Neville Goddard Lecture, The Cup Of Experience

The Cup Of Experience

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THE CUP OF EXPERIENCE

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 read these words we wonder what it is all about. Well, let me share with you a vision of mine of about thirty years ago. This night I found myself in an infinite field of beautiful sunflowers. Each flower had a human face and each was perfect. If one smiled, all smiled. If one bent over, all bent over. What one did, they all did. As I stood there observing this fantastic display of beauty, I knew that I – singled out as I was – expressed a greater liberty and freedom than all of these human flowers put together. And when I returned to my body on the bed, I knew that in some strange way I was separated from that which I once had formed a part.

Then I understood these words from the 8th chapter of Romans: “We were made subject unto futility, not by our own will, but by the will of him who subjected us in hope that we will be set free from this bondage to decay and obtain the glorious liberty of the sons of God.” You and I here in this world are detached from that field of beauty, that chorus where everyone moves in unison. But we are separated, completely incarnated, which is essential to individuality. This incarnation involves separation from the Father, death, and descent into hell. You may not know it, but this world is hell. Here we are separated from the Father, and there is a fear in the heart of man that he may never again see the Father, who from all eternity was built into himself. But may I assure you, having realized the Father, that your fear need not continue. You will find the Father and when you do you will find him as yourself. You are separated from the Father for a divine purpose. And without instantly assuming this garment of flesh and blood, thereby becoming completely incarnated, you would never find him. Instead you would forever remain a part of the field of sunflowers. I can’t describe the beauty of each flower, each a beautiful human face moving in perfect harmony. But now you are no longer part of the chorus but completely individualized, you will tend forever towards greater and greater individualization. You were subjected to this world and completely incarnated in it for a divine purpose. That purpose is to create within yourself the Spirit of Jesus, which is continual forgiveness of sin. Believe me when I tell you that God is love, for I stood in his presence and he embraced me. But do you know that love, divided from imagination, is eternal death?

I’ll show you why. I have a friend who is unemployed, without funds, and burdened beyond measure. I can’t deny I love him, and when I think of him my memory tells me how poor he is, that he is unemployed, without funds and burdened. I will keep him in that state forever, through love, unless I know how to use my imagination. So, no one can ever know imagination who has not tasted the cup of experience. Entering this world we love our mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, children, and friends, but do not know how to change them from what they are into what they ought to be, unless we drink the cup of experience and practice the great secret of imagining. That is why I say: love divided from imagination is eternal death. Imagination is God’s great gift. He is love, yes. He is infinite power and wisdom, but his creative power is imagination. Giving you his creative power, he gives you his Son Christ, defined in the second chapter of Paul’s letter to the Corinthians as “The power of God and the wisdom of God.” And because of this great gift, when you see one that you love dearly as unemployed, without funds and in great need, embarrassed and unclothed, you can represent him to yourself as gainfully employed, beautifully clothed, happy, and debt-free. Then as you persist in exercising your imagination concerning your friend, the world will remold itself and shape him in the likeness of one who is gainfully employed, debt-free and happy. All this is possible because of God’s great gift to you. Remember the story of the prodigal son? The first son did not leave his Father, but the second – asking to be given what was his – went into the world and wasted all. When the second one, having experienced the world of death, remembered his Father, he turned around and the Father gave him the robe, the ring and prepared a fatted calf for a merry reception in honor of his son who had returned.

When the first son complained, the Father said: “Son, you are always with me. You never detached yourself, but have always remained here and all that is mine is yours.” Because of this the first son knew nothing of the power of imagination. Everything was his, but he didn’t know how to appropriate it. Tonight you could have a billion dollars in the bank and die of starvation if you didn’t know it was there. All that the Father has is yours, but you will never know it until you use your imagination to appropriate it! You and I have departed from the Father. It was his will to subject us to this world of futility. He did it in the hope that we would be set free from this world of decay where everything dies, and obtain the glorious liberty of the sons of God – those who exercise their power of imagination lovingly. Now, the parable of the prodigal son is followed by the story of the unjust steward. (You will find these stories in the 15th and 16th chapters of the Book of Luke). Now, parables are wonderful stories told in the hope that man will discover their fictitious nature and extract its meaning. In this story the unjust steward is commended for his actions. (The original meaning of the word “steward” is “the keeper of the pig” and the pig is the universal symbol of the savior of the world.) In other words, when the steward (the keeper of the pig) tells you his story, will you eat it? Will you believe what he has experienced? Millions of people today will not accept the story of salvation, so they refuse the pig as food. But, “Unless you eat my body and drink my blood you have no life in you.

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