IMAGINATION CREATES REALITY
JANET MCKEE on behalf of Neville
Your own wonderful human imagination is the actual creative
power of God within you. It is your savior. If you were thirsty, water would be
your savior. If you needed a job, employment would be
The way to use your imagination creatively is this. Relax in
a chair or on a bed and close your eyes. First determine what it is you wish to
experience. Then, in this state of complete relaxation, bring to mind the end
result of what it is you desire. In other words, if you were seeking a
promotion at work, the end result might be that people would congratulate you
on your promotion. You might move to a larger office. You would enjoy an increase
in pay. Take any one of these events and, with your eyes closed, actually hear
your friends congratulate you on your promotion. Feel their hand in yours as
they tell you how happy they are for you. By actually feeling that you are
being congratulated, your imagination will go to work to bring about that state
in your outer world. You need not be concerned about how this will be
accomplished. Your imagination will use whatever natural means are necessary to
bring it about. “I am the beginning and the end.” “My ways are past finding
out.” What you do in imagination is an instantaneous creative act. However, in
this three-dimensional world, events appear in a time sequence. Therefore, it
may take a short interval of time to realize in the outer world what you have
just experienced in imagination. After you have performed this act in your
imagination, open your eyes and go about your normal, natural affairs,
confident that what you have done must come to fruition in your world. Make
your inner conversations conform to your imaginal act. You have planted a seed
and you will soon see the harvest of that which you have sowed.
When you go into your imagination, make sure that you are
actually performing the action, hearing the words, touching the object, or smelling
the aroma in your self-conceived drama. What you do in your imagination is not
merely a daydream in which you see events in your mind’s eye. You must enter
the dream as if you were actually there. You must make “then” now and make
“there” here. To make this perfectly clear, imagine that you would experience
driving a new car after you have achieved your goal. In that case, you would
not merely see a new car in your mind’s eye. You must actually enter the dream.
Feel yourself seated behind the steering wheel. Smell the newness of the
interior. Feel yourself enjoying a comfortable ride. Feel the happiness that
would be yours after accomplishing your dream.
That which you experience in imagination is an actual
creative act. It is a fact in the fourth dimension of space and will make its
appearance in this three-dimensional world just as surely as planting a seed
will result in the growth of a particular plant. Once you have planted this
seed in your imagination, do not uproot it by being anxious about how it will
be accomplished. Each seed has its own appointed time. Some seeds take a few
days; others a little longer. Feel confident that what you have planted will
appear in your world. Your imagination will draw all that it needs to make your
dream an actual reality. It if takes others to play a part in order to
accomplish your end, your imagination will draw that person into your drama to
play his or her part in the sequence of events. Your only responsibility is to
remain faithful to your imaginal act until you experience it in your outer
world. You can repeat your imaginal act each night before falling asleep. In
fact, you may wish to enact this drama over and over again until it feels
normal and natural to you as you drop off to sleep. Your imagination will work
out the means to realize your dream while your conscious mind sleeps.
Bring your five senses into play as you perform your
imaginal activity. Actually hear a friend’s voice congratulating you or feel
yourself hugging that person. If you wanted a new piano, run your hand over the
smooth wood, touch the keys, and listen to the sound. If you wanted to receive
a dozen roses, actually smell the fragrance and touch their velvety petals.
Finally, you must be persistent in attaining your desire.
Continue to imagine what you want until you have actually obtained it. You do
nothing else to obtain your desire. If it is necessary to take some action, you
will be led to do so in a normal, natural manner. You do not have to do
anything to “help” bring it about. Remember that it is God, Himself, who is
doing the work and He knows exactly how to accomplish it. If you think of your
desire during the day, give thanks that it is already an accomplished fact –
because it is!
Dream better than the best you know.
ONE CAUSE
Nothing is impossible! There are two ways to interpret this
statement – both of which are correct. The obvious meaning is that it is
possible to achieve anything you want. It can also be interpreted to mean that
it is impossible for nothing to exist. Everything we are aware of or perceive
in some way is something. It is inconceivable that something can come from
nothing or that something can become nothing. It is a fact that nature abhors a
vacuum and always rushes in to fill it with something. Some force or power
created all that is. According to the Bible, creation is finished. Not only is
creation finished, but God said it was good.
Have you ever considered what God could have used to create
all there is? If creation is finished, how is it possible to pray to God to
create something in your life that did not exist yesterday or today? Is it
difficult to believe that God said His creation was good? If all of creation is
good, why do people experience problems and how can wars, crime, starvation and
other undesirable conditions exist?
The answers to these questions are contained within the
following pages. Your understanding of these answers will enable you to see
that it is impossible for nothing to exist. You will also see that you can
obtain anything you desire because nothing is impossible to the creative power
that resides within you. You can be and you can have all that you desire to be
and to have. There is no limit to what you can accomplish for yourself and
others. It doesn’t matter what your present circumstances are. The principle
you have unconsciously used to bring about the undesirable conditions in your
life can be consciously applied to make your every dream come true.
Creation is finished and it is good! God created the earth
and all that is in it and God said it was good. Man has puzzled over these
statements for centuries. If man really understood the meanings, he would not
be confused nor would he feel anxious about his past, present or future. The
understanding of these two statements would enable man to realize that he,
alone, controls his actions and the circumstances of his life.
Let us take the first statement. God created the earth and
all that is in it. God is infinite; therefore, God must have been before any
form came into being. What substance could He have used to create all that
exists?
There can be only one answer. God created everything that
exists from the only substance available – Himself. God (thought/consciousness)
spoke the Word and brought everything into being out of himself. Everything you
perceive is made of the one substance – God. The one substance back of
everything is energy and that energy is God or the “Word.”
Although scientists and medical men can analyze the various
chemicals of which the body is made, none can combine these chemicals to form a
living person. Since God created all that is out of Himself, it follows that
God is the creator and the creation. God is expressing life through each and
every one of us. It could not be otherwise.
Let us take the second statement. God said that His creation
was good. That statement has confused man who believes that if God is good,
another power must have created that which is not good. Yet, man also
acknowledges that God is infinite, omnipotent, omnipresent, and omniscient.
These qualities of God must include all forms, all events, and all situations.
If it were possible to remove all that is discordant or inharmonious from the
world, it would not be possible to experience the reverse of that condition.
Perhaps this statement can be understood more easily if you
will think of the principle of mathematics. In adding the sum of five and six,
it is possible to obtain the incorrect answer of twelve. To eliminate that
possibility, the number twelve would need to be removed from the whole of
numbers. It would, therefore, be impossible to add six and six and reach the
correct answer of twelve. You can see that by eliminating the possibility of a
potential wrong answer, all numbers would eventually be eliminated and mathematics
would not be possible. However, just as mathematics exists and can be used by
anyone who has gained an understanding of how to use the principle to obtain
correct answers, so the principle of creation can be understood to obtain
desired results.
Because God has given all of us free will, you can choose
the states you wish to occupy. God does not pre-determine your fate nor does
God punish you for mistakes or misdeeds. Because a man may not understand the
law of mathematics, he may be adversely affected when he makes a mistake in
subtracting an amount in his check register. The law of mathematics is not
punishing him. The law simply is and can be used correctly or incorrectly. God
has allowed you complete freedom to choose that which you will encounter. When
you come to the realization that you are God in form and expression, you will
seek to experience greater good and nobler purposes for yourself and others.
“In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and
the Word was God.” The Word is thought or imagination. God imagined the world
into being and became that which He conceived. This is the principle on which
all creation rests. Since God became man to give man life, man must contain
that same creative principle within himself. “The Kingdom of Heaven is within
you.” We have created our personal world through thought. If you are
experiencing lack, limitation, illness, disharmony or any other unwanted
condition, you have either consciously or unconsciously brought these
conditions into your experience. The majority of people do not realize that
thought, belief, and imagination has created their individual worlds. There is
no other cause for the conditions of your life. You may choose to disbelieve
this, but whether you believe it or not, all that you behold in the outer world
was conceived within your own consciousness prior to your experience of it.
That which you think about with feeling, that which you
believe to be true and that which you imagine yourself to be or to have is the
cause of everything in your personal world. You may believe that there is some
other cause; you may blame others for your problems; you may believe that the
events were wrought by fate or chance, but if you are objective and observe
your own beliefs and thought patterns, you will see that your world accurately
reflects all that you believe to be true of yourself and others. There is no
one and nothing to change but the ideas from which you think. We think from
ideas that we consent to as true and we imagine situations that match our
beliefs. Consciousness is the only reality. It is the creative principle that
brings into your experience the exact duplicate or reflection of that which you
imagine to be true. The world in which we live mirrors all that we believe and
imagine to be true, be it good, bad, or indifferent.
The sooner that man rids himself of the belief in a second
cause, the sooner will he realize that nothing happens to him except that which
originates in his own consciousness. I do not deny that man believes that if he
contracts a certain germ or virus that he will manifest a particular illness or
disease. If he contemplates the cause, he may conclude that it is because he
came in contact with someone else who had the bug. He doesn’t realize that in
some way, his own feelings about health or illness attracted the illness he is
experiencing. If viruses or germs were truly the cause of disease, everyone who
came in contact with a particular virus would be affected. The outer world
merely reflects that which a man is in his own consciousness.
It doesn’t matter what you have been taught; you can change
your beliefs and so change the
“Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of
things not seen.” The full meaning of that statement must be understood. If the
meaning were understood, man would have no problem in accomplishing his aims.
Most men believe that nothing is impossible to God – that God could do anything
if he chose to do it. So man believes he has faith in God and prays to God for
that which he wants. If his prayer is not granted, he thinks that he either did
not pray long enough or hard enough or that God chose to withhold his request.
However, faith is the actual substance of that which is
hoped for. It is the evidence of the thing you want which you do not see in the
outer world. That which you want to do or be has already been created.
Therefore, it actually does exist. It is possible to bring into your world
anything in creation by your belief that you already have it. Faith that what
you want is already a fact is the means by which you activate the invisible
state. That state then is later reflected in your outer world. Creation is
finished. God can create nothing that is not already existent. Faith or belief
that you already are or have that which you desire is the only means by which
to experience your desires. No limitation is imposed on that which you can have
except your failure to assume possession of the quality or thing desired
HOW THE LAW WORKS
The law of identical harvest or cause and effect is
impersonal and can be used to bring into your experience anything you can
conceive. Since creation is finished, every possible state already exists. Your
fusion with a particular state (imagining with feeling what you would
experience were you in that state) causes that state to be projected on your
screen of space. This law cannot be changed or broken and always reproduces in
your outer world the exact duplicate of any belief you consent to as true. If
you would change your world, you must change your beliefs. Since consciousness
is the only cause, you cannot blame others for the conditions which presently
exist nor can fate or chance be the cause of that which you are now
experiencing. Nothing can alter the course of events in your life except a
change in your own consciousness. Whatever is appearing in your world now,
although it appears real and an unalterable fact, is a reflection of previous
activity in your own consciousness. Therefore, a change in consciousness will
reflect that change in the future just as surely as past beliefs reflect the
present.
Man is pure formless consciousness and that which he
conceives himself to be is an illusion or reflection of the particular ideas he
holds true. These illusions exist only so long as man focuses his attention
upon them and gives them life.
The conscious mind forms beliefs and opinions from the
evidence of the senses or the perceived outer world. The creative power within
each of us accepts as true that which the conscious mind impresses upon it.
Your creative power takes those ideas, which are thought of with feeling, and
projects them in your outer world. It is important to remember that not all
thoughts are creative. Only those which are believed to be true or which are
joined with feeling create the circumstances and events that you will
encounter.
Therefore, emotions such as anger, fear, love or joy are
creative. You must guard the emotions which you allow to enter your
consciousness just as you would discriminate in allowing a stranger into your
home. You cannot allow negative emotions to fill your mind without suffering
the consequences of experiencing the state with which those emotions are
joined. Fear of loss brings loss into your world. You could take every outward
precaution to guard against loss, but if you fear loss, you will most certainly
experience it in your affairs. Feelings of love and joy create happy events and
loving relationships. Feeling abundant brings riches into your life. A person
who is unloving or suspicious and feels that others take advantage of him,
draws to himself that which he believes. No matter what he does externally, his
relationships with others will reflect that which he accepts as true. He may
want a loving relationship but he can draw to himself only that which he is
conscious of being.
Like literally does attract like. As within, so without.
Consciousness is reality and that which is perceived by our senses and appears
so real is but the shadow of that which we believe ourselves and the world to
be.
CONSCIOUS USE OF THE LAW
At this time, I’m going to talk about who I am and what I am
doing. If that sounds ego centered, it is. There have been 66 books written
about who I am. I’m going to quote some statements from a few of those books.
You have heard many of these quotes but didn’t realize that they were talking
about the being that I am. The first quote is taken from the Book of Exodus.
Here, Moses is talking to God and he said, “When I go back to the people, who
shall I say has sent me?” The voice answers, “Tell them I am has sent me unto
you. That is my name forever and the name I shall be known by throughout all
generations.” The Ten Commandments state, “Thou shalt not use the name of the
Lord thy God in vain.” “Shalt not” is a command. “Shalt not” means you must
not. It means that under no circumstances must you do it. That name is I AM.
Now, first of all, we have all forgotten His name. We say,
“I am” hundreds of times a day and we don’t know we are using the name of God.
Secondly, we try to break the Commandment all day long. We pay no attention to
what we say following “I AM.” When we say, “I AM” and follow it with something
we would not like in our world, we are using the Name of the Lord – but not in
vain. The Bible states we cannot use the Name in vain. Nothing we say preceded
by “I AM” is in vain. That’s his Name. It is God Himself and because it is God,
it is creative. God gave us Himself. He is “I AM” and that is who I am. I can
never forget that I am. I may forget who I am or where I am but I can never
forget that I exist.
Whenever I say “I AM”, I AM [is] creating something. Prayer
is believing that we have already received that which we ask. When I say, “I
am,” I am attaching my awareness of being to something. Now, you can lie and
not believe what you are saying, but you cannot believe something about “I am”
and not create it. We are creating morning, noon, and night by our “I am”
statements. If you say, “I don’t feel well” and you believe it, you are
perpetuating illness in your life. You must change those statements to “I feel
wonderful.” We were taught, “Let the weak man say, ‘I am strong.’” But, you
can’t say it like a parrot. We have to pray (say I am), believing that it is
true, and then we will receive.
First, we must be like the Watchman at the Gate. We must
watch every thought that contains I Am. If you are observant, you will see that
you have created every circumstance and experience of your life.
Another important word to watch is “if.” The conscious mind
is very subtle in expressing doubt (Satan or the Devil). We may be able to keep
our minds focused on what we want by using positive “I” statements. If we are
not careful, we may let a little “If” sneak in without recognizing its
implication. We could say, “I feel wonderful” but then follow it with “If the
pain continues, however, I will see a doctor on Tuesday.” “If’s” are always
followed by something negative and that is simply doubt creeping in to steal
the good seed we have sown. Remove the word “if” from your vocabulary, as it is
not productive of that which you would like to reap. “If” puts everything in
the past or future tense, and I always experience what I believe I am. I am is
not future tense. Getting well is not being well. I must believe that I am
already what I want to be.
Remember, “Every word that goeth forth from my mouth shall
not return unto me void.” Do you
believe it? “In the beginning was the Word,
and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” What’s his Name? I Am. So,
begin to monitor every word (I AM) that you say. Do you see a pattern? Don’t
the circumstances of your life reflect what you have been saying? You have been
misusing the creative power that is God (I AM). Now that you are aware of what
you have been doing, watch every word and make it conform to what you wish to bring
into your life. Eventually, you will have faith that what you are stating,
though there is no outward evidence to support it, is a fact in consciousness
and will shortly project itself so that you may experience it in the outer.
Knowing that God actually became you because He is I AM, you must realize that
you are using your power to create every time you use that Name.
CHOICE – FREE WILL
Creation is finished and you have free will to choose the
state you will occupy. Therefore, it is important to determine the ideas from
which you think. Any concept that is accepted as true will externalize itself
in your outer world. Choice of what you will focus your attention upon is the
only free will that you can exercise. Once a thought is accepted and charged
with feeling, the creative power within proceeds to externalize it. Whether
your assumptions are conscious or unconscious, they direct all action to their
fulfillment. It is a delusion that, other than assuming the feeling of the wish
fulfilled, you can do anything to aid its realization. Your own wonderful human
imagination determines the means it will use to bring your assumptions to
fruition.
Each of us is subject to a sea of ideas. We listen to the
radio, watch the news on television, or hear some gossip. If what we observe
calls forth an emotion, we have reacted and, thereby, planted a seed which will
sprout at some future time. Thoughts do not recede into the past. Rather, they
advance into the future to confront us so that we may see that which we have
planted, either wisely or unwisely.
It is a worthwhile exercise to awake in the morning and
imagine yourself at the end of your day, having accomplished all that you
wanted and feeling happy and contented. If there is a situation that you will
encounter later in the day that is of concern to you, spend a few moments
imagining the outcome you wish to experience. These imaginal activities will
now advance into your future to reveal the harvest you so wisely planted.
DESIRE
Desire is a gift of God. Man is required to do nothing more
than accept the gift by simply giving thanks for the unseen reality before he
observes it in his outer world. Through desire, God beckons us to lift our
awareness to higher and higher levels of consciousness. During our journey
through this dream of life, it is necessary to experience all possible states
so that we may return as God, the Father, but enhanced by having experienced
both good and evil. The desire to do more, to be more, and to have more than
you are presently expressing is the urge for expansion.
You may question whether a desire to kill or injure someone
can be inspired by God. The answer is that no man actually desires to kill or
harm another. He may wish to be free from that seeming other and, through his
limited understanding, he feels that the only way he can achieve such freedom
is by destroying the other. Man does not realize that the desire for freedom
contains within itself the power and the means to fulfill itself. Because of
his lack of faith, man distorts these gifts from God. He does not realize that
God, the wisdom and power within him, has ways that he, as man, knows not of
and those ways are past finding out.
Learn to be grateful for the desires you have been given.
They already exist and are ready for embodiment in your world. You are not
called upon to do anything to aid their realization except to free your mind of
any doubt as to how they will come about and completely accept them as you
would a gift from a loved one.
BE OBSERVANT
The importance of objectively observing your thoughts cannot
be stressed enough. It is easy to slip into thought patterns that can hinder us
in achieving our desires. It then becomes easy to blame others or attribute our
frustrations to second causes.
Being a rather impatient person, I am usually anxious to get
home after work and I particularly dislike waiting in lines. I began to notice
that no matter what time I chose to pick up a few items at the market, I would
encounter problems at the check stand such as price checks needing to be done,
people writing checks who had trouble locating their identification, and
various other kinds of delays. I found myself dreading these occasions, and I
wanted to do something about this annoying situation. As I began to observe my
thoughts, I found that, while standing in line, I would say to myself, “I
always have to wait.” Then I realized that those statements made over and over
again had created that which I did not wish to experience. I consciously
changed that statement to, “No matter when I stop at the market, I never have
to wait.” Of course that new statement has worked just as well as the old
negative one.
As you begin to observe your thoughts, do not be discouraged
if you find that your inner conversations do not match the way you would feel
if you have achieved your goal. You must first become aware of what you are
doing with your creative power before you can begin to change it. I ask you to
go down to the “potter’s house” and see what he is doing. If the vessel is
spoiled, then rework it into the kind of vessel that will please you.
As you begin observing your thoughts, you cannot avoid the
realization that you alone are the cause of all that comes into your world.
You, alone, can change it.
APPEARANCES
That which is confronting you in your world now is the
result of your past thoughts, beliefs, feelings and imaginal activity. These
appearances will continue in being as long as you give them life through your
conscious awareness of them. You must disregard the evidence of your senses as
it pertains to any undesirable condition in your life. You must imagine and
feel that you have already attained that which you want to experience rather
than that which you do not want to continue in being. This may appear difficult,
yet you have probably exercised this principle unconsciously to produce
negative results.
When I was in my early twenties, I found myself in a
situation that was very unpleasant to me and I wanted to get out of it. After
attending a lecture by Neville, I waited to speak to him afterwards. I briefly
told him of my unhappy circumstances and was hoping he would offer some advice
as to how to change them. He smiled at me and said, “Don’t accept it.” At that
time in my life I did not fully grasp what Neville had been teaching. I thought
he had misunderstood my question, and I tried to clarify my problem by stating
that I had already made the choice to be in the situation I now found so
unpleasant. Neville again smiled and said, “Don’t accept it.” I left his
presence quite frustrated, thinking he had not understood my problem. I
continued to read the two books I had by Neville. I gradually understood that
regardless of the circumstances which surrounded me, I did not need to accept
them as final. I began to imagine what I wanted rather than focus my thoughts
on my negative surroundings. An event took place two weeks after I began my
imaginal acts that was instrumental in bringing about my heart’s desire five
months later – that of a brand new home. Meanwhile, the situation that had been
so depressing to me improved, and I spent the next five months planning what I
would do in my new home.
Think about some past disappointment you may have had.
Perhaps you were looking forward to attending a special event with someone. In
your anticipation of it, did you think, “This is too good to be true, something
will probably happened to spoil it.” Something probably did happen to create
conflict or to cause you to miss it entirely. Man finds it relatively simple to
disregard the promise of something good by thinking of all the reasons why he
cannot achieve it.
People around you may be quick to point out that you are
being unrealistic when you mention a desire that appears difficult or
impossible to reach. We should all be unrealistic in the face of the army of
doubt if we would experience our wish fulfilled. We are called upon to
disregard the “facts” which would deny the achievement of our heart’s desire.
Habit is the only thing that keeps our thoughts moving along the old familiar
negative ruts. No one can change your thought patterns and, therefore, your
life but you.
It is worth all the effort it may take to center your
attention and feel as if you already possess that which you want in place of
things as they are. Consciousness is the only cause and the only reality. Every
negative experience was produced by first giving attention and feeling to that
condition. What consciousness has made, it can unmake. Your responsibility is
to impress upon your mind the change you wish to express. Your imagination is
the creative power that can and will accomplish the end
Appearances confirm our former habitual patterns of thought.
That which you imagine yourself to be today will project itself in your world
tomorrow. Persistence in assuming that you are the person you wish to be,
despite your present circumstances, is the only condition imposed upon you to
embody that ideal.
INNER CONVERSATIONS
All of us are mentally speaking within ourselves every
waking moment. Our inner conversations must match the wish fulfilled if we
would realize our desire. If our desire is for a better job and we imagine
ourselves being congratulated because we are gainfully employed in a wonderful
position, we must also make our inner conversations conform to that end. We
must be certain that we are not saying within ourselves something like, “That
boss of mine doesn’t believe in promoting people;” or “It would be difficult to
find any job at my age, never mind a better one,” or similar statements that
would imply that we do not have that which we desire. We must persist in the
feeling of our imaginal act by making our mental conversations conform to what
we would say had we already realized our aim.
If, for instance, we wished to own a new car, we could
imagine a new car parked in our garage or imagine ourselves driving it, or
imagine our friends admiring it. We must then make our inner conversations
reflect the type of conversations we would engage in were we really the owner
of a new car. Our conversations could consist of discussing our new car with
friends such as telling them of the wonderful fuel mileage we are receiving, or
hearing our friends tell us how much they enjoy riding in our new car, etc.
Our inner conversations are just as creative as our
deliberate imagining of the wish fulfilled. In fact, if they are of the
opposite nature, they can negate what we have imagined. You must watch what you
are saying internally to make sure that these conversations coincide with your
wish fulfilled. If you become aware that these inner talks contradict what you
would like to achieve, revise them so that they follow along the track that
would indicate that you already have what you desire or are already the person you
wish to be.
REVISION
Your present world reflects the sum total of all that you
believe to be true of yourself and others. That which you imagine yourself to
be today goes forward and will confront you in the future. If you have
forgotten your imaginal activities of the past, that which you see appearing in
your world indicates the kind of seeds you have previously sown.
Assuming the feeling of your wish fulfilled is using your
imagination creatively to bring into your world that which you desire to
experience. You can use the art of revision to change the effects of prior
thoughts and beliefs.
If, for instance, you had gone to an interview for a job you
truly wanted but later learned that someone else was hired, you can revise that
news to make it conform to what you wish you had heard. If you react by feeling
depressed or assume any other negative attitude, you will then experience the
same type of rejection in the future. Your reactions, whether positive or
negative, are creative of future circumstances. In your imagination, you can
hear words congratulating you on getting a wonderful new job. That imaginal act
now goes forward and you will encounter this pleasant experience in the future.
As you review your day, it is important to revise each
negative reaction so that you can remember it as what you wished had happened
rather than storing that memory as it did occur. What you think of with feeling
or emotion is an actual fact. That which you experience in the physical world
is merely a shadow, reflecting the reality of your imaginal activity.
Therefore, when you revise a conversation, an unhappy experience, or a quality
about yourself, you are literally experiencing it in reality (your
consciousness). The outer world is a delayed reflection of the inner and is
confined to a dimension of space where events occur in a time sequence.
Revision, then, literally changes the past. It replaces what occurred in the
outer world with the revised version. The revised scene then gives off its
effect by going forth to change future events.
Dwelling on past irritations or hurts perpetuates them and
creates a vicious circle that serves to confirm these negative emotions. The
circle can be broken by starting now to revise anything that you no longer wish
to sustain in your world. By revising the past, you rid yourself of any effect
it may have on your future. Revision is truly the key, which can be used to
unlock the doors that have kept you trapped in a particular state. “Be ye
transformed by the renewing of your mind.”
STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
All states exist and are a fixed part of creation. Anyone
can enter a state consciously or fall into a state inadvertently. You may move
into different states throughout your lifetime or you may occupy a single
state. Desire is what usually motivates us to move from one state to a higher
level. Since a state is total and complete in itself, when we enter a state we
are compelled to behave in a manner dictated by that state. For instance, in
the state of poverty, we would find ourselves constantly in need of funds. We
would have difficulty making ends meet and have no way to enjoy luxuries.
Should we be given a large sum of money, if we remain in the state of poverty
(filling our mind with thoughts of lack and limitation,) we would soon find
ourselves without funds and again experiencing the same difficulties. The
reverse would be true if we occupied a state of wealth.
When we are in a state we see only the contents of that
state and are compelled to act in accordance with all that the state entails. While
in a particular state, you believe certain things are true and would find it
difficult to understand another point of view. In the state of poverty, it is
easy to focus your thoughts on the problems of providing food, shelter and
clothing. When you succeed in moving out of this state, you no longer find it
difficult to acquire these things. Most people attribute this change of fortune
to a change in circumstances. However, unless you have moved from the state of
poverty, no change in circumstance would be permanent. Rather, moving out of
one state and into another in your imagination automatically creates a change
in your outer world.
The Bible has personified every type of state and calls
these states by names known to us as Moses, Noah, Job, Peter, Andrew, and
Jesus. Throughout our journey, we enter these states and experience all that
they offer. The last state we will enter is the state of Jesus Christ. In this
state, we become aware that we are God, the Father, and that we have a son
symbolized as David, who personifies the sum total of all humanity. The journey
begins with Adam, who fell asleep and dreamed the dream of life, and then
entered the myriad states to gain the experiences necessary before awakening.
When you enter the state of Jesus you know yourself to be God, and your journey
into this world of death is then complete.
THE PLAY
As Shakespeare said, “All the world’s a stage and all the
men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances… and
each man in his time plays many parts.” This world, which seems so real, is as
much a dream as the dreams we encounter while asleep. Our waking dream seems so
real because it has continuity while our dreams at night appear to be random
sequences, taking place in unfamiliar surroundings and situations.
God is the dreamer, dreaming the play into existence, and
God plays all the parts. Everyone who appears in your world is God playing that
part for you, the author. “No man comes unto me, save I call him.” Each of us
is writing his or her own script. If you are dissatisfied with the play, it is
up to you to rewrite the script to make it conform to your idea of what the
play should be. You cannot demand that the actors in your play change the
character they are portraying. All changes must take place in the mind of the
author.
If there is someone in your world who is the source of
annoyance or irritation to you, that person has no choice but to play the part
called for in your script. There is nothing you can do on the outside to bring
about changes in another. You can use the art of revision to change a line of
dialogue, to replace a certain character with another, and to write happy
endings to the sub-plots of the play.
When you begin to view this waking dream objectively, you
will be able to verify that you have been the author of both the pleasant and
unhappy acts in your play. You can radically change the play by using your
imagination creatively, by assuming your wish fulfilled. You can change the
script on a daily basis by revising the scene that did not please you. The
character who disturbed you today will not do so tomorrow if you write the
dialogue you wish to hear and alter that role in your imagination.
When you awaken to know that you are God, the Father and
author of this magnificent play, you will understand that: “each man in his
time plays many parts.”
YOUR REAL PURPOSE
God became you so completely that he forgot that he was God.
In becoming man, God reached the limit of contraction and opacity. God totally
forgets that he is God in order to become and animate His creation, man. God
then goes through all of the experiences of knowing good and evil and even
death, in confidence, that man will eventually awake from this dream of life to
once again know that he is God. There is only God in the universe, fragmenting
himself as humanity, and God plays all the parts in this time-space dream.
Your own wonderful human imagination is God in action. I am
is Christ in you (your savior). And Christ is the Power of God and the Wisdom
of God.
God speaks to us through desire, urging us to reach higher
and higher levels of awareness. Exercising his own wonderful human imagination
to achieve these desires, man is actually experiencing God in action. Through
faith in his imagination, man will eventually conclude that Christ (the Power
and Wisdom of God) is within him as his imagination. At the end of this
fabulous journey or dream of life, man will awaken to remember that he is God,
the Father, enhanced by the experiences he put himself through; when he forgot
that he was God. Man’s sole purpose is to experience scripture (all of the
states of consciousness personified as men in the Bible).
Man’s goal is to reach the state called Jesus Christ. Then
he will know that he really is the Father (Jesus) and that his son is Christ
(all of humanity fused into one being). Man may have many goals in the meantime
– to accumulate possessions, to become powerful, to become famous, or to
express anything that he desires. Eventually the hunger to know God will come
upon him, and he will then have the experiences that are necessary to bring to
his remembrance that he truly is God, the Father.
CASE HISTORIES
This Story concerns a woman (who will be referred to as Mrs.
A.B). She knew that “imagination creates reality” and had taught this principal
to her three children, ages 12, 10, and 6. She had practiced this principal for
years to obtain the things she desired. Although her husband had also heard
this teaching, he had not put it into practice and actually was quite skeptical
about results. One Sunday afternoon, this family went for a drive and came upon
a new tract of homes for sale. As this was a lovely rural area, they stopped to
look at the new models. They all loved the area, and the homes were large and beautiful
with all sorts of modern amenities. On the way home, they talked about how
wonderful it would be to own a new home in this tract. They already owned a
home; however, they had borrowed money on it and had very little equity that
could be derived from its sale. The husband said that although he would like to
buy the home, it was not possible as they could not raise the money required
for the down payment. Even if they sold their present home, the real estate
agent’s commission would equal the little equity they would realize.
Mrs. A.B. told her husband that the only way they could
obtain the down payment would be to sell their home on their own, thereby
keeping the commission for themselves. The husband was very pessimistic about
this but told his wife to go ahead and place an ad in the paper although he
knew “it wouldn’t do any good.” He was sure that there was no chance of selling
the house in this way. The wife placed a small ad in the newspaper advertising
their house for sale.
A few nights later when the husband had gone to bed early,
she and her children drove to the tract of new homes. She felt that if she
could walk through the new house and capture the feeling of actually living
there, she would obtain her “dream home.” It was dark when they got there, but
they found one of the houses unlocked. She and the three children walked
through the house. The children decided on which bedroom each would occupy if
they actually lived there. The mother instructed the children to actually sleep
in the new house in their imagination that night, and she intended to do the
same. For the next few days, they imagined living in their new home and taking
walks in the woods that were adjacent to the tract.
That same week, a man answered the ad in the paper. He did
not seem very enthusiastic about buying the house but returned later that day
with his wife. He told Mrs. A.B. that they had decided to buy the house for the
price she was asking. When Ms. A.B. expressed concern as to how they would go
about placing the home in escrow, he told her that he was a real estate agent
and would go through the company he worked for. This family received the exact
amount of money necessary for a down payment on their new home. The escrow was
very short, and the family moved into their new home a month later.
Mrs. A.B. knew that if she imagined herself sleeping in her
new home, she would eventually sleep there in the flesh. Her children also
learned how to obtain their heart’s desire through the use of imagination.
********************
Mrs. C.D. had recently been divorced and needed to work to
support her children as her husband refused to pay child support. Although her
lawyer suggested taking him to court for non-payment, the woman did not wish to
do this. As part of the divorce settlement, she was awarded a very old and not
very reliable car. One Friday night as she was driving home from work, it was
raining very hard and most intersections were flooded. She was about a mile
from her home when she stopped at a Stop sign. A truck coming toward her from
the opposite direction went through the intersection, spraying a great deal of
water as he drove past. The engine of the woman’s car died and she was unable
to start it again. She removed her shoes before stepping out of her car as the
water was more than ankle deep. She raised the hood and began to dry off the
distributor cap with her handkerchief. She was crying at this point and her
tears mingled with the rain. She finally got her car started and managed to get
home to her children. She realized that it was necessary to have a dependable
car if she was to work and support her children. She had no money for a down
payment on a newer car and she did not earn enough to make car payments.
She went to work the following Monday and a co-worker asked
her to go to lunch. The co-worker had just purchased a new Pontiac Tempest and
insisted that Mrs. C.D. drive her new car back to the office. Although Mrs.
C.D. protested that she did not wish to drive someone’s new car, she did get
behind the wheel and drove back to work. While she was driving the new car, she
captured the feeling that this was her car and she felt the thrill of owning
it. For the rest of the week, while she drove back and forth to work in her old
car. Mrs. C.D. imagined that she was driving a brand new car of her own.
The next Friday, Mrs. C.D.’s ex-husband called and asked if
she would like to have a new car. This was the first time since their divorce
several months earlier that he had offered to do anything for her, including
paying child support. The ex-husband was now working for a new car dealership
and told her that, as a salesman, he was eligible to buy a certain make of car
for no money down and with very low monthly payments. He said he was willing to
make the monthly payments in lieu of child support and asked her to come to the
dealership to pick out the color she wanted. It just so happened that the make
of car eligible for this special deal was a Pontiac Tempest, the same make and
model as the car she had driven that belonged to her co-worker.
Mrs. C.D. was able to obtain, through her use of
imagination, what she could never have obtained through her own efforts at that
time. Her ex-husband, who had offered her no monetary support for months, was
the avenue chosen to provide her with the car she needed.
********************
This is the story of Mrs. E.F., who had a desire to live
near the ocean and used her imagination to fulfill her desire. She did not wish
to sell her present home but wanted to lease it for a year before making the
decision to move to the beach permanently. Mrs. E.F. told two of her friends
about her wish. One friend, who had used the principle of imagination, told
Mrs. E.F. that she would imagine visiting her at the beach in her new home. One
week later, Mrs. E.F. traveled to Hawaii for a scheduled vacation. While there,
she received a call from a friend who lived n San Diego. This friend told Mrs.
E.F. that a perfect little house had just come on the market as a year-around
rental and she thought this house would be perfect for Mrs. E.F. Her friend
also said that this was a very desirable rental and that Mr. E.F. would need to
make a decision immediately as the rental would very likely not be available
when she returned from Hawaii. Mrs. E.F. told her friend to tell the owners
that she would take it, trusting her friend’s recommendation. Upon Mrs. E.F.’s
return from Hawaii, she told her grown daughter that she had decided to rent a
house at the beach in San Diego. Her daughter called her later that day and
said that the mother of a friend of hers wanted to lease a house. The woman
came by the next day, said she loved the house, and would like to lease it for
a year. Mrs. E.F. gave notice at work and was able to move within a month.
Since she was a nurse, she had no trouble finding a wonderful new job at a
nearby hospital. Mrs. E.F. has since bought a house near the ocean and has
spent 17 happy years living at the beach.
Mrs. E.F. imagined that she was living at the beach, and her
friend imagined that she was visiting her there. They did this for one week. It
is interesting that while she was on vacation in Hawaii, events moved swiftly
to bring about her desire. She did nothing to find a new home nor did she do
anything to rent her present home. Imagination was able to draw the necessary
people into her life so that her wish could be fulfilled.
“What should be done after we have imagined our wish
fulfilled? Nothing. “ You think you can do something, you want to do something,
but actually you can do nothing to bring it about. God, our own wonderful human
imagination, knows what things are necessary to bring about our desires. It is
only necessary to go to the end, to live in the end. “My ways are past finding
out.” “My ways are higher than your ways.” If we trust our imagination, it will
“accomplish all that we ask of it.” Imagination can do all things – have faith
in it, and nothing shall be impossible to you.
********************
This story concerns a young man (referred to as E.P) who was
a wonderful athlete and was good at many different sports. During this
particular time in his life, he became interested in paddling
He, next year, his team and at least a dozen others flew to
Hawaii from Southern California to compete in the annual race. There were
several teams with much more experience who were considered likely to place in the
top ten, although the Hawaiians were still considered the favorites. At the end
of the race, E.P.’s team finished first, ahead of the Hawaiians and all the
other teams. E.P. now holds a paddle engraved with the words “World Champion”
which was given to him upon his team taking first place.
After winning this coveted title, this young man went on to
coach other teams. He also began manufacturing paddles for outrigger canoes.
His paddles are known throughout the world and are used by outrigger teams who are
among the top teams in the world.
E.P. now makes his home in Hawaii and enjoys coaching teams,
manufacturing paddles, fishing and sailing his own boat. He also uses his boat
as an escort craft for the annual outrigger races.
********************
Mrs. J.K. was living in her twin sister’s home after having
been divorced. Mrs. J.K. had three children, a son and girl and boy twins. Her
sister and her husband had three boys. Needless to say, this was a crowded
household. Mrs. J.K. was very desirous of getting married and living in her own
home. She had been dating a man but decided that she did not wish to continue
the relationship and broke it off. Many of her friends attempted to “fix” Mrs.
J.K. up with eligible men they knew, but she was not interested in going on
blind dates. Several of her friends commented that if she wished to meet an
eligible man, she would need to get out and go places. The twins believed in
the creative power of imagination, and they had a friend who also knew of the
power of imagining. The three women determined that they would imagine a ring
on Mrs. J.K.’s finger, which would imply that she was married. They did this
for several weeks. During this time, Mrs. J.K. also imagined herself living in
her own home. However, when she attempted to do so, she found herself imagining
a home exactly like her sister’s.
One day, Mrs. J.K. received a call from a friend who asked
her to come to her home and help her wallpaper her kitchen. Mrs. J.K. agreed to
help her friend who lived a few blocks away in the same tract of homes. While
she was there, a male neighbor came to visit her friend. The friend introduced
Mrs. J.K. to her neighbor. He later called Mrs. J.K. and they began to date.
Five months later, Mrs. J.K. married this man. The interesting part of this
story is that all of these people lived in the same large tract of homes. There
were only four homes in the tract of 1200 that had the same floor plan. Yes,
this woman’s husband owned one of the homes that had the same floor plan as Mrs.
J.K.’s twin sister. Even though Mrs. J.K. imagined herself living in her own
home, she had only been able to imagine herself living in a house identical to
her sister’s.
********************
This is a story about the friend, Mrs. L.M., who had
introduced Mrs. J.K. to her new husband. During their friendship, Mrs. J.K. had
tried to explain the principle of imagination to her friend who was very
doubtful that “it” would work. One day, Mrs. J.K. asked her friend to come to
one of Neville’s lectures. Mrs. L.M. agreed to attend but was not at all
convinced that imagining she had what she wanted would result in obtaining it.
But, she decided to imagine a very simple thing – the receipt of a
handkerchief. She imagined that someone had given her one and then dropped the
whole idea. Much to her surprise, she received a handkerchief in the mail from
the mother of a friend who came to her house for lunch while she was in town
for a visit. This woman sent Mrs. L.M. a handkerchief with a thank you note.
Mrs. L.M. was not only surprised when she received the gift, she became very
frightened as she thought there was something supernatural about it. Mrs. L.M.
had attempted to disprove that imagination produces the thing desired. When she
received the handkerchief she had imagined, she interpreted it to be some sort
of Black Magic and didn’t want to know any more about this teaching.
********************
I could relate hundreds of incidents involving dozens of
people in which imagination was used to bring about the desired results. I have
chosen just a few stories to illustrate that imagination can be used to solve
all manner of problems and bring into your experience your every heart’s
desire.
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