"Squidward, we don't need television. Not as long as we have our... imagination!"
Is Your Imagination God?
I've been on a metaphysical/New Thought detour for the past month. One book keeps leading to another. The next book is Neville Goddard's Five Lessons.
So why Neville? He has been praised in the New Thought circles as perhaps the most brilliant of metaphysical teachers.
Mitch Horowitz, author of Miracle Club, has surveyed this territory for years and gushes about him:
"In my study of mystical systems and philosophies, the most impactful, elegant, simple, and dramatically challenging outlook I have personally come across emerges from twentieth-century spiritual philosopher Neville Goddard... You will, I am confident, look back, in either the long or short term, and agree with that statement."
Neville emigrated from Barbados to New York City in the 1920s. He was a struggling dancer and performer on Broadway until he met a mysterious Black rabbi named Abdullah. Neville claims Abdullah taught him Biblical scripture study and metaphysics.
Why Five Lessons? There are many books and recordings of Neville around, and most of it is in the public domain. The place to start, some fans suggest, is a lecture series Neville gave in Los Angeles back in 1948. Those lectures were transcribed into this book.
So what are the five lessons?
Consciousness is the only reality.
Assumptions Harden into Fact.
Thinking Fourth-Dimensionally.
No One to Change but Self.
Remain Faithful To Your Ideas.
In a nutshell:
Your imagination is as real as what you experience in everyday life. Not only is it real, that very imagination—everyone's collective imagination—is actually God. You use your imagination to change assumptions and have them harden into fact.
Neville explains that using the imagination is tapping into the "fourth dimension" where it can make alterations to our 3D world in ways we cannot see or understand. And those changes really happen in our Self.
We experience those changes because we have changed. Once an understanding of this has occurred, you can remain faithful to your ideas and desires, knowing that anything is within your power.
While his chapter on fourth-dimension is an early example of quantum mysticism, Neville spends 90% of the book talking religion, claiming how these concepts are from by the Bible.
He repeatedly claims the Bible has no historical value, but is instead a collection of psychological allegories for the concepts he teaches.
"This Bible of ours has nothing to do with history. Some of you may yet be inclined tonight to believe that, although we can give it a psychological interpretation, it still could be left in its present form and be interpreted literally. You cannot do it. The Bible has no reference at all to people or to events, as you have been taught to believe. The sooner you begin to rub out that picture, the better."
I have mentioned in my past book reviews how spiritual and metaphysical authors have used Bible verses and stories to attempt to support their claims. Neville kicks it up a notch and makes it the entire basis of his lectures.
Neville summarizes his technique in a Q & A section at the end.
Question: What is your technique of prayer?
Answer: It starts with desire, for desire is the mainspring of action. You must know and define your objective, then condense it into a sensation which implies fulfillment. When your desire is clearly defined, immobilize your physical body and experience, in your imagination, the action which implies its fulfillment. Repeat this act over and over again until it has the vividness and feeling of reality.
Or, condense your desire into a single phrase that implies fulfillment, such as, “Thank you, Father,” “Isn’t it wonderful,” or “It is finished.” Repeat that condensed phrase or action in your imagination over and over again. Then either awaken from that state, or slip off into the deep. It does not matter, for the act is done when you completely accept it as being finished in that sleepy, drowsy state.
When I speak of feeling, I do not mean emotion, but acceptance of the fact that the desire is fulfilled. Feeling grateful, fulfilled, or thankful, it is easy to say, “Thank You,” “Isn’t it wonderful!” or “It is finished.” When you get into the state of thankfulness, you can either awaken knowing it is done, or fall asleep in the feeling of the wish fulfilled.
My verdict? I don't exactly understand the hype. The meditate-on-your-desires is a common theme in New Thought/New Age books, both before and after Neville's time.
The Biblical interpretations, while somewhat intriguing, do not convince me as proof of these ideas. And he denies the historical existence of Jesus, saying Christ is more akin to the Hindu deity Krishna, saying their stories parallel. (Jesus, the Jewish Krishna?)
And what’s the difference between doing this “prayer” and just fantasy? I could fantasize being a rock star day in and day out. That I’m playing at stadiums to hordes of screaming fans. But what if I never touch an instrument, let alone join a band or write a song?
My guess is Neville would respond that the effect depends on the sincerity. If you sincerely wanted something, and not just a passing daydream, then this technique would help.
With all that said, Neville seemed to have sincere intentions. He didn't start a cult and didn't get rich. He was a wandering lecturer, and most of his works and recorded lectures went into the public domain. That might be a key reason for the recent resurgence in his popularity.
I see commonalities between Neville’s teachings and other books.
Frederick Dodson talks about a similar technique in Parallel Universes of Self. The main difference is Dodson says the visuals of your desires should be gently summoned and play in your mind while you are in a meditative state. In other words, you are not picking a scenario or scene to imagine directly. They just appear. It’s a subtle but key difference.
I read another New Thought classic called The Master Key System by Charles Haanel. It was published wayback in 1916, over a hundred years ago. It’s supposedly actor Terry Crew’s all-time favorite book. Rhonda Byrne from The Secret points to this book as a large influence too. There are apocryphal claims that Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft, was inspired by the Master Key System, but I’m doubtful that story is true.
Master Key System is a long and tedious read with a lot of metaphysical speak. To be fair, the book was originally a 24-week course. Rushing through it in a single day wasn’t how it was meant to be consumed.
Anyway, the synopsis is that your subconscious is your key to success, and you can train your subconscious to work for you with purposeful practice over a period of 24 weeks. You can find the list of exercises on Wikipedia or read the entire book for free (it’s in the public domain).
My point is that the techniques described by Neville and Dodson, while they have their own nuances, are descendants of earlier works like Master Key System, a work well over a hundred years old.
Side note: some editions of Master Key claim to have “missing lost chapters” but they’re actually from another of Haanel’s books called A Book About You. I’m guessing this was a marketing trick pulled by some publisher, and it snowballed from there.
TL;DR? Watch this one-minute clip from SpongeBob.