Neville Goddard Lectures: “Free or Slave”

12 Jan Neville Goddard Lectures: “Free or Slave”

10/7/66

First of all, I’ll take your letters. I have two tonight that I think should thrill you; one from a gentleman, he’s here, and one from a lady, and she is here. His will fit a perfect side of what I want to discuss tonight, and hers will fit the other side perfectly. I asked you to share with me your experiences because they do encourage everyone. I do not need, personally, I do not need encouragement; I’ve experienced scripture. But everyone who has not experienced scripture needs encouragement.

So we start, first of all, with his. I make the statement that imagining creates reality and I mean that seriously. That man should live as if it were true, just as if it were true—I don’t care what it is, the most incredible thing in the world—as if it were true. And if he is faithful to that assumption and lives in that state, it will come to pass…of that I’m convinced and I know from personal experience. But to have it shared with me by those who come here when they tell me their stories… So here is his story. He said, “Sitting in an office, I was bored, and I thought there certainly must be a more pleasant way of earning twice what I earn, there must be. So I made the decision right there and then that I would earn twice what I have now. I did it for a few days, and then after a few days there’s not a thing changed in my world, I wondered if this thing is right?

“Well, again remembering my decision I stopped it right there and then and re-enacted the scene, not wondering what I would do. I didn’t really specify what the job was I would do, simply that I was earning twice what I was at the moment earning. Then, two weeks later, a man that I had known for three years and I have seen him weekly…and suddenly he began to urge upon me to come and work for him. He’d never done that before. He was insistent and when he mentioned a salary it was exactly twice what I was earning. So I worked for him. While working for him, again I said to myself, now this thing has worked…and so, why should I work? Why not have an income equal to all that I need without this so-called work.

“And so, this is what I did. I imagined that I went down to my postal box and I took out the letters…there were the usual things, correspondence and bills and things…but I saw an unidentified envelope. On my way back, I simply stopped and embraced and touched the trees that I so love on my way home. Then I opened it and I found a check for the amount that I thought I would need for a long, long non-working period. Then I saw on my balance sheet from the bank that added to what was there. And that’s what I did. But I did it every night as I went to sleep. Well, two weeks later seeing no evidence of this whatsoever, I said to myself, you know, are you going mad? I mean this thing may be completely stupid”— and then he said to me in a little aside—“as I once thought that you were.”