The Creative Use Of Imagination
The Creative Use Of Imagination
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From A Lecture Series
by Neville Goddard
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Contents
PREFACE
CHAPTER 1 - Your Infinite Worth
CHAPTER 2 - Take Not The Name In Vain
CHAPTER 3 - DESIRE
CHAPTER 4 - Are You Makine Wine?
CHAPTER 5 - Seeing God
CHAPTER 6 - All Is Conciousness
CHAPTER 7 - RIGHTEOUSNESS
CHAPTER 8 - The Perfect Will Of God
CHAPTER 9 - Be Ye Doers Of The Word
CHAPTER 10 - The Pearl Of Great Price
CHAPTER 1 1 - Self-Remembering
CHAPTER 12 - Your Destiny
CHAPTER 13 - Your Personal Autobiography
CHAPTER 14 - The Human Spirit
CHAPTER 15 - The Feeling Of "I"
CHAPTER 16 - The Wine Of Eternity
CHAPTER 17 - Awake, O Sleeper
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This book, as all things, came into being because of a thought acted upon. Neville left us October 1, 1972 and, since that time, I have invested many hours transcribing the hundreds of tapes I have of his lectures. Neville explained that the ark of life contained and could be understood on three levels: the literal, psychological and spiritual. The lectures which are available deal mainly with the spiritual. However, because those who are now hearing his words on tapes and reading his lectures, did not hear him speak on the second (or psychological) level, I realized the need to provide that psychological plane as a foundation for the higher, spiritual level. And so, the thought was planted in my mind. What if there were some lectures that taught this principle on a practical level? Wouldn't it be wonderful if such a series could be found and made available for those who would desire it. And then one day I received a letter from a lovely lady in San Francisco who said she was moving into a retirement home and wanted to send me some notes she had from Neville's lecture series in San Francisco in 1952. These notes constitute this book.
I had a thought. Wouldn't it be wonderful if... and acted upon it by feeling the thrill of the thought's completion. I have never met the lady or heard from her since receiving the notes, but I have proved, once again, that imagination (thought) fulfills itself. The living proof is in your hands.
Now, let me tell you a bit about me. Born and raised in a small town in Kansas, I moved to California in 1942 as a good Protestant. But I had a hunger that no organized religion could fill, so I drifted from one belief to another, seeking yet not finding what I was searching for, possibly because I did not know what it was. Then one day I heard a man called Neville, and I knew that, although the outer me did not understand his words, the inner me was singing the Hallelujah Chorus, for I had found the cause of all life.., that my very thought, mixed with feeling, was an imaginal act which created the facts in my world.
I remember the first night I lay in my bed and dared to claim, "I AM God." Afraid that the ceiling would crash down on me, I quickly covered my head - just in case. And when nothing happened, I gathered more courage and set out to prove for myself that imagination could create reality. I did not believe it could, and I wanted to prove Neville wrong. That was back in 1964, and I haven't succeeded yet. Not all of my imaginal acts have come to fruition, but I now know that the fault does not lie in the teaching, but in my belief in myself. And, as I have grown in my belief and trust and faith in what I have imagined, I have gained confidence in my own wonderful human imagination.
Several years ago, I put together a group of lectures of Neville's and called the book "Immortal Man." At the time, I was afraid to change his words even though felt I could make the message clearer if I did.
Shortly after its publication, I turned to self one night and asked, "Is it all right to change the words as long as I do not change the meaning? I know that if truth were told so that it could be understood, it would be believed. I know your words are true, Neville, but think I can make them clearer." I fell asleep questioning myself and, in the night, I had this dream: I am on my way to work. As I enter the building I see, directly before me, a beautiful restaurant whose tables are filled with diners, enjoying their meal. Neville is standing next to a fireplace, speaking to a group nearby. Thrilled to find him there, I am eager to show him the book of his lectures I had just published and question him regarding the change of words. But as I turn to take the case I am carrying into my office, get the book and return, he glances up and catches my eye. Instantly changing my mind, I turn and go directly into the restaurant to join him. But when I arrive, I discover that he has vanished, leaving the ladies to tell me that he is gone and will never return again.
Heartsick, I return to the lobby with its hard, tile floor when, suddenly the case I had been carrying fell from its handle. The moment it hit the floor, the case opened, my book fell out and lay open at its center seam. As I looked down in horror, I saw that I had been carrying a brief ease which contained a tape recorder that had turned on due to the fall, and Neville's voice was ringing out loud and clear. Embarrassed, I stooped down to turn off the volume, only to discover that all the knobs had fallen off the machine and there was no way for me to turn him off. As I tried to push the case over to the far wall in order to pick it up, I awoke with these words ringing in my ears, "I am IN you, AS you." From that moment on, my fears have vanished and, since that time, I have gained confidence in my writing. These are Neville's words - Neville's thoughts - yet we are so closely woven in the tapestry of thought that the words are now mine.
The lectures you will read are Neville's words. Yet they may not have been the exact words he spoke back in 1952. The material I had to work with were notes someone had taken in shorthand, transcribed, and duplicated. I have taken the notes and elaborated on them. The words are true and, hopefully understandable enough so you can test them and discover for yourself that when the truth is applied, it is made alive by a spiritual experience.
Always bear in mind that when Neville speaks of "man," he is speaking of generic man (man/woman). Man is the external world, the natural man; while imagination is the internal world, the man of spirit. God (imagination) became the natural man that the man of nature may become God who is Spirit.
Always think of yourself as two beings, one who sees through the organs of sense and the other who sees through the mind of imagination. And always remember God's name as he revealed it to Moses. "I AM. That is who I AM. And by this name, I shall be known throughout all generations. I AM that I AM." I the trinity, in unthinkable origin, AM God the Father. And I in creative expression AM the Son, for imagination is born of consciousness. Therefore I, in universal interpretation, in infinite imminence, in eternal procession AM God, the Holy Spirit.
Margaret Ruth Broome
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