Résultats de "Neville Goddard" dans Toutes les catégories

All things exist in the human imagination, and I mean that literally. No one can know of imagination who has not tasted the cup of experience! In the Psalms we are told that in the hand of the Lord there is a cup that is bubbling over with wine which has been well mixed. And John asks: "Shall I not drink of the cup of salvation which the Father has given me, and call upon his name?" When we hear these words we wonder what it is all about.

The discovery of the God within is the one far-off divine event to which creation moves. The only resurrection spoken of in scripture is when he rises in you, and the only birth spoken of there is when he comes out - and that is Christmas. The event seems to be single and separate from the other events, but they are all part of a complex whole. We are now approaching one part we call Christmas: the birth of God, the birth of I Am!

A little practice will convince us that we can, by controlling our imagination, reshape our future in harmony with our desire. Desire is the mainspring of action. We could not move a single finger unless we had a desire to move it. No matter what we do, we follow the desire which at the moment dominates our minds. When we break a habit, our desire to break it is greater than our desire to continue in the habit. The desires which impel us to action are those that hold our attention.

Change your conception of yourself. Revalue yourself and you will automatically change your world. Man has always played the losing game by attempting to change his world, while he himself remained with his present values or conceptions of himself. Jesus discovered this law. So instead of changing men he changed himself. He said, "And now I sanctify myself, that they also might be sanctified through the truth." He found himself to be the truth of all that he saw his world to be.

The dream of life unfolds on this level, as well as on a higher one. On this level we see things happen and are given reasons for wars and revolutions, as well as the geological causes for the convulsions of nature. But we do not know and cannot perceive their hidden cause, for it lies in the imagination of man. All things spring, not from the ostensible causes to which they are attributed, but from that which is hidden - man's own wonderful human imagination!

Entering this world of death, you brought all you have (or can have) with you. You are like a garden, already planted and sowed, for this world is too poor to produce one seed. Although William Blake was called a madman, he knew this great truth, and said: "The human imagination is the eternal body of the Lord Jesus." I tell you: The Lord Jesus is your own wonderful human imagination, who became as you are that you may become as he is.

Tonight's topic is: "The Most Precious Gift". If God who created the Universe and all within it gave it to you, and with the whole vast universe owned by you, you would consider that the greatest gift in the world. And, yet, he gave you something far greater than that. He gave you himself! God actually became as you are, that you may be as he is.

All cause is spiritual! Although a natural cause seems to be, it is a delusion of the vanishing memory. Unable to remember the moment a state was imagined, when it takes form and is seen by the outer eye its harvest is not recognized, and therefore denied.

Tonight's subject is in the form of a question: "Is Christ your imagination?" When we ask the question, we expect the answer in terms of our current background of thought, and quite often that is not adequate to frame the answer. Now, I am asking the question, and in order to answer myself, I should really clarify the terms, "imagination" and "Christ". I think there will be no problem tonight if I define - say - "imagination". I think you will agree with me when I define "Christ".

Tonight's title is the Family Portrait. Thirty-odd years ago, a play appeared on Broadway called The Family Portrait. It was a study of Jesus and starred Margaret Webster and Judith Anderson. They played the parts of Mary Magdalene and Mary the Mother. The central figure - Jesus - never appeared on the stage, just as it should be. The brothers appeared, bringing the news of what he had said and the reactions of the crowd and the concern of the two Marys.

Jesus Christ is the true identity of everyone! His name, forever and ever, is I am. Therefore, when you say "I am", you are declaring your true identity. Do you believe that all things are possible to someone called Jesus Christ but not yourself? If you do it is because you do not know who you are!

Your heavenly father knows you have to eat, drink, and clothe yourself, and they will all be yours if you will put first things first; and the first thing is to seek the kingdom of God and his righteousness, for God is in his kingdom; and when you find the kingdom, you find God.

Your true environment is in your imagination! All that you behold, though it appears without, it is within, in your imagination - of which this world of mortality is but a shadow. No matter what is taking place on the outside, it is but a symbol telling you what is taking place within; for the world is nothing more than yourself pushed out. Its image, alive in your imagination, overwhelms you.

God's promise is true; he who promised it is faithful, and is being fulfilled in every being in this world and the unnumbered beings to come. The first statement of it, you find in Genesis 17. We are told on the surface that Abraham was 99 and he was promised an heir, a son. If you are familiar with the story, he had a son who was described as a "wild ass" in the 16th chapter. That one was born of a servant of the household of Abraham, born of Hagar, born of a slave; and the Lord said unto her: "You will have a son and his name will be Ishmael ("God hears").

God and man are inseparable. We are all members of the divine Body, partakers of the divine nature. We cannot be separated. We are one.

Every fact is a dream made visible, so I invite you to live as though your dream were already a fact! I am convinced that every dream (desire) I have dared to live in the now has gradually and unnoticed blossomed into fact in my life. I also know, not only from personal experience but from eternal vision, that the spiritual states of the soul are eternal. That like a traveler, individual man passes through states but the states remain forever.

Neville Goddard (1905 - 1972) was a teacher, author and lecturer. He was born in St. Michael, Barbados, and came to the US in 1922 to study drama and dance. While touring with his dance company in England he developed an interest in metaphysics. After his return to New York he gave up the entertainment industry to devote his full attention to the study of mystical matters.

You may ask how can a mortal man, born as we were born and who will die as we all will die, know that God only acts, but I tell you I know it from experience. I have experienced the Word of God and tonight I will tell you how I know that God and God only acts. The name of God is the key to understanding the biblical doctrine of God. In biblical terms the question is asked, "Does God exist? Who is our God? What is his name and what is his son's name?" For Israel, the personal name of God is I Am.

If you find yourself miserable or helpless here, may I tell you that you are not condemned to that state by a deity outside of yourself, for everything that takes place in your world is but a movement within God. We are told that in the very beginning the spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters and things came into being. Everything - your misery, your helplessness, your joy, your sorrow - no matter what it is, comes into being by a movement within God, and he is not a deity outside yourself.

In the creation of a new way of life, we must begin at the beginning, with our own individual regeneration. The formation of organizations, political bodies, religious bodies, and social bodies is not enough. The trouble we see goes deeper than we perceive. The essential revolution must happen within ourselves. Everything depends on our attitude toward ourselves.