Who was Neville Goddard? Why is he so greatly respected?
Neville Goddard was one of the pioneers of the concept of The Law: “imagining creates reality” and is the man I regard to be my greatest teacher.
In this article, I will explore his magnificent contribution to the World and hopefully inspire you to find his work online. (All his books and lectures are in the public domain)
Let’s begin….
What was Neville’s childhood like?
Neville Goddard was born in 1905 and died in 1972, leaving an incredible impact on the World with his esoteric teachings. He came from very humble beginnings, living amongst a large family of 10 children in the little island of Barbados.
When he was younger, a seer predicted that he would become a “man of God” and this prediction ultimately came to pass.
As a teenager, Neville went to America, searching for greener pastures, and found menial work for a while. When he got fired, he decided that he will always work for himself from then on-wards.
What did he do later in life?
Knowing nothing about dancing, Neville convinced himself that he could and ultimately succeeded out of “sheer arrogance” (as he put it). He, then, went on to travel all over the United States performing with others, but knowing he was working for himself.
How did he become so spiritual?
While in England performing a dancing gig, Neville landed on a scottish metaphysician, who gave him books that sparked his interest in the same.
He would not get seriously spiritual, though, until a friend, convinced him to attend a lecture by an eccentric ethiopian mystic, known only by one name: Abdullah.
Neville was not only impressed by what “Ab” (as he fondly referred to him) had to say, when the lecture was finished, the lecturer surprised him when he approached him and said:
“Neville, you are 6 months late! The brothers told me you were coming”.
Not only did Abdullah know his name, he also knew that he would one day stumble upon his lecture. Neville would later discover that the “brothers” are “beings of light, who were once incarnated as humans, finished playing all the parts in the game of life and, ultimately, transcended the third dimension when they broke the wheel of recurrence”
I believe these are what the World refers to as “ascended masters”.
Abdullah explained that he was “eager to depart”, but before that, he had to train Neville to be his successor, in a sense. This training lasted 7 years, with Neville studying the esoteric meaning of The Bible and practicing conscious creation day and night.
What kind of teacher was Abdullah?
A strict one.
Abdullah had a no nonsense approach to imparting wisdom, a trait that Neville clearly picked up on, as evidenced in his style of lecturing.
This style might not resonate with all, but personally, I needed this “slap in the face” type of teaching, in order to awaken to Who I really am. This is why I will always honor Neville as my greatest teacher, even if I was born over a decade after his death.
While Neville, too, revered his mentor, Abdullah, he also often referred to him as “rude”; the kind of rudeness that, in retrospect, one can only speak of light-heartedly.
What do you mean “rude”?
Hold your horses! We are getting to the good stuff! 😀
After Neville had been away from Barbados for a while, he, one day, got this overwhelming desire to go back home. Only one problem: he had absolutely no money.
Naturally, he turned to his teacher, Abdullah, who, rather than give him the money, surprisingly told him the following words:
“You are IN Barbados!”
“I AM IN Barbados?”, asked a confused Neville.
“Yes, you are IN Barbados. Walk the streets of New York as though you are walking the streets of Barbados and sleep this night, in your Father’s house”.
Neville knew his mentor to be “unconventional” and so, he followed the instructions. Abdullah was the kind of man who could interpret the “language 0f the Universe”, with such precision that, he would move away from a particular spot where, minutes later, an accident would occur.
Weeks later, nothing had happened and so, naturally, Neville complained to Ab along the lines of:
“I want to go Barbados, but so far there is no sign that I actually can, and I have no money yet.”
An angry Abdullah vehemently spat out: “You are already IN Barbados”, stormed out of the room and slammed the door, an act that was clearly not an invitation to follow him.
How did he learn about “The Law”?
A little while after this incident with Abdullah, Neville went home to find an envelope slipped under his door. In it, was a letter from his brother, Victor, saying:
“We have not been together as a family at Christmas for a while. I would like you to sail to Barbados immediately, so I have bought you a ticket and enclosed some money for you to buy a suit”.
The next morning, Neville rushed to the shipping company, but was regretfully informed, that he would have to travel 3rd class for a portion of the journey.
This, he accepted, then ran to Abdullah to share with him the good news:
“Ab! It worked! Although I Am going third class……”, announced Neville.
Abdullah’s response was just as stunning as it was the last time they discussed this topic”:
“What?! Who said you are GOING to Barbados? A man of your stature? You are IN Barbados and you WENT 1st class!!!!”
Exasperating, right? 😀
The next morning, Neville showed up at the ship, and to his surprise, he was gleefully informed:
“Oh, you are in luck, Mr Goddard. There has been a last minute cancellation, you are going to sail 1st class after all!”
Wow! So Abdullah created this?
Yes, and he had unwavering faith, in “The Law”, to deliver the outcome he had created. In fact, earlier on, Ab had taught Neville about this Law by sending him to scripture, specifically the 14th Chapter of John. He taught him how the world has no idea that “Imagination” was personified in scripture and made to speak just as a man would:
“In my Father’s Kingdom, there are many mansions. I’ll go and prepare a place for you, then I’ll come again and receive you unto myself, so that where I AM, you may be also.”
You can find further explanation here
This is intriguing! 😀 Okay, what happened afterwards?
Before Neville departed for Barbados, Abdullah told him that, before he returned, he would have lost all of his quibbles.
You see, Neville used to think that by fasting, eating vegetarian diets and being celibate, he was somehow pleasing God.
In contrast, Abdullah, a clearly advanced spiritualist, would drink alcohol and eat… pretty much anything he wanted, because he knew that, what the world called a “holy” lifestyle, had nothing to do with The Law that governs the Universe.
Just as Abdullah had “predicted”, Neville spent a wonderful time with his family, and on the trip back, he did all the things he had been denying himself for years. He had learned a valuable lesson:
“Imagination creates reality” regardless of what you do/eat/drink physically. “The Law” is non-segregative and anyone has the power to imagine you into any state, just as Abdullah “cured” Neville of his quibbles.
Can you tell me more about this “Law”?
Gladly! 😀
Neville spent the rest of his life teaching what he had learned from experience, albeit rudely. In order to do that, he experimented by “bi locating”: putting his imaginal body where his physical Self wasn’t.
He would sit in his bedroom, with the door closed and imagine that he was seated in the corridor, by the telephone, a place that was not even visible from the bedroom.
Upon opening his eyes, he would be shocked to discover that he had successfully deceived himself into feeling like he, indeed, was in the corridor.
To learn more, click here.
I don’t get it. What exactly are you trying to say?
Well, Neville discovered that assuming, in imagination, that you are at a different point in space and time, always leads to your physical body gravitating to that place, after a while.
In other words, Abdullah was so sure that Neville would go to Barbados because he had imagined the outcome, knowing that the Law is very precise and unalterable.
Neville then learned that, the more you practice, placing yourself where you physically aren’t, you will achieve a refinement of the inner senses, leading to a full awakening of your Imagination, the Being you really are.
Wow! Fascinating! What else could Neville do?
Apart from being a fantastic orator, often speaking extemporaneously, Neville authored nine wonderful books:
At your command.
Your Faith is your fortune.
Out of this World
The Power of Awareness.
Feeling is The Secret.
Seedtime and Harvest.
Prayer, The art of Believing.
Resurrection.
The Law and The Promise.
You can read them online here and access hundreds of his audio lectures here
Can you briefly tell us the technique Neville used for manifesting?
Certainly. Neville taught the following technique as quoted from his book, OUT OF THIS WORLD:
1. Define your objective—know definitely what you want.
2. Construct an event which you believe you will encounter following the fulfillment of your desire—something which will have the action of self predominant—an event which implies the fulfillment of your desire.
3. Immobilize the physical body and induce a state of consciousness akin to sleep; then, mentally feel yourself right into the proposed action—imagining all the while that you are actually performing the action here and now so that you experience in imagination what you would experience in the flesh were you now to realize your goal.
What can be manifested using imagination?
Pretty much anything. For instance…
Neville’s brother, Victor, used “The Law” to manifest a specific building by simply imagining the Goddard family name on the marquee, every time he walked past it.
After two years of doing this, a stranger bought this building for them, without requiring a single penny from them. The Goddards later sold this building and, eventually, became one of the wealthiest families in Barbados.
Neville also shared a story where he visually teleported himself to his father’s house in Barbados, when he physically was in New York. His sister saw him there, at exactly the same time he imagined this happening and wrote him a letter, corroborating what he had done.
Cool. What happened during Neville’s latter years?
Many of the people Neville taught manifested whatever their heart desired. Some became extremely rich and others healed from all kinds of ailments, including cancer.
Now, after Neville taught “The Law” for a while, experiencing everything from astral projection to time travel and interdimensional travel, he began experiencing a series of mystical events he called “The Promise”.
If I hadn’t experienced them as well, I wouldn’t have taken this too seriously but, I have discovered just as Neville did, that “The Promise”, not only came before “The Law”, it IS “The Law” at a higher level.
What is this “Promise” of which you speak?
Neville explained that before “The Law” (All things must bring forth after their own kind) was given to us in the 1st Chapter of Genesis, we, the “gods” or “sons of God” (Psalms 82:6) who collectively form God (The word “Elohim” being a plural Word), came down and became Man (collective humanity) but we were promised something.
William Blake, another of Neville’s mentors, put it this way:
“God became Man so that, one day, Man may become God”.
In other words: since all things must bring forth after their kind, for instance: a seed growing into a tree that bears fruit that contains the seed, the only thing the “sons” of God could ever grow into, is “The Father”.
Can you simplify this please?
Okay. Every soul will one day have a series of mystical experiences, documented in scripture as having happened to “Jesus”.
In other words, every soul devolved in Consciousness in order to experience being Man and the cycle will only complete when the soul evolves back to where the whole thing started.
In short: Neville was in “Christ Consciousness”.
You can read more about these experiences in his book: “Resurrection”.
I still don’t get it. What has any of this got to do with manifestation?
Well, I have discovered, from experience, that “The Promise” is the most important thing that can ever happen to an individual soul!
This is because, once your conviction of your True Identity, as the Great I AM, is returned to you, everything you imagine will ultimately come to pass.
Not only that, when I experienced ascension, just as Neville did, my energy changed into a more blissful presence.
Any other advantages?
Yes. Everything that most people think is impossible will become possible for you, just as they did for “Jesus”. You will then discover that The Bible is your autobiography.
Neville shared with us one more advantage:
When most people die, they are instantly restored to life in another terrestrial world, to continue their journey of experiencing what William Blake calls “the furnaces of affliction”.
After you experience “The Promise”, when you die, the wheel of recurrence is broken and you move on to the a higher dimension, described in scripture as “the kingdom of heaven”.
Neville further described it thus:
“The kingdom of heaven is not a realm, it is a character. It is a body. A body made of light”.
I have since concluded that, unknown to many, this is what the word “en-LIGHT-enment” really means.
Okay. So, how did Neville die?
According to his chauffeur, Frank Carter, Neville died of a brain aneurysm in 1972.
Not only did he predict his death, in the lectures towards the end of his incredible career, he kept saying that he was “eager to depart” and that he was quite sure it wouldn’t be “very long from now”.
He was 67.
How did you get to know about him?
A friend of mine, who was one of the only 3 people I knew (myself included), that were fans of Neale Donald Walsch gave me Neville’s book, AT YOUR COMMAND.
This friend was a former pastor who, after discovering Neville, realized that he no longer believed in what he had spent “all those years” teaching his flock.
I read Neville’s book while screaming with joy, as I achieved validation for what I had already learned from prior spiritual circles.
I was particularly thrilled to discover that God’s name, “I AM” was actually mentioned in scripture. (Exodus 3:14).
Neville brought a level of authenticity to spirituality that is still unparalleled to this day. I love the fact that, not only did he not “channel” this information, he obtained it from the best selling book of all time. Which means…
It was NEVER a secret.
Having practiced this esoteric knowledge for half a dozen years, I have concluded that proponents of “the Law of Attraction” are teaching a watered down version of The Truth.
I advise you to put any biases you might have about “The Bible” aside and learn from the master himself, a man who understood Hebrew, Greek and Latin, the original languages, out of which the English versions came.
A man I shall always revere as my greatest teacher.
A man whose words comforted me, at a time when the world around me seemed to be falling apart.
A man I love so dearly, even if we never physically met.
A true blessing to this World….
Neville Goddard.
Thank you, Sir for the gift of enlightenment. There is nothing quite like it.
Love and blessings to all,
John Kironde
(Author of Conscious Creation: Volume 1)