This FAQ explores foundational terms of Neville Goddard’s teachings, showing how many commonly used spiritual words—like mind, soul, and truth—are dynamic, changeable faculties of consciousness. Relevant Bible passages illustrate how scripture can serve as practical instruction for inner transformation and the manifestation of desires.
Assumption
Definition: Accepting a desired state as already true.
Bible Reference: Mark 11:24 — “What things soever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them.”
Neville’s View: Assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled impresses it on the subconscious and brings it to life.
Awakened Self
Definition: The state of recognising that all inner faculties are instruments of creation, and that external reality is a reflection of internal assumption.
Being
Definition: The totality of your assumed state; the sense of existing in a particular reality. Being is dynamic and continuously shaped by imagination.
Bridge of Incidents
Definition: The natural but often unpredictable series of events leading to the fulfilment of a desire.
Bible References: Romans 8:28 — “All things work together for good…”; Psalm 37:23 — “The steps of a good man are ordered by the LORD.”
Neville’s View: You don’t control the bridge — assume the end, and the means will unfold.
Consciousness
Definition: The broader field within which mind, soul, and self operate. Consciousness is the medium through which your assumptions shape reality.
Consciousness-Field
Definition: The larger environment of awareness in which all faculties—mind, soul, self—operate. The field reflects whatever dominant assumption you maintain.
Crucifixion
Definition: Fixing an assumption in imagination; also refers to psychological pain involved in state transitions.
Bible Reference: Galatians 2:20 — “I am crucified with Christ: nevertheless I live…”
Neville’s View: Crucifixion is not tragedy but transition — the moment of full identification with your new state.
Death
Definition: Letting go of one state or identity; symbolic, not physical.
Bible References: 1 Corinthians 15:31 — “I die daily.”; John 12:24 — “Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone…”
Neville’s View: Death is simply moving from one state of consciousness to another.
Desire
Definition: The inner impulse toward an imagined state. Desire is the signal of what the soul wants to realise, but it must be felt as fulfilled to manifest.
Divine Self
Definition: The aspect of you that is fully aligned with the creative power of imagination. It is not separate from you; it is your awakened inner director.
Ego
Definition: The habitual self-image built from repeated assumptions. Ego is changeable when you deliberately assume a new state of being.
Feeling
Definition: The experiential quality of your assumptions. Feeling is the active ingredient in turning imagination into reality.
Bible References: Romans 4:17 — “… calleth those things which be not as though they were.”; Proverbs 23:7 — “As he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”
Neville’s View: Feeling is the secret — thought without feeling is powerless.
Faith
Definition: Loyalty to the unseen reality.
Bible Reference: Hebrews 11:1 — “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”
Neville’s View: Faith is imaginative. To persist in the unseen assumption is true faith.
Heart
Definition: The centre of feeling and desire. In Neville’s framework, the heart impresses imagination onto consciousness; thoughts alone are insufficient.
I AM
Definition: Your fundamental awareness of being; God within you.
Bible References: Exodus 3:14 — “I AM THAT I AM.”; John 8:58 — “Before Abraham was, I am.”
Neville’s View: This is the name of God and your own essential identity. Any state you attach to “I AM” becomes manifest.
Imagination
Definition: The faculty of creation; the seat of all possibilities.
Bible References: Genesis 1:27 — “God created man in his own image.”; Ephesians 3:20 — “Now unto him that is able to do exceeding abundantly… according to the power that worketh in us.”
Neville’s View: Imagination is not fantasy — it is the spiritual act that precedes manifestation. God creates through imagination, and so do you.
Imagination-Body
Definition: The felt experience of your imagined state in your physical awareness. Your body responds naturally when you assume the feeling of the fulfilled wish.
Inner Speech
Definition: The mental dialogue you continually hold with yourself.
Bible References: Isaiah 55:11 — “So shall my word be that goeth forth out of my mouth…”; Luke 7:7 — “… but say in a word, and my servant shall be healed.”
Neville’s View: Your inner speech is your command to life. Watch what you’re saying inside — it’s creating.
Intellect
Definition: The analytical and reasoning aspect of mind. Intellect can serve imagination, but it is subordinate; reality is shaped by feeling and assumption, not logic alone.
Intuition
Definition: The spontaneous inner knowing that arises when your assumptions are aligned with the desired state. Intuition is the guidance of imagination, not an external source.
Living in the End
Definition: Dwelling mentally in the state of the wish fulfilled.
Bible Reference: John 11:41 — “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.”
Neville’s View: Imagine from the end, not toward it. Live as if it were true.
Mind
Definition: The active awareness that imagines, assumes, and directs experience. Your mind is the canvas of reality—it is flexible and changeable, reflecting whatever state you persist in imagining.
Prayer
Definition: The controlled use of imagination to accept a new state.
Bible References: Matthew 6:6 — “Enter into thy closet… and pray to thy Father which is in secret.”; Matthew 21:22 — “All things, whatsoever ye shall ask in prayer, believing, ye shall receive.”
Neville’s View: Prayer is the art of assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled — not asking, but claiming.
Reality / State of Consciousness
Definition: A psychological identity or condition. You move from one state to another.
Bible References: Ecclesiastes 3:1 — “To everything there is a season…”; Luke 15:17 — “And when he came to himself…”
Neville’s View: You’re not stuck — any Biblical character can be assumed as a state now.
Revision
Definition: Changing past events in imagination to heal or rewrite outcomes.
Bible References: Joel 2:25 — “And I will restore to you the years that the locust hath eaten.”; Genesis 50:20 — “Ye thought evil against me; but God meant it unto good.”
Neville’s View: By revising a scene, you revise its emotional imprint and create a new chain of events.
Self
Definition: Your current conception of who you are, composed of habitual assumptions and inner narratives. The self is not fixed; it is fully malleable through imagination and feeling.
Soul
Definition: The individualised sense of “I AM” capable of perceiving, imagining, and feeling. Soul and mind are often interchangeable in Neville’s framework; both are instruments of assumption.
Spirit
Definition: The creative, animating aspect of your inner awareness. Spirit is the force behind imagination, constantly producing the external reflection of your inner state.
Subconscious
Definition: The creative womb of reality; receives impressions from the conscious mind.
Bible Reference: Luke 1:38 — “Be it unto me according to thy word.”
Neville’s View: Whatever the conscious mind persistently feels as true is impressed upon the subconscious, which brings it to pass.
Thought
Definition: The transient mental image or idea. Similar to the imagery of flame of a fire - symbolism that occurs frequently in scripture. Thought becomes creative only when it is felt as real in imagination.
Truth
Definition: The state of your imagination firmly assumed as real. It is not an external fact or universal decree; reality reflects what you hold and feel as true inwardly. To live in truth means to persist in the assumption of the reality you wish to experience, regardless of external circumstances.
Will
Definition: The inner power to persist in an assumed state. Will is not brute force—it is the quiet fidelity to the feeling of the end fulfilled.
Resurrection
Definition: The rising of a state into manifestation.
Bible Reference: John 11:25 — “I am the resurrection, and the life.”
Neville’s View: When your assumption becomes reality, the state has resurrected in your world.
Law and Promise
Definition:
-
Law: The impersonal, mechanical process of manifestation (assumption, feeling, persistence).
-
Promise: The mystical, individual fulfilment of union with God — Neville’s personal experiences.
Bible References: Galatians 3:18 — “God gave it to Abraham by promise.”; Romans 2:11 — “For there is no respect of persons with God.”
Neville’s View: The Law works for all who apply it. The Promise is the spiritual destiny of every soul.