Neville 02-21-1969
Neville Goddard
I AM THE LORD
“I am the LORD and there is no other. I form light and create darkness. I make weal and create woe. I, the
LORD, do all these things.” (Isaiah 45) Then John tells us, “As He is, so are we in this world.” Although man
is taught the God who creates the weal and the woe is someone other than himself, scripture tells us that as
God is, so are we!
The story of Jesus Christ, as well as all of the miracles recorded in the New Testament, are acted parables.
In the Book of Luke we find Jesus, now twelve years of age, going up to Jerusalem for the Passover. When
the feast ended, his parents – thinking Jesus was in the caravan – did not seek him out until the day was past.
After searching for him for three days, when they found him in the temple, his father said: “Son, how could
you do this to us? Do you not realize we have been seeking you anxiously?”And Jesus replied: “How is it that
you sought me? Do you not know that I must be in my Father’s house?”Here is Christ declaring God to be
his father, while his parents, standing before him, do not understand. If you are seeking the cause of the
phenomena of your life among your kinsfolk, your acquaintances, or teachers, you will never find it; for you
are God’s temple, and the spirit of God dwells in you. The cause of the phenomena of your life is not on the
outside, but in your own wonderful human imagination. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you? I tell
you, the only place you will ever find him is within!
The life of Jesus is a pattern which will unfold in you, an individual, when you discover yourself to be the
cause of your life; for as He is, so are you in this world. Our religious leaders teach Christ as someone on the
outside who is different; who overcame, and is now living elsewhere; yet Christ in you is your hope of glory,
for as He is, you are!
In his book, Luke tells the parable of Jesus, who – upon entering a boat with his disciples, falls asleep as they
set sail. When a storm wind descended upon the lake they woke him, saying: “Master we are perishing.”
Then He rebuked the wind, and the raging waves became quiet, and there was a great calm. I tell you: the
one who fell asleep caused the storm, and is the same being as the one who – upon awakening – quails it; for
there is no other.
In this world Christ is asleep, and the wars, confusions, depressions, and horrors, appear because of his
dreams. And the world will know no peace, happiness, wealth, or joy, until Christ awakes. If you are
unaware of your imaginal activity, you are asleep relative to it. You could be dreaming noble, lovely dreams
or ignoble ones; but whatever you dream, Christ will externalize. Man is the ark of God in which Christ -
God’s creative power – is contained. I am the ark of God, not a phantom of the earth and sea. I am the ship
in which Christ sleeps as he dreams the storms of my life. And when He awakes, I will know calm and weal.
Your own wonderful human imagination is Jesus Christ. Now individualized as John, Mary, Sam, or Sue, you
are Christ’s outer projection, surrounded by woes and weals because of his dreams. God, as your
imagination, can never be so far off as even to be near, for the nearness implies separation. Wherever you
are, I am! To say: “I am” is near, is to claim God is another – but there is no other. You and God are one, for
He is your wonderful human imagination!
A friend recently shared this vision with me. As he observed buildings, trees, and houses round about him, he
realized they were caused by tiny magnetic seeds which were clustered about his feet. As he scraped them
off, they instantly reformed themselves to produce automatic changes in his world. What a wonderful
experience! In the 40th Psalm we read: “He lifts me up from the pit, out of the miry bog and places my feet
upon the Rock.”Here we see the foot, the symbol of God’s creative power, is lifted up and placed upon the
Rock – the human imagination! His vision is showing him that he has now become aware of the only
causation, and has placed his creative power upon that Rock. In this 40th Psalm the statement is made: “In
the volume of the book it is written about me.”My friend’s vision reveals that he has come to that point. That
everything which appears magnified on the outside is caused by magnetic seeds around his feet. This is true;
for the world is nothing more than a magnified shadow, caused by the magnetic seed called Man. Although
the world appears to be large and overpowering, its causation is the power observing it.
Man is the ark of God and everything is contained within him. Asleep, the storms range; but when man
awakes, the stormy seas will be no more.
There is quite a difference between being awake to your imaginal activities and being asleep to them. Awake,
you can trace the event taking place on the outside to an imaginal act; but asleep you will find someone or
something on the outside to be its cause. But causation is within the one observing the effect. Causation is
symbolized as the foot in the 40th and 69th Psalms, as well as in the 10th [chapter] of Romans. In the end,
man will overcome and put all things under his foot.
My friend saw the clusters of magnetic seeds around his feet. Although he tried to scrape them off, they
reappeared. As Blake said: “The oak is cut down by the ax and the lamb is slain by the knife, but their forms
eternal remain forever, returning by the seed of contemplative thought.”
Our world is the storm spoken of in the 8th chapter of Luke. Having entered our body, we have fallen asleep
to our creative power. But when we discipline our mind, we quail the storms. The disciples of scripture are
disciplined aspects of the mind. Once your five senses are so disciplined you see, hear, taste, touch, and
smell, only what you desire, then you quail the storms of doubt and fear within you, for you know who you
are. No longer will you seek the phenomena of life among your kinsfolk or acquaintances; for when you
awaken, you find life in the temple. The world is always looking for new teachers on the outside, when there
is nothing there but shadows. Christ is not another. You are Christ, as he is your very self! You will find him,
and when you do, you will know that you are God; for a series of events will unfold within you and you will
bear witness to your own fatherhood.
I have often thought that the doctrine of the trinity should have been the doctrine of the being, for the trinity is
difficult for man to grasp. It’s easier to speak of the doctrine of revealed Christianity as a unity, than as a
trinity. When David stands before you as your son, there will be no more trinity. You and I are one when my
son David calls you father! Then you will know that everyone in the world is that same being, as they will all
have the same son. This is the great doctrine of the unity.
My old friend Ab always began his classes with the statement: “Praise be to that unity which is our unity.”He
knew that although we are a diversity of faces, completely individualized, we are the same father of God’s
one and only son, who will reveal himself to all, individually, thereby proving our unity of being.
Every scriptural miracle is an acted parable. It is imagination who enters the boat called man and falls asleep
in order for the journey of life to begin. Then the financial, marital, physical storms arise according to man’s
dreams. He could dream of something lovely and know healthy, happy storms. But if he does not know that
the cause of the weal is his imaginal activity, he will continue to dwell in the storms of life until the disciples
rouse him to remembrance.
Awake, you are aware of the thoughts you are creating every moment of time, and carry this awareness into
your dreamworld. You will not falter, for – knowing the world you want to build and its cause – you will be
constantly aware of what you are imagining. You will no longer seek your desires among things, but will turn
within to find they are all waiting to be fulfilled in God’s temple.
Now, the numbers three and eight in scripture are always associated with resurrection. We are told that on
the third day the earth rose up out of the deep, and in the Book of Exodus it is said that it came to pass on
the eighth day. Luke tells us that when Jesus was twelve years of age, his parents searched three days before
finding him in the temple, asking and answering his own questions. The number twelve is telling us that he had
arrived at the point of creativity. That he has now resurrected and moved into the Father’s house, for when
they found him he said: “Why do you seek me? Do you not know I must be in my Father’s house?” Having
identified God as his Father, he goes on to claim: “I and my Father are one.”
Today, as in that day, men cannot believe that imagination is the cause of the phenomena of life. They will
agree that an artist can imagine a lovely picture and bring it forth on canvas, but they cannot relate the same
technique to a toothache. Yet there is only one cause! I, the Lord, am the cause and there is no other.
Besides me there is no God. I form light and create darkness. I make weal and create woe. I, the Lord, am
he who does all these things.You cannot blame anyone for your misfortune. You could claim a friend
betrayed your trust, therein causing your misfortune; but your friend was not the cause, your dream prompted
you to confide in your friend. Causation is not on the outside, it comes from within. As you begin to awake,
you discover there is only one God, who is your own wonderful human imagination.
My friend saw tiny, magnetic seeds swirling around his feet, causing the outer world to appear so large.
These seeds of contemplative thought are so tiny they are often ignored and even scraped off; but awareness
causes them to reform themselves instantly to magnify their new formation in the outer world. If imagination’s
seeds did not reform themselves, the outer world would vanish and leave not a trace behind; but they do, for
the seeds are contained in man. You have the power to rearrange your thought-seeds to produce a different
pattern in your outer world. This is done by a change of attitude. Think of the world as different, and as you
do, you have scraped off the little magnetic seeds, thereby causing their rearrangement. This is the world in
which we live.
Now, when imagination lifts us up from the pit and places our feet upon the Rock, we stand on our own feet.
No longer will we stand upon the foot of another, giving the other either our praise or blame. We can,
however, be gracious and kind and thank another for the role he played in our drama. But when we stand on
our own feet, we realized that everything that happens – be it good, bad or indifferent – is because of our
attitude towards life.
Every person, place, or thing, is animated and rearranged from within; for as He is, so are we. A good
Christian would call that statement blasphemy; yet I am quoting the first epistle, the fourth chapter of the
Book of John: “As he is, so are we in this world.” This thought follows on the heels of the definition of God as
love. And because God is love, He will not change your imaginal act, but will allow it to be externalized. If
God changed the act, there would be two of you: one who imagines, and one who changes the imaginal act.
But, being all love, God instantly plays the parts designated in your imaginal acts and suffers with you because
He is dreaming. But one day Love will awaken within your skull. He will resurrect and you will begin the real
drama, which is to discover your true identity. Coming out of your immortal skull, all of the imagery of
scripture will surround you. The child and the witnesses will be there; but they will not see you, for you will be
spirit. While witnessing your spiritual birth, they will speak of you and identify the child as yours, but you will
be invisible to their mortal eye. As the great drama unfolds, it appears to take place externally; yet it is within,
for you contain eternity within yourself.
If to you a storm is raging remember, it is only raging because you are not aware of your imaginal activity. By
disciplining your thoughts, you rise from the sleep of unawareness, and become aware of what you want to
imagine. Then the world will change to conform to the change in you. The storm will subside and there will be
a perfect calm.
Do not look for God outside of the temple, for you are God’s temple, and the spirit of God dwells in you.
Ask the average person where he thinks God’s temple is, and he will point to a synagogue, cathedral, or
church; but God does not dwell in houses made with hands. God is spirit and dwells in his living temple!
Imagine – and God is acting. Believe in the reality of what you are now imagining! Rearrange those little
clusters around the foot, and when they are fixed with feeling, relax in the knowledge that your outer world
will conform to the new fixation. Although the world appears external, its reality is within, as you are its
creative power, dreaming the world into being; for you are an immortal being, wearing a garment of mortality.
One day you will awaken from this fantastic dream, to find yourself enhanced by having experienced the
mystery of death.
I ask you now to take the challenge and change your thinking, although I know it is not an easy thing to do. I
have known those who so enjoy hating another that they do not want to change. They seem to receive a
certain pleasure out of hating and do not realize that they are only hating themselves.
I remember a man in New York City during the Second World War, who claimed he despised Roosevelt.
Every morning when the man shaved, he would talk to himself in the mirror, imagining he was telling
Roosevelt everything he disliked about him. The gentleman attended my meetings, and when I confronted him
with his imaginal acts, he said: “I pay $10 to see a Broadway show which does not give me the joy I receive
during that ten minutes in the morning.”Well, this man created his own storm, for the venom that he spewed
out every morning returned to him. He lost his New York City home, then went to Florida, where he lost
everything there. I tried to tell him to awake, that he was sleeping and only dreaming that Roosevelt was the
cause of his world. But he could not believe me. He came from a Germanic background and could not get
over the fact that we were at war with Germany. He blamed Roosevelt, even though he knew Germany had
declared war on us. He could not see the war as a bad dream, and he was confusing it, making the storm
rage by the pleasure he received telling Roosevelt off as he shaved.
It’s entirely up to you what you think. If you want to hate someone, you can augment it through intensity and
persistence. The same thing is true if you want to love someone; for your human imagination is the only God
you will ever know, and he is in his temple – that temple you are!
The parents (meaning tradition) sought Jesus on the outside, but when they found him within, he said: “Do you
not know that I must be in my Father’s house?” but they could not understand. When I have told rabbis,
preachers, and priests, that I have seen David of Biblical fame, they laugh. And when I go further and tell
them that David called me father in fulfillment of the 89th Psalm which states: “I have found David, he has
cried unto me, ‘Thou art my Father, my God and Rock of my salvation,’ “they stand silent, unable to make
the Bible their biography.
As long as you think the Bible is speaking of someone other than yourself, you will never understand it. The
entire book, from beginning to end, is all about you, individually. You are the one who will find David. It is
you he will call “My Father, my God and the Rock of my salvation.” David will literally stand before you as a
young man just coming into adolescence. It is the same David who cried out in the Old Testament: “You will
not leave me in the pit, in the miry bog.”And you do not. You awaken and, after three days you find him in
the temple and scripture is fulfilled.
I tell you: you are an immortal being whose autobiography is recorded in scripture. Having inspired the
prophets of the Old Testament, you came into the world to fulfill their words in the New. As the universally
diffused individuality, Christ is housed in every child born of woman, bringing him into the world by meditating
him into being.
Take the story of my friend seriously. Think of your thoughts as magnetic seeds, invisible and miniature, and
the world as bearing witness to their arrangement. And remember: all you need do is rearrange your
power-filled thoughts, and you will produce a corresponding rearrangement in your outer world.
Now let us go into the silence.
Neville Goddard, Summa Theologica, Manly P Hall, A Course In Miracles
