angel. The moment you become aware of desire, your bath is disturbed. Desire disturbs the mind of a person. To want something is to be disturbed.

At the very moment you have an ambition or a clearly defined goal, the bath is stirred by the angel who was that desire. You are told that the first person to enter the stirred bath is always healed.

My closest companions in this world, my wife and my little daughter, are second to me when I address them. I must address my wife as «thou art.» I must address anyone, no matter how close, as «thou art.» And after that comes the third person, «he is.» There is only one person in this world with whom I can use the first person present tense, and that is myself. «I AM» can only be said of myself, it cannot be said of anyone else.

Therefore, when I am conscious of some desire, of who I want to be, but who, it would seem, is not—the bath is disturbed, who can enter this bath before me? I alone possess the power of the first person. I am what I want to be. If I do not believe that I am what I want to be, I will remain as I was before and die in this limitation.

In this story, you don't need a person to throw you into the bath when your consciousness is agitated by desire. All you have to do is assume that you are already what you wanted to be, and you are already there, and no person can come in before me. What person can come in before you when you are aware of yourself as what you want to be? No one can come in before you when you yourself have the power to say "I AM.".

Saturday: A state of peace and acceptance

These are the two views. You are now what your senses deny. Do you have the courage to assume that you are already what you want to be? If you dare to assume that you are already what your mind and your senses deny, then you are in the bathhouse and, without the help of man, you too will get up, take up your bed and go.

You are told it happened on Saturday. Saturday is just a mystical feeling of stillness when you are not troubled, when you are not anxious, when you are not looking for results, knowing that the signs follow, not precede.

The Sabbath is a day of silence, of no work. When you are not working to make it happen, you are on the Sabbath. When you are completely unconcerned about what others think, when you walk as if you ALREADY are it, you cannot lift a finger to make it happen, you are on the Sabbath. I cannot worry about HOW it will happen and still say that I am aware of it. If I am aware of myself as free, safe, healthy, and happy, I maintain these states of consciousness without effort or work on my part. So I am on the Sabbath; and since it was the Sabbath, he got up and left.

Our next story is from the 4th chapter of the Gospel of John, and it's the story you've heard over and over again. Jesus comes to a well, and there's a woman there called a Samaritan, and he says to her,

«"Give Me a drink.". (John 4:7)

«"The Samaritan woman said to Him, 'How is it that You, being a Jew, ask drink from me, a Samaritan woman? For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.'". (John 4:9)

«"Jesus answered and said unto her, If thou knewest the gift of God, and who it is that saith to thee, Give me to drink; thou wouldest have asked of him, and he would have given thee living water.". (John 4:10)

The woman, seeing that he had nothing to draw water with, and knowing that the well was deep, said:

«Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock?» (John 4:12)

«"Jesus answered and said unto her, Whosoever drinketh of this water shall thirst again: but whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst; but the water that I shall give him shall be in him a well of water springing up into everlasting life.". (John 4:13, 14)

Then he tells her everything about herself and asks her to go and call her husband.

«"The woman answered and said, I have no husband.". (John 4:17)

«"Jesus said to her, 'You have well said, 'I have no husband.' For you have had five husbands, and the one you now have is not your husband.". (John 4:17, 18)

The woman, knowing it is true, goes to the market and tells others, "I have met the Messiah.".

They ask her, «How do you know you have met the Messiah?»

«Because he told me everything I ever did,» she replies. Here is a trick that covers at least the past and tells her now about the future.

Continuing the story, the disciples come to Jesus and say:

«"Teacher, eat!"» (John 4:31)

The Samaritan Woman: Rejecting the Dictate of the Five Senses

«"But He said to them, 'I have food to eat that you do not know about.'". (John 4:32)

When they talk about the harvest in four months, Jesus responds:

«Do you not say, »There are yet four months, and then comes the harvest?’ But I say to you, ‘Lift up your eyes and look at the fields, how they are already white for harvest.’” (John 4:35)

He sees things that people wait four months for or wait four years for; he sees them now in a measurably larger world, as existing now, happening now.

Let’s go back to the first part of the story. The Samaritan woman is the three-dimensional you, and Jesus at the well is the four-dimensional you. The argument begins between who you want to be and who your mind tells you you are now. The greater you tells you that if you would dare to assume that you are already who you want to be, you would become that person.

The lesser you, with your limited focus, says to you, "But you have neither a bucket nor a rope, and the well is deep. How could you ever reach the depths of this state without the means to achieve that goal?"«

You respond and say, «If you only knew who was asking you for a drink, you would ask him yourself.» If you only knew what inside you was driving you to embody the state you are currently seeking, you would set aside your narrow view and let him do it for you.

Then he tells you that you have five husbands, and you deny it. But he knows much better than you that your five senses impregnate you morning, day and night with their limitations. They tell you what children you will bear tonight, tomorrow and in the days to come. For your five senses act as five husbands, constantly impregnating your consciousness, which is the great womb of GOD; and morning, day and night they suggest to you and dictate to you what you must accept as truth.

He is telling you that the one you would like to have as your husband is not your husband. In other words, the sixth has not yet impregnated you. What you would like to be is denied by this five, and they hold the power, they dictate what you will accept as truth. What you would like to accept has not yet entered your mind and impregnated it with its reality. The one you call your husband is not really your husband. You do not bear his likeness. To bear his likeness is proof that you are his wife, at least that you have known him intimately. You do not bear the likeness of the sixth; you only bear the likeness of the five.

Then someone speaks to me and tells me everything I have ever known. I return to my imaginary vision, and my mind tells me that all my life I have always accepted the limitations of my senses, I have always looked upon them as a fact; and morning, noon, and night I have borne witness to this acceptance.

My mind tells me that I have known only these five since I was born. Now I would like to go beyond the limitations of my senses, but I have not yet found the courage to assume that I am what these five deny. So I remain here, conscious of my task, but without the courage to step beyond the limitations of my senses and what my mind denies.

He says to them, "I have food that you do not know about. I am the bread that came down from heaven. I am the wine." I know who I want to be, and because I am that bread, I feast on it. I assume that I AM it, and instead of feasting on the fact that I am in this room, talking to you and you are listening to me, and that I am in Los Angeles, I feast on the fact that I am somewhere else, and I walk around here as if I were somewhere else. And little by little I become what I feast on.

Let me tell you two personal stories. When I was a boy, I lived in a very limited environment, on a small island called Barbados. Pet food was very, very scarce and very expensive, because we had to import it. I was one of 10 children in the family, and my grandmother lived with us, so there were 13 of us at the table.

The Power of Mental Dieting: The Parable of the Ducks

Every now and then I remember my mother telling the cook at the beginning of the week, «I want you to save three ducks for Sunday dinner.» What that meant was that she would take three ducks from the flock in the yard, put them in a very small cage, and feed them, stuffing them morning, noon, and night with corn and whatever else she wanted the ducks to feast on.

It was a completely different diet than what we regularly fed ducks, because we were keeping these birds alive by feeding them fish. We kept them alive and fat on fish, because fish was very cheap and plentiful; but you couldn't eat a bird that ate fish, at least not in the way you and I like to eat a bird.

The cook would take three ducks, put them in a cage, and for seven days she would stuff them with corn, sour milk, and everything else we wanted to taste in birds. Then, when they were slaughtered and served for dinner seven days later, they were delicious birds, fed on milk and corn.

But sometimes the cook forgot to put the birds away, and my father, knowing that we would have ducks, and believing that she had followed her orders, would send nothing else for dinner, and three "fish" birds would be served. These birds could not be touched, for they were the absolute embodiment of what they ate.

Man is a psychological being, a thinker. He becomes not what he eats physically, but what he eats mentally. We become the embodiment of what we eat mentally.

And those ducks couldn't be fed corn in the morning, fish in the afternoon and something else in the evening. It had to be a complete change of diet. In our case, we can't meditate a little in the morning, swear in the afternoon and do something else in the evening. We have to go on a mental diet, for a week we have to completely change our mental food.

«Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is worthy of praise, if there is any virtue, if there is any praise, think about these things!» (Phil. 4:8)

As the thoughts in a man's soul are, so is he. If I could now single out the kind of mental food I want to express in my world and feast on it, I would become it.

Let me tell you why I do what I do today. It was back in 1933 in New York, and my old friend Abdullah, with whom I had studied Hebrew for five years, was the real beginning of the "eating" of all my superstitions. When I came to him, I was full of superstitions. I couldn't eat meat, I couldn't eat fish, I couldn't eat chicken, I couldn't eat anything that lived in the world. I didn't drink, I didn't smoke, and I made a huge effort to live a celibate life.

Abdullah said to me, «I won’t tell you, «You’re crazy,» Neville, but you understand. All these things are nonsense.» But I couldn’t believe they were nonsense.

In November 1933 I said goodbye to my parents in New York as they sailed for Barbados. I had lived in this country for 12 years and had no desire to see Barbados. I was not successful and I was ashamed to go home to successful members of my family. After 12 years in America I was a failure in my own eyes. I worked in the theater: one year I would make money, the next month I would spend it.

I was not what you would call a successful person by their standards or mine.

Note: When I said goodbye to my parents in November, I had no desire to go to Barbados. The ship sailed, and as I walked down the street, I was suddenly overcome by an irresistible desire to go to Barbados.

It was 1933, I was unemployed and had nowhere to go but a little room on 75th Street. I went straight to my old friend Abdullah and said to him, «Ah, I have the strangest feeling.

"For the first time in 12 years, I want to go to Barbados.".

«"If you want to go, Neville, you've already gone," he replied.

It was a very strange language to me. I'm in New York on 72nd Street, and he tells me that I've ALREADY gone to Barbados. I asked him, "What do you mean by 'I've already gone,' Abdullah?"«

He asked, "Do you really want to go?"«

I replied, "Yes.".

Then he said to me, "When you walk out that door now, you're not going to be walking down 72nd Street, you're going to be walking down streets lined with palm trees, coconut trees; this is Barbados. Don't ask me HOW you're going to get there. You're ALREADY in Barbados. You don't ask "how" when you're ALREADY "there." You're there. Now walk like you're there.".

I came out of it like a fog. I'm in Barbados. I have no money, I have no job, I'm not even very well dressed, and yet I'm in Barbados.

He wasn't the kind of person you could argue with, except Abdullah. Two weeks later I was no closer to my goal than I was the day I first told him I wanted to go to Barbados. I said to him, "Ab, I trust you completely, but this time I don't see how it's going to work. I haven't got a penny to travel with," I began to explain.

Do you know what he did? He was black as a spade, my old friend Abdullah, with a turban on his head. As I sat in his living room, he got up from his chair, went to his office, and slammed the door, which was not an invitation to follow him. As he walked through the door, he said to me, "I've said all I had to say.".

On December 3rd, I stood before Abdullah and told him again that I was no closer to my journey. He repeated his statement: "You are in Barbados.".

The last ship that sailed for Barbados and could take me there for the purpose for which I wanted to go (I wanted to be there for Christmas) sailed at noon on December 6th, it was the old Nerissa.

On the morning of December 4th, with no job or place to go, I slept late. When I woke up, there was an airmail letter from Barbados under my door. When I opened the letter, a small piece of paper fell to the floor. I picked it up and it turned out to be a check for $50.

The letter was from my brother Victor and it said: "I'm not asking you to come, Neville, it's an order. We've never had a Christmas when all our family members were present at the same time. This Christmas it could happen if you came.".

My older brother Cecil left home before my youngest was born, and then we started leaving home at different times, so never in the history of our family have we all gotten together.

The Miracle in Barbados: How Circumstances Align with Purpose

The letter continued: "You are not working, I know there is no reason why you should not come, so you must be here by Christmas. This $50 is so that you can buy a few shirts or a pair of shoes that you may need for the trip. You will not need any money for tips; use the bar if you drink. I will meet the ship and pay all your tips and expenses. I have sent a telegram to Furness, Withy & Co. in New York and told them to issue you a ticket when you appear at their office. This $50 is just for small expenses. You can order everything on your own account on board the ship. I will meet him and pay all the bills.".

I went to Furness, Withy & Co. with my letter and gave it to them to read. They said, "We have received your telegram, Mr. Goddard, but unfortunately we have no seats left for the December 6th sailing. The only available seat is 3rd class between New York and St. Thomas. When we arrive at St. Thomas, a few passengers will get off. Then you can travel 1st class from St. Thomas to Barbados. But from New York to St. Thomas you must travel 3rd class, although you may enjoy the privileges of the 1st class dining room and walk the 1st class decks.".

I said, "I agree.".

I went back to my friend Abdullah on the afternoon of December 4th and said, «It worked like a dream.» I told him what I had done, thinking he would be delighted.

Do you know what he said to me? He said, "Who told you you were traveling 3rd class? Did I see you in Barbados—a person like you—traveling 3rd class? You're in Barbados, and you went there 1st class.".

I didn't have a moment to see him again before he sailed at noon on December 6. When I arrived at the dock with my passport and papers to board the ship, the agent said to me, "We have good news for you, Mr. Goddard. There has been a cancellation, and you are traveling first class.".

Abdullah taught me the importance of staying true to an idea and not compromising. I hesitated, but he remained true to the assumption that I was in Barbados and traveling 1st class.

Now let's get back to the meaning of our two Bible stories. The well is deep, and you have neither a bucket nor a rope. There are four months until the harvest, and Jesus says, "I have food that you do not know about. I am the bread of heaven.".

Feast on the idea, identify with it, as if you are already that embodied state. Walk on the assumption that you are what you want to be. If you feast on it and stay true to that mental diet, you will crystallize it. You will become that in this world.

When I returned to New York in 1934, after three heavenly months in Barbados, I drank, smoked, and did everything I hadn't done in years.

I remembered what Abdullah had said to me: "When you prove this law, you will be normal, Neville. You will come out of that graveyard, you will come out of that dead past where you think you are holy. Because all you really do (you know, you are so 'good', Neville) is you are good for nothing.".

I came back walking this earth a completely new man. Since that day, which was in February 1934, I have begun to live more and more. I cannot honestly tell you that I have always succeeded. My many mistakes in this world, my many failures, would condemn me if I were to tell you that I have so perfectly mastered the movements of my attention that I can remain faithful at any time to the idea I want to embody.

But I can say with the ancient teacher: Although I seem to have failed in the past, I am moving forward and striving day by day to become what I want to embody in this world. Suspend judgment, refuse to accept what reason and feelings now dictate, and if you remain faithful to your new diet, you will become the embodiment of the ideal to which you remain faithful.

If there's one place in the world that's completely unlike my little island of Barbados, it's New York. In Barbados, the tallest building is three stories high, and the streets are lined with palm trees, coconut trees, and all sorts of tropical plants. In New York, to find a tree, you have to go to a park.

And yet I was to walk the streets of New York as if I were walking the streets of Barbados. To the imagination of man, anything is possible. I walked, FEELING that I was actually walking the streets of Barbados, and in this assumption I could almost smell the alleys lined with coconut trees. I began to create in my mental vision the atmosphere that I would physically encounter if I were in Barbados.

While I was holding on to this assumption, someone cancelled my ticket and I got it. My brother in Barbados, who had never thought of my coming home, felt an irresistible urge to write me a strange letter. He had never ordered me, but this time he did, and he thought he had been the one who had initiated the idea of my visit.

I went home and spent three months of paradise there, returned first class and brought back a good amount of cash in my pocket - a gift. My trip, if I had paid for it, would have cost me $3,000, but I made it without a cent in my pocket.

«My ways are not your ways, they are inscrutable.» The measurably larger «I» took my suggestion as a command and influenced my brother’s behavior to write that letter, influenced someone’s behavior to cancel that first-class ticket, and did whatever was necessary to bring about the realization of the idea with which I identified myself.

I identified myself with the FEELING of being there. I slept as if I were there, and all the behavior of people was shaped in harmony with my assumption. I did not have to go to Furness, Withy & Co. and beg them for a ticket, asking them to cancel the reservation of someone who had a first-class ticket. I did not have to write to my brother and beg him to send me money or buy me a ticket. He thought he was the initiator of this action. In fact, to this day he believes that he was the one who initiated the desire to bring me home.

My old friend Abdullah simply said to me, "You're in Barbados, Neville. You want to be there; wherever you want to be, you're already there. Live as if you are, and that's how it will be.".

These are the two worldviews that every human being has. I don't care who you are. Every child born to a woman, regardless of race, nation, or creed, has two distinct worldviews.

You are either a natural (carnal) man who does not receive the things of the Spirit of God because they are foolishness to you in your natural focus. Or you are a spiritual man who perceives things beyond the limitations of your senses because all things are now a reality in a measurably greater world. There is no need to wait four months for the harvest.

You are either the Samaritan woman or Jesus at the well. You are the person waiting at the Five Porches for the water to stir and for someone to push you; or you are the one who can tell himself to get up and go, regardless of the others who are waiting.

Are you that person behind the gravestones in the cemetery, waiting and begging not to be cleansed because you don't want to be cleansed of your prejudices? One of the hardest things for a person to let go of is their prejudices, their prejudices. They hold onto them as if they were the most precious treasure.

When you are cleansed and free, then the womb—your own mind—is automatically healed. It becomes the prepared ground where the seeds, your desires, can take root and sprout into manifestation. The child you are now carrying in your heart is your present purpose. Your present desire is the child that is as if sick. If you assume that you are now what you would like to be, the child becomes dead for a moment because there is no longer any disturbance (desire).

You cannot be troubled when you feel that you are already what you want to be, because if you feel that you are what you wanted to be, you are content in that assumption. To others who judge superficially, it seems that you no longer desire anything, so to them the desire or the girl is dead. They think that you have lost your ambition because you no longer discuss your secret plans. You have completely adapted to the idea. You have assumed that you are what you want to be. You know: "She is not dead, she is only sleeping." "I am going to wake her up.".

I walk in the assumption that I AM IT, and as I walk, I gently wake her up. Then, when she wakes up, I will do the normal, natural thing—I will feed her. I will not brag about it or tell others, I will just walk away and tell no one. I feed this state that I now enjoy with my attention. I keep it alive in my world by becoming attentive to it.

Things that I am not attentive to fade and wither in my world, no matter what they are. They are not simply born and then remain unsatisfied. I gave them life by becoming aware of them. When I embody them in my world, it is not the end. It is only the beginning. Now I am the mother who must keep this state alive by paying attention to it. The day I am not attentive, I take my milk from it, and it fades from my world because I become attentive to something else in my world.

You can either pay attention to your limitations, feed them, and make mountains out of them, or you can be attentive to your desires; but to become attentive, you must assume that you ALREADY are who you wanted to be.

Although we speak today of three-dimensional and four-dimensional focus, do not think for a moment that these ancient teachers were not fully aware of these two different centers of thought in the minds of all men. They personified them, and they tried to show man that the only thing that robs him of the man he could be is habit. Although it is not a law, any psychologist will tell you that habit is the most inhibiting force in the world. It completely limits a man, binds him, and makes him absolutely blind to what he otherwise should be.

Begin now to mentally see and feel yourself as you want to be, and feast on that feeling morning, noon, and night. I have searched the entire Bible for a time interval longer than three days, and I have not found one.

«"Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.". (John 2:19)

«"Prepare food for yourselves, for within three days you will cross this Jordan to go in and take possession of the land that the Lord your God is giving you to possess.". (Joshua 1:11)

If I can completely saturate my mind with one feeling and walk as if it were a fact, I am promised (and I can find no disproof of this in this great book) that I will not need more than a three-day diet if I remain faithful to it. But I must be honest about this. If I change my diet during the day, I am extending that time interval.

You ask me, «But how do I know about this interval?» You define the interval yourself.

There's one little word in our modern world today that confuses most of us. I know it confused me too, until I dug deeper. That word is "action." Action is said to be the most fundamental thing in the world. It's not an atom, action is more fundamental. It's not a part of an atom like an electron, it's even more fundamental. They call it the four-dimensional unit. The most fundamental thing in the world is action.

You ask, "What is action?" Our physicists tell us that it is energy multiplied by time. We get even more confused and say, "Energy multiplied by time, what does that mean?" They answer, "There is no response to a stimulus, no matter how intense the stimulus is, unless it lasts for a certain period of time." There must be a minimum endurance of the stimulus, otherwise there will be no response. On the other hand, there is no response to time unless there is a minimum degree of intensity. Today, the most fundamental thing in the world is called action, or simply energy multiplied by time.

The Bible defines it as three days; the duration of a reaction in this world is three days. If I were to assume right now that I am what I want to be, and if I were to be true to that and walk as if I were that, the longest period of time that it would take to realize it is three days.

Practical technique: How to make a wish come true in three days

If there is something tonight that you really want in this world, then feel in your imagination what you would feel in the flesh if you achieved your goal, and make your ears deaf and your eyes blind to anything that denies the reality of your assumption.

If you do this, you will be able to tell me before I leave Los Angeles that you have realized what was only a wish when you came here. It will be a joy for me to rejoice with you, knowing that the child who seemed dead is now alive. This girl is not really dead, she is only asleep. You have fed her in this silence because you have food that no one else knows. You have given her food, and she has become a resurrected, living reality in your world. Then you can share your joy with me, and I can rejoice in your joy.

The purpose of these lessons is to remind you of the law of your own being, the law of consciousness; you are that law. You have simply not been aware of its workings. You have been feeding and sustaining those things that you did not want to express in this world.

Accept my challenge and put this philosophy to the test. If it doesn't work, you shouldn't use it as a comfort. If it's not true, you should reject it completely. I know it's true. But you won't know until you try to either prove or disprove it.

Too many of us have subscribed to various «isms» and are afraid to try them because we feel we might fail; and then what will happen to us? Not really wanting to know the truth about it, we dare not be brave enough to put it to the test. You say, «I know it would work somehow. I don’t want to actually try it. Until I disprove it, I can still find comfort in it.».

Now don't fool yourself, don't think for a second that you are wise.

Prove or disprove this law. I know that if you try to disprove it, you will prove it, and I will be richer for your proof—not in dollars, not in things, but because you will be the living fruit of what I believe I am teaching in this world. It is far better to see you a successful, satisfied man after five days of teaching than to let you go unsatisfied. I hope you will be brave enough to challenge these instructions and either prove or disprove them.

Now, before we go into the quiet period, I'll briefly explain the technique again. We have two techniques for applying this law. Everyone here should know exactly what they want now. You should know that if you don't get it tonight, you will still want it tomorrow.

When you know exactly what you want, construct in your mental vision a single, simple event that involves the fulfillment of your desire, an event in which your «I» dominates. Instead of sitting and watching yourself as if you were on a screen, be an actor in this drama.

Limit the event to one action. If you are going to shake hands because it means the fulfillment of your desire, then do that and only that. Don't shake hands and then wander off in your imagination to a dinner party or something. Limit your action to just shaking hands and do it over and over again until that handshake has the firmness and clarity of reality.

If you feel like you can't stay true to an action, I want you to define your goal now, and then condense the idea of what your desire is into a single phrase, a phrase that involves the fulfillment of your desire, such as, "Isn't this wonderful?"«

Or, if I felt grateful because I believed someone had helped make my wish come true, I could say "Thank you" and repeat it with feeling over and over again, like a lullaby, until my mind was dominated by a single feeling of gratitude.

Now we will sit quietly in these chairs with the idea that involves the fulfillment of our desire, compressed into a single phrase or into a single action. We will relax and still our physical bodies. Then let us feel in our imagination the feeling that our compressed phrase or action affirms.

If you imagine shaking hands with another person, do not use your physical hand, let it remain still. But imagine that in your hand is a finer, more real hand that you can stretch out in your imagination. Place your imaginary hand in the imaginary hand of your friend standing in front of you and feel the handshake. Keep your physical body still even as you become mentally active in what you are about to do.

And now we will move on to silence…

LESSON 4 – DON’T CHANGE ANYONE BUT YOURSELF

Introduction: We become what we contemplate

Let me just take a minute to clarify what was said last night. A woman inferred from my words yesterday that I was biased against a certain nation. I sincerely hope that I am not biased against any nation, race, or creed. If I happened to mention any nation, it was only to illustrate my point.

What I was trying to tell you was this: we become what we contemplate. For the nature of love, like the nature of hate, is to transform us into the likeness of that upon which our attention is directed. I just read the news last night to show you: when we think we can destroy our image by breaking a mirror, we are only deceiving ourselves.

When, through war or revolution, we destroy titles that represent arrogance and greed, we ourselves eventually become the embodiment of what we thought we had destroyed. So today, the people who thought they had destroyed tyrants are themselves what they supposedly destroyed.

Consciousness is the only reality

To be understood correctly, let me lay the foundation of this principle once again. Consciousness is the only reality. We are unable to see anything other than the contents of our own consciousness.

Therefore, hatred betrays us in the hour of victory and condemns us to be what we condemn. All conquests result in an exchange of characteristics, so that the victors become like the vanquished enemy. We hate others for the evil that is in ourselves. Races, nations, and religious groups have lived for centuries in close enmity, and the nature of hatred, like the nature of love, changes us, making us like what we contemplate.

Nations treat other nations as their own citizens treat each other. When slavery exists in a state, and that nation attacks another, it is with the intention of enslaving. When there is fierce economic competition between citizens, then in a war with another nation the object of war is to destroy the enemy's commerce. Wars for domination are caused by the will of those within the state who dominate the fate of the rest.

We radiate the intensity of our imagination and feelings into the world around us. But in this three-dimensional world of ours, time flows slowly. And so we don't always notice the connection between the visible world and our inner nature.

That's what I really meant. I thought I made it clear. Lest I be misunderstood: this is my principle. You and I can contemplate the ideal and become it by falling in love with it.

On the other hand, we can contemplate something that we sincerely dislike, and by condemning it, we become it. But because of the slowness of time in this three-dimensional world, by the time we actually become what we contemplated, we have already forgotten that we had previously intended to worship it or destroy it.

Today's lesson is a cornerstone of the Bible, so I ask for your attention. The most important question asked in the Bible is found in the 16th chapter of the Gospel of Matthew.

The Bible as a Psychological Drama: Who Am I?

As you know, all the stories of the Bible are your stories; its characters live only in the mind of man. They have no relation to any person who lived in time and space, or to any event that ever took place on earth.

The drama described in Matthew unfolds as follows. Jesus turns to his disciples and asks them:

«Who do people say that I, the Son of Man, am?» They said, »Some say John the Baptist, others Elijah, and others Jeremiah or one of the prophets.« He said to them, »But who do you say that I am?« Simon Peter answered and said, »You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.« Jesus answered and said to him, »Blessed are you, Simon son of Jonah, for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but my Father who is in heaven. And I tell you, you are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.”. (Matthew 16:13-18)

Jesus, speaking to his disciples, is a man who is speaking to his disciplined mind in self-reflection. You ask yourself, «Who do people think I am?» In our language, «I wonder what people think of me?»

You reply, «Some say you are the new John, some say Elijah, others say Jeremiah, and still others say you are one of the ancient prophets who has returned.».

It is very flattering to be told that you are a great man of the past or similar to him, but the enlightened mind is not enslaved by public opinion. It is concerned only with the truth, so it asks itself another question: «"But who do you say I am?"» In other words: «"Who am I?"»

If I have the courage to suggest that I am Christ Jesus, the answer will come back: "You are Christ Jesus.".

When I can accept this, feel it, and live it boldly, I will say to myself, «Flesh and blood could not tell me this. But my Father who is in Heaven has revealed it to me.» Then I make this concept of Self the rock on which I build my church, my world.

«"For if you do not believe that I am he, you will die in your sins.". (John 8:24)

Since consciousness is the only reality, I must assume that I ALREADY am what I wish to be. If I do not believe that I ALREADY am what I wish to be, then I will remain as I am and die in that limitation.

Responsibility for your world

Man is always looking for some support to lean on. He is always looking for an excuse for his failures. This revelation gives man no excuse for failures. His self-concept is the cause of all the circumstances of his life. All change must first take place within him; and if he does not change outwardly, it is because he has not changed inwardly. But man does not like to feel that he is solely responsible for the conditions of his life.

«"From that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. And Jesus said unto the twelve, Will ye also go away? And Simon Peter answered him, Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life.". (John 6:66-68)

I may not like what I just heard: that I must turn to my own consciousness as the only reality, the only foundation on which all phenomena can be explained. It was easier to live when I could blame someone else. It was much easier to live when I could blame society for my troubles or point my finger across the ocean and blame another nation. It was easier to live when I could blame the weather for how I felt.

But to tell me that I AM the cause of everything that happens to me, that I am constantly shaping my world in harmony with my inner nature, is more than a person is willing to accept. If this is true, to whom shall I go? If these are the words of eternal life, I must return to them, even if they are so hard to digest.

When a person fully understands this, they know that public opinion is irrelevant, because people only tell them who they are. People's behavior constantly tells me who I think I am.

The Great Prayer of the Bible: Sanctify Yourself to Change the World

If I accept this challenge and begin to live by it, I will eventually reach a point called the great prayer of the Bible. It is set forth in the 17th chapter of the Gospel of John:

«I have finished the work which you gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify me with yourself with the glory which I had with you before the foundation of the world… While I was with them in the world, I kept them in your name; those whom you gave me I have kept, and not one of them is lost except the son of perdition.». (John 17:4-5, 12)

It is impossible for anything to be lost. In this divine economy, nothing can be lost, it cannot even disappear. The little flower that blooms once blooms forever. It is invisible to you here, with your limited focus, but it blooms forever in the larger dimension of your being, and tomorrow you will meet it again.

«"All that You gave Me I have kept in Your name, and I have lost none but the son of perdition."». Son of perdition simply means belief in loss. Son is a concept, an idea. Perdition is loss. I have truly lost only the concept of loss, for nothing can be lost.

I can descend from the sphere where this thing now lives, and as I descend in consciousness to a lower level within myself, it disappears from my world. I say, "I have lost my health. I have lost my wealth. I have lost my position in society. I have lost my faith." But the things themselves, having once been real in my world, can never cease to exist. They do not become unreal with the passage of time.

It is I, by my descent in consciousness to a lower level, who cause these things to disappear from my field of vision. All I have to do is rise to a level where they are eternal, and they will again be objectified and appear as reality in my world.

The essence of the entire 17th chapter of the Gospel of John is revealed in verse 19:

«"And for their sakes I sanctify myself, that they also may be sanctified through the truth.".

Up until this point, I thought I could change others through willpower. Now I know I can't change another person until I change myself first. To change another in my world, I must first change my concept of that other; and the best way to do that is to change my concept of myself. For it was the very concept of Self that I held that made me see others as I saw them.

If I had a noble, worthy concept of myself, I would never be able to see the unattractive in others.

Instead of trying to change others through argument and force, let me simply rise to a higher level of consciousness, and I will automatically change others by changing myself. «Change no one but myself»; that “self” is simply your awareness, your consciousness, and the world in which it lives is determined by the concept of self that you hold.

You don't need an assistant to bring you what you're looking for. Don't think for a second that I'm promoting escapism when I ask you to simply assume that you ALREADY are the man or woman you want to be.

If you and I could experience what it would be like, if we were already who we wanted to be, and live in this mental atmosphere as if it were real, then, in some way unknown to us, our assumption would become fact.

I don't need to change anyone, I sanctify myself, and in doing so I sanctify others. To the pure all things are pure.

«"There is nothing unclean in itself, but to the one who considers something to be unclean, to him it is unclean.". (Romans 14:14)

«"I and the Father are one.". (John 10:30) «"I am the vine, you are the branches.". (John 15:5)

The branch has no life unless it is rooted in the vine. All I have to do to change the fruit is change the vine.

You have no life in my world, except that I am aware of you. You are rooted in me and, like fruit, testify to what kind of vine I am. There is no other reality in the world than your consciousness. There is no other way to change this world. «I am the way.» My «I AM,» my consciousness, is the way by which I change my world. By changing my concept of myself, I change my world.

Did you know that no two people in this room live in the same world? We're all going home to different worlds tonight. We live in different mental worlds, different physical worlds.

I can only give what I am; I have no other gift. If I want the world to be perfect, I can never see it perfect until I myself am perfect.

Isaac and Ishmael: Two Types of Birth

If I can cast aside the limitations of my birth, my environment, and the belief that I am merely an extension of my family tree, and feel within myself that I am the Christ, and sustain that assumption until it becomes the habitual focus of my energy, I will do the works attributed to Jesus.

Our ordinary changes of consciousness, as we pass from one state to another, are not transformations, because each is so rapidly replaced by another in the opposite direction. But when our assumption becomes so stable that it finally displaces its competitors, then this central habitual conception determines our character and is a true transformation.

Any expansion of our concept of Self involves a somewhat painful farewell to deeply rooted inherited ideas. Everything you believed before, you no longer believe. You know now that there is no power outside your own consciousness. Therefore, you cannot appeal to anyone outside yourself.

This story is beautifully told to us in the Bible through the example of Abraham's two sons: one is blessed, Isaac, born without human intervention (a miracle of faith), and the other is Ishmael, born in slavery.

Sarah was too old to have a child, so Abraham went in to his maidservant Hagar, and she bore him a son, Ishmael. Every child born of a woman is born into slavery to her environment, whether it be the throne of England or the White House. It is personified by Ishmael.

But in every child lies the blessed Isaac, who is born without human intervention, solely through faith. This second child is born of itself.

What is the second birth?

«"Unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.". (John 3:3)

I quietly appropriate what no man, no woman can give me. I dare to assume that I am God. It must be by faith. Then I become blessed, I become Isaac. You are Abraham and Sarah, and inside your own consciousness there is someone waiting to be recognized. In the Old Testament he is called Isaac, and in the New he is called Jesus.

Mystical Experience: Healing through Self-Transformation

Let me highlight an experience of mine. Once at sea I was meditating on the “perfect state” and thinking about what I would be like if my eyes were too pure to see iniquity, if all things were pure to me and I judged no one. As I was lost in these reflections, I felt that I had risen above the dark realm of the senses. The feeling was so intense that I felt like a creature of fire.

Then it seemed to me that I was walking at night and came upon a scene that might have been the pool of Bethesda, for there lay a great multitude of feeble people—blind, lame, withered—waiting for me. As I approached, without thought or effort on my part, one by one they were formed as if by the Magician of the Beautiful. All the missing members were drawn from the invisible reservoir and formed in harmony with that perfection which I felt within myself. When all were perfect, an invisible choir cried out, «It is finished!»

My mystical experience has convinced me that there is no other way to achieve the desired perfection than through the transformation of ourselves. Once we succeed in transforming ourselves, the world will magically melt before our eyes and change its shape in harmony with what our transformation affirms.

We create the world around us by the intensity of our imagination and feelings. Trying to change the world before we change our concept of ourselves is a struggle against the nature of things. External changes are impossible until internal changes occur. Both inside and outside.

If we could be as emotionally inflamed by our ideals as we are by what we dislike, we would rise to the level of our ideal as easily as we now descend to the level of our hatred. By the power of hatred we create in ourselves the character we imagine in our enemies. The best way to get rid of unattractive states is to imagine "beauty instead of ashes" rather than to make a direct attack on the state from which we wish to be free.

Three prayer techniques to create your desired reality

The most important thing in this world for you is your self-concept. When you don't like your surroundings, circumstances, or people's behavior, ask yourself, "Who am I?" Your answer is the reason you don't like it.

Now I would like to explain what I personally do when I pray, when I want to make a difference in my world. It is so simple that anyone can do it. But the driving force must be desire.

Technique 1: Spatial Transference (If you want to be somewhere else)

Suppose I want to be somewhere else. I don't need to go out the door. I need to stand where I am and, with my eyes closed, assume that I am ALREADY standing where I want to be.

If I were anywhere else right now, I couldn’t see the world the way I see it from here. So I close my eyes and imagine seeing what I would see if I were there. I stay in it long enough to feel it’s real. You can imagine putting your hand on that (imaginary) wall, running your hand up and feeling the tree. I make «somewhere» «HERE,» assuming I’m there. I ALLOW it to go up, I don’t FORCE it to go up.

If you want someone's physical presence, imagine that person standing here and you are touching them. You meet a friend and your hand automatically reaches out to hug them. Do it in your imagination. Feel it solid and real. Limit the action to just that, and your higher self will inspire the actions necessary to bring you into physical contact.

Technique 2: Symbolic action in a drowsy state

1. Take a comfortable position. Sit in the most comfortable chair or lie on your back and completely relax.
2. Define the event. Construct one single small event that signifies that you have fulfilled your wish. For example: a handshake, a hug, writing a check.
3. Enter a drowsy state. Close your eyes to induce a state bordering on sleep. When you feel, «I could move, but I don’t want to,» you are in the perfect state.
4. Perform the action. In this state, take your little action and FEEL it. Enter the action as if you were the actor in the role. Don't visualize yourself from the side. You DO it. If you are climbing stairs, feel yourself climbing. If you are shaking hands, keep your physical hands still, but REALLY shake hands with your imaginary hand.

Technique 3: Feeling Gratitude and Completion

The third way is simply to feel gratitude. I freeze my physical body, induce a sleep-like state, and simply feel happiness and gratitude. This gratitude signifies the realization of what I want. With my mind dominated by this one feeling, I fall asleep. My feeling of having my desire fulfilled means that it is ALREADY fulfilled.

How would I feel right now if I were who I want to be? When I know what that feeling would be like, I get lost in it, and my greater self builds a “bridge of incidents” to carry me to the fulfillment of my mood.

Untamed Donkey: Loyalty to the New Estate

It is recorded that Jesus told his disciples to find a colt at the crossroads that no one had ever ridden before. They brought the untamed colt, and He rode it triumphantly into Jerusalem.

This story is not about a man and a donkey. You are Jesus in this story. The donkey is the mood you are about to adopt. It is a living thing (a new feeling of wish fulfillment) that you have never ridden before. It is a very difficult thing to ride unless you do it with a disciplined mind. If I don't stay true to that mindset, the young donkey throws me off.

Discipline your mind to stay true to the high mood and ride it triumphantly into Jerusalem (the city of peace, fulfillment). If I walk around as if it already is, but occasionally look to see if it really is, then I fall out of my mood. Just know that it ALREADY is, keep the mood up.

The strange thing is that when we maintain a high spirit and do not fall, others soften our blows. They spread palm branches before me. My high spirit awakens in others ideas and actions that contribute to its implementation. There will be no opposition and no competition.

Bottom line: What you are looking for is already within you.

Man's eternal journey has but one purpose: to reveal the Father (to make Him visible in all the beautiful things of this world). Remain true to the knowledge that your consciousness, your "I AM," is the only reality. It is the rock upon which all phenomena can be explained.

What you are looking for is already within you. You are simply allowing it to manifest, assuming it is already visible in your world. Fix this in your mind: «"An assumption, however false, if maintained, will become a fact"».

The great Pascal said: «"You would never have looked for me if you hadn't already found me"». What you desire now you already have, and you seek it only because you have already found it in the form of desire. It is as real in the form of desire as it will become real to your bodily organs.

You already are what you seek, and you have no one to change except Yourself to express it.

LESSON 5 – STAY TRUE TO YOUR IDEA

Tonight we have the fifth and final lesson of this course. First, I'll give you a kind of summary of what's come before. Then, since many of you have asked me to expand on Lesson 3, I'll give you some more ideas about thinking four-dimensionally.

True knowledge gives rise to natural expression

I know that when a man sees a thing clearly, he can tell about it, he can explain it. Last winter in Barbados, a fisherman whose vocabulary would not have exceeded a thousand words, told me in five minutes more about the behavior of a dolphin than Shakespeare, with his vast vocabulary, could have told me if he had not known the habits of a dolphin.

This fisherman told me how a dolphin likes to play on a piece of driftwood, and to catch it you throw the wood and lure it like a child because it likes to pretend to come out of the water. As I said, this man's vocabulary was very limited, but he knew his fish and he knew the sea. Because he knew his dolphin, he could tell me all about their habits and how to catch them.

When you say you know a thing but can't explain it, I say you don't know it because when you truly know it, you naturally express it.

If I were to ask you right now to define prayer and say, «How would you use prayer to accomplish a goal, any goal?» If you can tell me, then you know it; but if you can’t tell me, then you don’t know it. When you see it clearly in your mind’s eye, your higher self will inspire you with the words needed to clothe the idea and express it beautifully, and you will express the idea much better than someone with a huge vocabulary who doesn’t see it as clearly as you do.

The Bible as a psychological drama of the mind

If you have been listening carefully for the past four days, you already know that the Bible contains absolutely no mention of any people who ever existed, or of any events that ever happened on earth. The authors of the Bible were not writing history, they were writing a great drama of the mind, which they dressed up in the garb of history and then adapted to the limited capacities of the uncritical, unthinking masses.

You know what? every story in the Bible is your story, that when authors introduce dozens of characters into the same story, they are trying to present you with different attributes of mind that you can use. You saw this when I took maybe a dozen or more stories and interpreted them for you.

For example, many wonder how Jesus, the most merciful, loving person in the world, if he were human, could have said to his mother what he supposedly said to her, as recorded in the second chapter of the Gospel of John:

«"What have I to do with you, woman?"» (John 2:4)

You and I, who do not yet identify ourselves with the ideal we serve, would not make such a statement to our mother. Yet here the very embodiment of love says to its mother, "What have I to do with you, woman?"«

Rejection of sensory evidence

You are Jesus, and your mother is your own consciousness. For consciousness is the cause of everything, therefore it is the great father-mother of all phenomena.

You and I are creatures of habit. We are accustomed to accept the evidence of our senses as conclusive. The guests want wine, and my senses tell me that there is no wine, and I am accustomed to accept this deficiency as conclusive. When I remember that my consciousness is the only reality, therefore, if I deny the evidence of my senses and accept the consciousness of having enough wine, I am in a sense reproaching my mother, or the consciousness that inspired me with the deficiency; and by accepting the consciousness of having what I desire for my guests, the wine appears in a way that we do not know.

A dear friend of mine in the audience last Sunday had a church appointment for a wedding; his watch told him he was running late, all told him that he was late. He was standing on the corner of the street, waiting for the streetcar. He was nowhere to be seen. He imagined that instead of being on the corner of the street, he was in a church. At that very moment a car stopped in front of him. The driver gave him a lift, and my friend was at the church on time.

This is the correct application of the law — Refusing to be late. Never accept the suggestion of being late. In this case, I say to myself: "What do I care about you?". What do I need the evidence of my feelings for? I suppose I have everything I desire.

Destroying the constraint tree

We turn to another story in the Gospel of Mark, where Jesus is hungry:

«"And seeing a fig tree afar off having leaves, he came, if haply he might find any thing thereon: and when he came to it, he found nothing but leaves: for the time of figs was not yet. And Jesus answered and said unto it, Let no man eat fruit of thee henceforth for ever."» (Mark 11:13, 14)

«"And in the morning, as they passed by, they saw the fig tree withered from the roots."» (Mark 11:20)

What tree am I destroying? Not the tree outside. It is my own consciousness. "I am the vine." My consciousness, my "I AM" is a great tree, and habit again suggests emptiness, suggests barrenness, suggests four months of waiting. But I cannot wait four months. I give myself this powerful suggestion that I will never again, even for a moment, believe that it will take time to fulfill my desire. The belief in lack from this day forward must be barren.

Consciousness is the only reality

Consciousness is the only reality. There is no one to whom we can turn after we discover that our own awareness is God. For God is the cause of everything, and there is nothing but God.

«"I form the light and create darkness; I make peace and create evil; I, the Lord, do all these things."» (Isaiah 45:7)

«"I am the Lord, and there is no other; there is no God besides Me."» (Isaiah 45:5)

Read these words carefully. They are the inspired words of people who have discovered that consciousness is the only reality. If I am in pain, I have hurt myself. If there is darkness in my world, I have created darkness, and gloom, and depression. If there is light and joy, I have created light and joy. There is no one but this «I AM» who does all things. Your prayers will not be less pious because you turn to your own consciousness for help.

True Prayer and the Art of Forgiveness

In prayer, you are called to believe that you possess what your mind and your feelings deny.

«Therefore I tell you, whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours. And when you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone…» (Mark 11:24, 25)

If I have something against another, whether it be a belief in his illness or poverty, I must let it go, believing that he is already who he wants to be. In this way, I forgive him completely. Forgiveness is complete forgetting. If I don't forget, then I haven't forgiven.

Give yourself a new concept of yourself instead of the old one. Give up the old concept completely. Everyone who prays successfully turns inward and appropriates the desired state. You do not have to struggle or make sacrifices for the realization of your desire.

Joy as the only acceptable gift

«Why do I need the multitude of your sacrifices?» says the Lord… Your new moons and appointed feasts My soul hates…” (Isaiah 1:11-14)

«"Sing to the Lord a new song, His praise from the ends of the earth."» (Isaiah 42:10)

The only acceptable gift is a joyful heart. Come with singing and praise before the Lord—your own consciousness. Embrace the feeling of a wish fulfilled, and you have brought the only acceptable gift. All states of mind, except the state of fulfilled desire, are abhorrent.

If I could define prayer, I would say: «"It's the feeling of a wish fulfilled"». I would feel myself in a situation of fulfilled prayer, and then I would live and act on that conviction.

Four-dimensional thinking and the flexibility of the future

«"And now I have told you before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe."» (John 14:29)

Since a person can observe an event before it happens in three dimensions of space, it means that life follows a plan that exists in another dimension. However, we can change the future. The most remarkable feature of the future is its flexibility. At every moment of our lives, we are faced with a choice of which of several futures we will have.

Everyone has two views of the world - natural focus (limited by the senses and the moment of “NOW”) and spiritual focus (a guided imagination that sees the past and future as a present whole).

To develop the ability to see the invisible, we must consciously withdraw the mind from the evidence of the senses and focus our attention on the invisible state until it acquires the clarity of reality. The spiritual person speaks the natural language of desire. To desire a state is to have it.

Techniques for creating a desired future

IMAGINE WHAT WE WOULD EXPERIENCE IN THE FLESH IF WE ACHIEVED OUR GOAL. Here is a simple formula for changing the future:

1. Goal setting: Be clear about what you want (DESIRE).
2. Event construction: Design the action you will encounter after The fulfillment of your wish is an event that involves its fulfillment.
3. Sleep-like state: Immobilize your physical body (relax in a chair or lie down). Induce a drowsy state in which you can control your attention. Mentally feel yourself in this proposed action, imagining that you are actually performing it. HERE AND NOW.

Example: If you want to get a promotion, imagine a friend congratulating you. Feel their hand as firm and real. Don't visualize yourself from a distance—do it HERE and NOW.

Drowsiness makes it easier to focus without effort. The most effective way to make a wish come true is to accept the feeling of having your wish fulfilled and, in a relaxed state, repeat a short phrase, for example: «"Thank you, thank you, thank you"», until a single feeling of gratitude dominates the mind.

Changing the cross-section of time

To understand how a person shapes their future, we need to know what we mean by a measurably larger world (the fourth dimension). Time is the fourth way of measuring an object. All three-dimensional objects are just cross-sections of four-dimensional bodies.

This means that if we can move along the length of time, we can see the future and change it. This world that we think is so solid is only a shadow.

Dreaming is uncontrolled fourth-dimensional thinking (rearranging past and future impressions). When we learn to control attention in a «waking dream,» we can consciously create circumstances.

Rejection of the past state

The responsibility for making what you have done a reality is not yours. Don't worry about HOW it will happen. There is a statement in the book of Exodus:

«"You shall not boil a kid in its mother's milk.". (Exodus 23:19)

You have meditated and assumed that you are already who you want to be. Your attention is like the flow of life (milk). You have given birth to your previous state (the kid), you have been its mother and father.

But now you are separated from the old state. Don't look back at your previous state and wonder HOW it will disappear. Because if you look back and pay attention to it, you will again Boil the kid in its mother's milk., you fuel it again.

Don't say to yourself, "I wonder if I've really broken free from that state." Give your full attention to the assumption that the thing is already a fact.

«"No one who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is fit for the kingdom of God."» (Luke 9:62)

Assume that you are already what you want to be; walk as if you are already that; and if you remain true to your assumption, it will become a fact.

LESSON 6. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

Symbolism and the power of imagination

1. Question: What is the meaning of the emblem on the covers of your books?

Respond: It is an eye placed on the heart, which in turn is placed on a tree laden with fruit. It means that what you realize and accept as truth, you are going to realize. As the thoughts in a man's heart are, so he is.

2. Question: I would like to get married, but I haven't found a suitable man. How should I imagine a husband?

Respond: The mind is always captivated by ideal states. Do not limit the state of marriage to a particular man, but imagine a full, rich life overflowing with life. You want to experience the joy of marriage. Do not change your dream, but strengthen it, making it more beautiful. Then compress your desire into one feeling or action that involves its fulfillment.

In the Western world, a woman wears a wedding ring on the little finger of her left hand. Motherhood doesn't necessarily mean marriage; intimacy doesn't necessarily mean marriage, but a wedding ring does.

Relax in a comfortable chair or lie on your back and induce a dream-like state. Then accept the feeling that you are married. Imagine a wedding ring on your finger. Touch it. Twist it around your finger. Remove it over the knuckle. Continue the action until the ring takes on a distinct and real feel. Become so immersed in the feeling of the ring on your finger that when you open your eyes you are surprised that it is not there.

If you are a man who does not wear a ring, you could take on more responsibility. How would you feel if you had a wife to take care of? Embrace the feeling of being a happily married man right now.

3. Question: What should I do to inspire the creative thoughts needed for writing?

Respond: What should you do? Assume that the story is already written and accepted by a major publisher. Reduce the idea of being a writer to a feeling of satisfaction.

Repeat the phrase «Isn’t this wonderful!» or «Thank you, thank you, thank you» over and over again until you feel successful. Or imagine a friend congratulating you. There are countless ways to assume success, but always follow through. Your acceptance of the end determines its fulfillment. Don’t think about how to set yourself up for writing, but live and act as if you are already the writer you want to be. Assume that you have the talent for writing. Think about the pattern you want to see on the outside. If you write a book and no one wants to buy it, there is no satisfaction. Act as if people crave your work. Live as if you can’t produce stories or books fast enough to meet the demand. Stay in that assumption, and everything you need to achieve your goal will quickly blossom, and you will express it.

4. Question: How do I imagine a larger audience for my speeches?

Respond: I can answer you best by sharing a technique used by a very capable teacher I know. When this man first came to this country, he began to speak in a small hall in New York. Although only fifty or sixty people came to his Sunday morning meetings, and they sat in the front, this teacher would stand behind the podium and imagine a huge audience. Then he would speak into the void, "Can you hear me back there?"«

Today this man speaks in Carnegie Hall in New York City to about 2,500 people every Sunday morning and every Wednesday night. He wanted to speak to crowds. He was not modest. He did not try to deceive himself, but he built a crowd in his own mind, and the crowds came. Stand before a large audience. Address that audience in your imagination. Feel that you are on that stage, and your feeling will provide the means.

5. Question: Is it possible to imagine several things at the same time, or should we limit ourselves to one desire?

Respond: Personally, I prefer to limit my imaginative act to one thought, but that doesn't mean I'll stop there. I can imagine many things in a day, but instead of imagining a lot of little things, I would advise you to imagine something so big that it includes all the little things. Instead of imagining wealth, health, and friends, imagine yourself in a state of ecstasy. You couldn't be ecstatic and feel pain. You couldn't be ecstatic when you're threatened with eviction. You couldn't be ecstatic if you weren't enjoying friendship and love to the fullest.

What would it feel like if you were in ecstasy without knowing what exactly caused your ecstasy? Reduce the idea of ecstasy to a single feeling: «Isn’t this wonderful!» Do not allow the conscious, reasoning mind to ask «why,» because if it does, it will start looking for apparent reasons, and then the feeling will be lost. Instead, repeat over and over again, «Isn’t this wonderful!» Suspend judgment about what exactly is wonderful. Catch one sense of wonder from it all, and events will unfold to prove the truth of that feeling. And I promise you, it will include all the little things.

A sense of accomplishment and trust in the process

6. Question: How often should I perform the imaginary act—a few days or a few weeks?

Respond: The Book of Genesis tells the story of Jacob wrestling with an angel. This story gives us the key we are looking for: when satisfaction is achieved, powerlessness sets in. When the sense of reality is yours, at least for a moment, you become mentally powerless. The desire to repeat the act of prayer is lost, replaced by a sense of accomplishment.

You cannot insist on wanting what you already have. If you assume that you are what you want to be, to the point of ecstasy, you no longer want it. Your imaginary act is as much a creative act as the physical act, where one pauses, contracts, and receives a blessing, for as one creates others like himself, so your imaginary act transforms itself into the likeness of your assumption. If you have not reached the point of satisfaction, repeat the act again and again until you feel that you have touched it and the power has gone out of you.

7. Question: I was taught not to ask for earthly things, but only for spiritual growth, but money and things are what I need.

Respond: You have to be honest with yourself. The question that runs throughout Scripture is, «What do you want from me?» Some wanted to see, others wanted to eat, still others wanted to stand up straight, or «that my child may live.».

Your measurably greater Self speaks to you in the language of desire. Do not deceive yourself. Knowing what you want, claim that you already have it, for it pleases your Father to give it to you, and remember: what you desire, you already have.

8. Question: When you have assumed your desire, do you keep in mind the constant presence of this Greater Self that protects and grants you your assumption?

Respond: Acceptance of the end determines the means. Accept the feeling of a fulfilled desire, and your measurably greater self will determine the means. When you appropriate the state as if you already have it, the daily activities will distract your mind from all anxious thoughts, so that you will not look for signs. You do not need to carry within you the feeling that some «presence» is going to do it for you, rather you know that it has already been done. Knowing that it is already a fact, walk as if it is, and events will happen to make it real. You do not need to worry about some presence doing something for you. The deeper, measurably greater you has already done it. All you do is move to the place where you meet it.

Remember the story of the man who left his teacher and was going home when he met his servant who said, «Your son lives.» And when he asked what hour it was, the servant replied, «At the seventh hour.» At the very hour he made his wish, it was done for him, for it was at the seventh hour that the teacher said, «Your son lives.» Your wish has already been granted. Walk as if it were so, and though time in this dimension of your existence beats slowly, it will nevertheless bring you confirmation of your supposition. But I beg you not to be impatient. If there is one thing you really need, it is patience.

9. Question: Isn't there a law that says you can't get something for nothing? Shouldn't we earn what we want?

Respond: Creation is complete! It has pleased your Father to give you the kingdom. The parable of the prodigal son is your answer. Despite man’s wastefulness, when he comes to himself and remembers who he is, he feasts on the fatted calf of abundance and puts on the robe and the ring of power. Nothing needs to be earned. Creation was completed in the foundation of time. You, as man, are God made visible to reflect what is, not what will be. Do not think that you must work out your salvation in the sweat of your brow. It is not four months until harvest, the fields are already white, just thrust in the sickle.

Creating the future and practical application

10. Question: Doesn't the idea that creation is complete deprive man of initiative?

Respond: If you observe an event before it happens, then from the waking perspective of this three-dimensional world, the event that happens must be conditioned. However, you do not necessarily encounter what you observe. You can, by changing your self-concept, intervene in your future and shape it in harmony with your changed self-concept.

11. Question: Doesn't this ability to change the future deny that creation is complete?

Respond: No. You change your attitude towards things by changing your self-concept. If you rearrange the words of a play to write another, you have not created new words, you have simply enjoyed the pleasure of rearranging them. Your self-concept determines the order of events you encounter. They are at the foundation of the world, but not the order in which they are arranged.

12. Question: Why does one who works hard in metaphysics always feel lacking?

Respond: Because he didn't really apply metaphysics. I don't mean a frivolous approach to life, but a daily application of the law of consciousness. When you appropriate your good, there is no need for a person or a state to act as an intermediary through which your good will come.

Living in the world of people, I need money in my daily life. If I invite you to lunch tomorrow, I have to pay the check. When I check out of the hotel, I have to pay the bill. To take the train back to New York, I have to pay the fare. I need the money, and it has to be there. I am not going to say, «God knows best, and He knows I need the money.» Instead, I will appropriate the money as if it ALREADY exists!

We must live boldly! We must go through life as if we own what we want to own. Do not think that because you have helped another, someone from the outside will see your good deeds and give you something to lighten your burden. No one can do it for you. You must boldly appropriate what your Father has already given you.

13. Question: Can an uneducated person educate himself by assuming the feeling of being educated?

Respond: Yes. Aroused interest is rewarded with information from all sides. You must sincerely desire to be well-educated. The desire to be well-read, followed by the assumption that you are, makes you selective in your reading. As you advance in education, you automatically become more selective, more demanding in everything you do.

14. Question: My husband and I are attending classes together. Should we discuss our desires with each other?

Respond: There are two spiritual sayings that run through the Bible. One is, «Go and tell no one,» and the other is, «I have told you before it happens, so that when it does happen you may believe.» It takes spiritual courage to tell someone that your desire has been fulfilled before they see it from the outside. If you don’t have that courage, then it’s better to remain silent.

Personally, I like to tell my wife about my plans because we both feel such a thrill when they come to fruition. The first person a man wants to prove this law to is his wife. They say that Muhammad is eternally great because his first disciple was his wife.

15. Question: Should my husband and I work on the same project or different ones?

Respond: It's up to you. My wife and I have different interests, but we have a lot in common. Remember the story I told about our return to the United States this spring? I felt it was my duty as a husband to provide transportation back to America, so I took it upon myself. I believe that certain things fall on my wife's side, like maintaining a clean, comfortable home and finding the right school for our daughter, so she takes care of those things.

Quite often my wife asks me to imagine something for her, as if she has more faith in my ability to do it than in her own. This flatters me, because every man worthy of the name wants to feel that his family believes in him. But I see nothing wrong with communication between two people who love each other.

The nature of desires, love and life

16. Question: I think that if you go too deep into a sleepy state, you will lack sensation.

Respond: When I talk about feeling, I don’t mean emotions, but rather the acceptance of the fact that a wish has been fulfilled. When you feel gratitude, satisfaction, or recognition, it’s easy to say, «Thank you,» «Isn’t that wonderful!» or «That’s done.» When you enter a state of gratitude, you can either wake up knowing it’s done, or you can fall asleep feeling your wish fulfilled.

17. Question: Is love a product of your own consciousness?

Respond: Everything exists in your consciousness, whether it is love or hate. Nothing comes from outside. The hills you go to for help are on the inner spine. Your feelings of love, hate or indifference all come from your own consciousness. You are infinitely greater than you could ever imagine yourself to be. You will never in eternity reach the ultimate "Self." That is how wonderful you are. Love is not your product—you are love, for that is what God is, and the name of God is I AM, the very name you call yourself before you claim the state you are in now.

18. Question: Suppose my desires cannot materialize within half a year or a year, should I wait to visualize them?

Respond: When a desire comes to you, that is the time to accept it in its entirety. There may be reasons why this prompting is given to you at this time. Your third dimensional being may think that it cannot be now, but your fourth dimensional mind knows that it ALREADY is, so the desire must be accepted by you as a physical fact now.

Suppose you want to build a house. The urge to have it arises now, but it will take time for the trees to grow and for the carpenter to build the house. Although the urge seems great, do not wait to accommodate it. Claim possession now and let it objectify in its strange way. Do not say that it will take six months or a year. As soon as the desire comes to you, assume that it is already a fact! You and you alone have given your desire a time frame, and time is relative when it comes to this world. Do not wait for something to happen, accept it now as if it already is, and see what happens.

When you have a desire, your deeper self, which people call God, speaks. It urges you in the language of desire to accept what is, not what will be! Desire is simply its communication to you, telling you that your desire is yours now! Your acceptance of this fact is demonstrated by your complete adaptation to it, as if it were the truth.

19. Question: Why do some of us die young?

Respond: Looking back, our lives are measured not by years, but by the content of those years.

20. Question: What would you consider a fulfilling life?

Respond: Variety of experiences. The more diverse your experiences, the richer your life. After death, you function in a measurably larger world and play your part on a keyboard composed of life's human experiences. Therefore, the more diverse your experiences, the better your instrument and the richer your life.

21. Question: What about a child who dies at birth?

Respond: A child that is born lives forever, for nothing dies. It may seem that a child that dies at birth has no keyboard of human experience, but as a poet once said:

«"He drew a circle that excluded me, I became a faithless, a scoundrel, one despised. But Love and I had the wit to win! We drew a circle that included him.".

The beloved has access to the sensory experience of the lover. God is love; therefore, ultimately, everyone has an instrument whose keyboard is the sensory experiences of all people.

Prayer and problem-solving techniques

22. Question: What is your prayer technique?

Respond: It begins with desire, for desire is the driving force of action. You must know and define your purpose, and then compress it into a feeling that involves its fulfillment. When your desire is clearly defined, freeze your physical body and experience in your imagination the action that involves its fulfillment. Repeat this act over and over until it becomes vivid and feels real.

Or compress your desire into a single phrase that implies fulfillment, such as: «Thank you, Father,» «Isn’t this wonderful,» or «It is done.» Repeat this concise phrase or action in your imagination over and over again. Then either wake up from this state or sink deeper. It doesn’t matter, for the act is complete when you fully accept it as done in this sleepy, drowsy state.

23. Question: Two people want the same position. One has it. The other had it before and now wants it back.

Respond: Your Father (measurably more than you) has ways and means that you do not know about. Accept his wisdom. Feel your desire fulfilled, and then allow your Father to give it to you. The one who currently holds the position may be promoted to a higher position or marry a very wealthy man and leave her job. She may inherit a large sum of money or decide to move to another state.

A lot of people say they want to work, but I seriously doubt it. They want security, and they condition security on having a job. But I really don't think the average girl really wants to get up in the morning and go to work.

24. Question: What is the cause of disease and pain?

Respond: The physical body is an emotional filter. Many human ailments that were once thought to be purely physical are now recognized as having their roots in emotional disorders.

Pain comes from a lack of relaxation. When you are asleep, there is no pain. If you are under anesthesia, there is no pain because you are, so to speak, relaxed. If you have pain, it is because you are tense and trying to make something happen. You cannot force an idea, you simply appropriate it. It is attention minus effort. Only practice will bring you to the point where you can be attentive and at the same time remain relaxed.

Attention is tension toward a goal, and relaxation is the opposite. These are two completely opposite ideas that you must mix until you learn by practice how to be attentive but not tense. The word "contemplation" means "attention minus effort." In the state of contemplation, the idea keeps you tension-free.

25. Question: No matter how hard I try to be happy, I still feel melancholy inside, as if I have been left out. Why?

Respond: Because you feel you are not needed. If I were you, I would assume that I am needed. You know the technique. The assumption that you are needed may seem false when first made, but if you feel needed and respected and insist on that assumption, you will be amazed at how others will begin to seek you out. They will begin to see qualities in you that they never saw before. I promise you. If you will only assume that you are needed, you will become needed.

26. Question: If security came to me through the death of a loved one, did I cause that death?

Respond: Do not think for a second that you have caused death by assuming safety. The Self will not harm anyone anymore. It sees everything and, knowing the lifespan of each, can inspire another to give you something that can fulfill your assumption.

You did not kill the person who named you in his will. If, a few days after fully accepting the idea of security, Uncle John left this three-dimensional plan and left you his inheritance, it was only because it was time for Uncle John to go. But he did not die a second before his time. The greater self saw John's longevity and used it as a way to embody your sense of security.

Acceptance of the end determines the means to that end. Don't worry about anything but the end. Always remember that the responsibility for making it happen is completely off your shoulders. It's yours because you accept it as a fact!

27. Question: I have more than one goal. Will it be ineffective to focus on different goals during different periods of concentration?

Respond: I like to take one all-consuming ambition and narrow it down to a short phrase or action that involves execution, but I don't limit my ambition. I just know that my real goal will include all the smaller goals.

Changing self-concept and overcoming limitations

28. Question: I find it difficult to change my self-concept. Why?

Respond: Because your desire to change has not been awakened. If you had fallen in love with who you truly want to be, you would have become that person. It takes intense hunger to cause a transformation of yourself.

«As the deer pants for the water brooks, so my soul pants for you, O God.» If you would desire perfection as much as the little deer longs for water, so much so that it defies the wrath of the tiger in the forest—you would become perfect.

29. Question: I am thinking about a business project. It means a lot to me, but I can't imagine how it can be implemented.

Respond: You are relieved of this responsibility. You don’t have to make it a reality—it ALREADY is! Even though your self-concept seems so far removed from the project you are currently envisioning, it exists now as a reality within you. Ask yourself how you would feel and what you would do if your business project were a huge success. Identify with that character and feeling, and you will be amazed at how quickly you will realize your dream.

The only sacrifice you are called to make is to give up your current concept of yourself and appropriate the desire you wish to express.

30. Question: As a student of metaphysics, I was taught to believe that racial beliefs and universal assumptions influence me. Does this mean that I am only influenced by them to the extent that I give these universal beliefs power over me?

Respond: Yes. Only your individual perspective matters, because your world is always a reflection of your current self-concept. If someone offends you, change your self-concept. That is the only way to change others. Any six people in this room could read today's newspaper, and no two of them would interpret the same story the same way. One would be excited, another depressed, a third indifferent, and so on, even though it is the same story.

Universal assumptions, racial beliefs—call them what you will—they are not important to you. What is important is not your concept of the other, but your concept of yourself, because the concept you have of yourself determines the concept you have of others. Leave others alone. What are they to you? Follow your own desires.

The law is always working, it is always absolute. Your consciousness is the rock on which all structures are supported. Watch what you are aware of. You do not need to worry about others, because you are supported by the absoluteness of this law. No person comes to you by themselves, whether good or bad or indifferent. They did not choose you! You chose them! They were drawn to you because of who you are.

You cannot destroy the state that another represents by force. Better leave it alone. What is it to you? Rise to a higher level of consciousness and you will find a new world waiting for you, and as you sanctify yourself, others are sanctified as well.

Psychological interpretation of the Bible

31. Question: Who wrote the Bible?

Respond: The Bible was written by wise men who used solar and phallic myths to reveal psychological truths. But we have mistaken their allegory for history and therefore have missed their true message.

It is strange, but when the Bible was released to the world and its acceptance seemed inevitable, the great Library of Alexandria was burned to the ground, leaving no record of how the Bible came into being. Few people can read other languages, so they cannot compare their beliefs with others. Our churches do not encourage us to compare. How many of the millions who accept the Bible as fact have ever questioned it? Believing it to be the word of God, they blindly accept the words and thus miss the essence they contain. Having accepted the shell, they do not understand what that shell carries.

32. Question: Do you use the Apocrypha?

Respond: Not in my teaching. I have several volumes of them at home. They are no greater than the sixty-six books of our present Bible. They simply tell the same truth in a different way. For example, there is a story about Jesus when he was a little boy and he watched the children make birds out of the marsh. Holding the birds in their hands, they pretend that they fly. Jesus comes over and knocks the birds out of their hands. When they start to cry, he picks up one of the broken birds and molds it again. Holding it high, he breathes on it, and the bird flies away.

Here is the story of one who came to break the idols in the minds of men, and then to show them how to use that same substance and mold it into a beautiful form and breathe life into it. That is what this story is trying to convey. «I came not to bring peace, but a sword.» Truth kills all the little «marsh birds» of the mind; it kills the illusions, and then molds them into a new pattern that makes man free.

33. Question: If Jesus was a fictional character created by the biblical writers to illustrate certain psychological dramas, how do you explain the fact that he and his philosophy are mentioned in the non-religious and non-Christian history of the time? Weren't Pontius Pilate and Herod real flesh-and-blood Roman officials of that day?

Respond: The story of Jesus is identical to the story of the Hindu savior Krishna. They are the same psychological characters. Both were supposedly born of virgin mothers. The rulers of the time tried to destroy them when they were children. Both healed the sick, raised the dead, taught the gospel of love, and died a martyr's death for humanity. Hindus and Christians alike believe that their savior is God made man.

Today people quote Socrates, but the only evidence that Socrates ever existed is the writings of Plato. They say that Socrates drank poison, but I ask you, who is Socrates? I once quoted a line from Shakespeare, and a lady said to me, «But Hamlet said that.» Hamlet never said that—Shakespeare wrote those lines and put the words into the mouth of a character he created and called Hamlet. Saint Augustine once said, «What is now called the Christian religion existed among the ancients. They began to call Christianity the true religion, but it never existed.».

Affirmations and the path to true success

34. Question: Do you use affirmations and negations?

Respond: Let us leave these schools of thought which use affirmations and negations. The best affirmation, and the only effective one, is an assumption which in itself implies the negation of the previous state.

The best denial is complete indifference. Things wither and die through indifference. They are kept alive through attention. You do not deny a thing by saying it does not exist. On the contrary, you put feeling into it by acknowledging it, and what you acknowledge as true is true for you, whether it is good or bad or indifferent.

35. Question: Is it possible for someone to appear dead and yet not be dead?

Respond: General Lee was supposedly born two years after his mother, who was thought to be dead, was buried alive. Fortunately for her, she was not embalmed or buried in the ground, but was placed in a crypt, where someone heard her scream and freed her. Two years later, Mrs. Lee gave birth to a son who became General Lee. It is part of the history of this country.

36. Question: How could someone who was disadvantaged in his youth become successful in life?

Respond: We are creatures of habit, forming patterns of thought that are repeated over and over again. Although habit acts as a coercive law that forces a person to repeat these patterns, it is not a law, because you and I can change these patterns. Many successful people, such as Henry Ford, Rockefeller, and Carnegie, were disadvantaged in their youth. Many of the great names in this country came from poor families, yet they have left behind great achievements in the political, artistic, and financial worlds.

A friend of mine once attended a meeting of young advertising executives. The speaker for the evening said to these young people, "I have only one thing to say to you tonight: Make yourself great, and you cannot fail.".

Taking an ordinary aquarium, he filled it with two bags: one with English walnuts and the other with small beans. Mixing them with his hand, he began to shake the aquarium and said: "This aquarium is life. You cannot stop it from shaking, because life is a constant pulsating, living rhythm, but watch." And as they watched, the large nuts rose to the surface and the small beans fell to the bottom.

Looking into the aquarium, the man asked, «Who among you is complaining, asking why?» Then he added, «Isn’t it strange that the sound comes from the aquarium, not from outside? The bean complains that if it had the same environment as the nut, it would do great things, but it never had a chance.» Then he took a small bean from the bottom and placed it on top, saying, «I can move the bean by force, but I can’t stop the aquarium of life from shaking,» and when he shook the aquarium, the little bean slid back to the bottom.

Hearing another voice of complaint, he asked, "What is this I hear? You're saying I should take one of those big guys who think they're so big and put him on the bottom and see what happens to him? Do you believe he'll be as limited as you are because he'll be deprived of the opportunity to do great things, just like you? Let's see.".

Then the speaker took one of the large walnuts and pushed it to the very bottom of the aquarium, saying, "I still can't stop the aquarium from shaking," and while the people watched, the large walnut rose to the top again. Then the speaker added:

«"Gentlemen, if you really want to succeed in life, make yourself great.".

My friend took this message to heart and began to assume that he was a successful businessman. Today he is a truly great man, if success is measured by dollars. He now employs over a thousand people in New York City. Each of you can do what he did. Assume that you are already what you want to be. Walk in that assumption, and it will become a fact.

Books by Neville Goddard

1. At Your Command (1939)

A fundamental work that opens the cycle of learning. In this short but incredibly powerful work, Neville first introduces the reader to the concept of “I AM” as the sole source of all that exists. The author explains that your consciousness is the only reality, and circumstances have no power over a person unless they consciously give them this power. The book teaches you to make conscious “orders” to the universe not through supplication, but through internal affirmation. It is ideal for those who are just starting to study manifestation, as it lays a basic foundation for understanding how our deep beliefs shape the physical world.

2. Your Faith Is Your Fortune (1941)

A deep dive into the psychological interpretation of the Bible. Neville offers a revolutionary view of the Holy Scriptures, decoding them as a psychological drama unfolding in the consciousness of each person. Instead of perceiving biblical characters as historical figures, the author interprets them as different states of mind and stages of spiritual awakening. The book proves that all religious texts describe the inner state of a person, and helps to free oneself from dogmatic thinking to understand: the real miracle is a change in one's own perception and unshakable faith in one's ideal.

3. Freedom for All (1942)

A guide to mastering your inner freedom. It explores the idea that the real prison is not external circumstances, but our own limiting beliefs. The book reveals the secrets of how to free ourselves from the limitations of the physical world through a radical change in the focus of attention. The main emphasis is on the ability to ignore the evidence of the physical senses, completely transferring attention to the desired reality created in the imagination. Neville offers practical tools to overcome the resistance of the material world and feel like the true creator of your destiny.

4. Feeling Is the Secret (1944)

Bestseller. The shortest and most effective book on working with the subconscious, which remains incredibly popular due to its crystal clarity. Neville explains the interaction between the conscious mind (which generates ideas) and the subconscious mind (which materializes them). The main secret of manifestation is not excessive effort or struggle, but the ability to be imbued with the emotion of an already fulfilled desire. The author describes in detail how to use natural states, especially the period before sleep, in order to gently “seed” the subconscious mind with the necessary feelings, turning them into an inevitable physical reality.

5. Prayer: The Art of Believing (1945)

How to pray correctly to always receive answers? In this work, the classical understanding of prayer as a plea to an external deity is completely destroyed. Neville considers prayer as a scientific process - the art of entering a state of fulfilled desire using visualization techniques. He explains the mechanisms of thought transfer, mental telepathy and how our hidden beliefs affect the behavior of other people. The book examines in detail the sleep-like state (SATS), in which prayer becomes a tool for instantaneously reprogramming reality.

6. The Search (1946)

An essay on the search for the meaning of life and the God within. This is a deeply personal, small book with enormous philosophical content, reflecting the author's own mystical searches. It appeals to those who are tired of looking for answers in the external world, philosophies or religious institutions and are ready to look within themselves. Neville describes the process of the stunning realization that the Creator is actually our own human imagination. This is a powerful reminder that all the answers to global questions are already embedded in our minds.

7. Five Lessons (1948)

A transcript of a practical course that Neville conducted live in Los Angeles. It is of great value due to its practical format: it contains specific exercises and explanations of the “Law of Assumption” technique. Each lesson contains step-by-step instructions, and at the end there is a question and answer section with a real audience. It is in this book that the author examines in detail the “Revision” technique - a unique method of changing past events in the imagination to heal psychological trauma and correct future outcomes.

8. Out of This World (1949)

An exploration of the fourth dimension and time travel through the mind. This work was decades ahead of its time, proposing concepts that resonate with quantum psychology and physics today. Neville sees our three-dimensional world as only a shadow of a larger, multidimensional reality, where the past, present, and future exist simultaneously. With this book, you will learn how to shift your focus in space and time through your imagination to “inhabit” the future you desire before it physically arrives.

9. Awakened Imagination (1954)

A seminal work on how human imagination literally creates reality. Neville shows the striking difference between a “sleeping” person who passively reacts to circumstances and an “awakened” person who takes on the role of a conscious creator of their own life. The book contains many examples and stories of real people who have radically changed their lives using Neville’s methods: from healing serious illnesses to achieving incredible social and financial success only through the active use of inner vision.

10. Seedtime and Harvest (1956)

About the cyclical nature of our thoughts and the patterns of their materialization. In this work, the author draws a deep analogy between natural agricultural cycles and the process of fulfilling desires. Just as each seed has its own unique time to germinate, each thought needs a certain “time interval” before becoming visible. The book teaches patience, confidence in the result, and is an excellent guide to combating anxiety. It explains why you shouldn’t “dig up the seed” every day to check if it is growing.

11. I Know My Father (1960)

A book about the deep unity of man with the Source of all that exists. This is a very intimate mystical story in which Neville shares his experience of realizing that the Creator (Father) and creation (Son) are one indivisible whole. The book is aimed at destroying the illusion of human separateness and loneliness in the Universe. It helps the reader to feel their divine nature not as an abstract idea, but as a real state that gives absolute peace and power over their own destiny.

12. The Law and the Promise (1961)

The best collection of cases, which is conventionally divided into two complementary parts. The first part is devoted to "The Law" - the practical application of imagination to achieve goals. Here is a huge number of real, documented letters from Neville's students with detailed descriptions of their victories. The second part focuses on "The Promise" - the inevitable spiritual awakening of each person. If you doubt that the concepts of manifestation work - be sure to read the incredible testimonies in this book.

13. He Breaks the Shell (1964)

A mystical experience of awakening the spiritual self. Here the author uses the powerful metaphor of the “shell” (or envelope), which represents our physical body, mortal ego, and limited three-dimensional perception. The book tells the story of the process of mystical “birth from above,” when consciousness breaks through this shell and emerges into a larger reality. This is a book for those seeking deeper enlightenment, and marks the late Neville’s transition from material desires to pure spiritual evolution.

14. Resurrection (1966)

The author's last book, which serves as an ideal summary of his entire life and teachings about the eternal nature of man. Neville radically rethinks the concept of resurrection, arguing that it is not an event that will occur after physical death, but a psychological process that takes place here and now. Resurrection is the ability to "revive" the desired state of consciousness, to move from the dead past to a living, conscious creation. The final chord of the great mystic, filled with the most important revelations.