Neville Goddard (November 14, 1969)
The attitude of the world towards the great mystery of Christ is due to their ignorance of who he really is. And only to the degree that the individual experiences the mystery, will he know that he is the heavenly being who came down and assumed the body of death to rise as Jesus Christ.
Follow me closely into the drama, as recorded in the 18th chapter of the Book of John, where Jesus is being questioned by Pilate. Now, the word “Pilate” means “closely pressed like a contracted form; the limit of contradiction; of opacity.” To see the characters of scripture as historical is to see truth tempered to the weakness of the human soul. They are not people such as you and I, but eternal states, attributes, and qualities of the individual. Pilate is the state of contraction the Father entered, and the story is taking place in you.
Questioning self, Pilate asked: “Are you the King of the Jews?” and Jesus answered, “Do you say this of your own accord, or did others tell you about me?” (Do you know this from experience, or it is hearsay?) He doesn’t deny that he is, but wonders if this contracted state has reached the point where the shell of it breaks, and knows from experience who he is. Then Pilate asked: “You are a king?” and Jesus answered: “You say that I am. For this I was born and for this I came into the world to bear witness to the truth.” Then the contracted form asked: “What is truth?”
Based upon this level, it is true that I am standing at a podium and you are seated on chairs facing me; but I am not speaking of this truth, I am speaking of the true knowledge of God. I am not concerned with the world of science. Today we are on our way to the moon for the second time, but that is not the story of the Bible. I am speaking of the being who created Man, the heavens, and the earth, and sustains them. I am trying to tell everyone that the being who did this is now individualized, housed in his creation, and has forgotten who he really is.
Having come down into this limit of contraction and opacity, you now ask yourself the question: “Do I know this truth by my own accord, or was I told it by another? If it is hearsay, then I do not really know it; for the only way I can know God is through experience.” So to the degree that you experience scripture, will you understand it. The terms Pope, minister, or layman, mean nothing. You could be washing floors tonight and know, from experience, that you are the Lord Jesus Christ.
Now let us turn to the poet Robert Browning, who said:
“Truth is within ourselves. It takes no rise from outward things what’ere you may believe. There is an inmost center in us all where truth abides in fullness, And to know, rather consists in opening out a way whence the imprisoned splendor may escape, than an effective entry for a light supposed to be without.”
Here Browning took three of the mighty I AM statements from the Book of John: “I AM the truth; I AM the way, and I AM the light,” and incorporated them into this very short statement.
There is an inmost center in us all where truth abides, not just a little bit, but in fullness. He likens it to an imprisoned splendor, radiating from within. To think of some human Christ as coming from without is to completely misunderstand the great mystery of scripture.
Sitting here now in this little room, you may seem so small and the universe so enormous. But it is here, in this contracted state called Pilate that you begin to stir and ask yourself these questions. The questioning within the individual causes the effluence within to roust itself and come out as the creator of the universe. This I know from experience. No matter what the world tells you, you are not some little tiny being. You have gone through hell and maybe will go through more in your search to find your true self, who is God the Father.
The true knowledge of God is recorded in scripture, but told in a strange and wonderful manner. Jesus said: “Go and say unto them, I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright morning star.” Here you discover that “I am” is the root, the origin, the Father; yet “I am” the offspring of David. In other words, “I am” is the Father of David and David’s offspring. Then we read: “I will bring up out of you, O David, a son that will come forth from your body. I will be his father and he shall be my son. And then you will say: ‘I and my Father are one.” God the Father created the universe (his son), then buried himself there, that he may – in the fullness of time – draw himself out of humanity (which is David) to know himself to be the root and the offspring – the grandfather and the grandson.
If you see David as the world does, you will never understand the mystery. David is humanity reduced to a single being. When you see him, you are seeing the sign that you have played all the parts you agreed to play in the beginning. Having extracted yourself from your creation, you redeem it as it condenses itself into a single youth, who stands before you as your son David of Biblical fame.
Speaking within himself, Jesus is made to say: “I am from above; you are from below.” Above and within are one and the same, just as below and without are the same. He who comes from above (within) is spirit, above all and within all; while he who is from below (without) expresses that which is of the earth and earthly. Maybe you cannot pay your rent this night, and your cupboard is bare; but I tell you: you created the universe and you are sustaining it. There is no other God. “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” There is no room for two.
When asked to name the greatest of all the commandments, Jesus didn’t mention any of the ten, but went directly to Israel’s confession of faith: “Hear O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one.” Then he gave the second commandment, as recorded in Deuteronomy as “Love your neighbor as yourself.” Why? Because your neighbor is yourself. The day will come when you will discover that only as you change your attitude towards the seeming other, can he change; for he cannot change of himself. Only as I change my attitude towards you, can you change towards me. I love him. Why? Because he first loved me. If you want someone to love you, or see you differently, change your attitude towards him. The world is yourself, projected. You want something different projected, you must change the film in the camera. You must change that which you are aware of. If you will, the world will conform to your change in thinking.
I have come to speak of the true knowledge of God. What I tell you is true. There is an inmost center in us all where truth abides in fullness. One called Jesus Christ is that center, saying: “I am the truth.” He has resurrected in me, broken the shell, and, as he came out I was set free. Night after night I become more and more aware that I am the creator of it all.
When someone dies, he does not go to the cemetery to impoverish the relative who put him there. No, he goes within, back to the I AM who is the sender. This morning as I was waking, I met my friend Al, who died at the age of 64. He was the same Al I knew here. He loved my company socially, but after attending three or four of my meetings, he confessed that what I said did not interest him. He loved to sit at his piano on Sunday mornings and cry as he played the old hymns. That satisfied him. But my words made no sense to him at all. Coming back from the depths of my soul, having told the story to those on higher levels of my being who could hear me with understanding, I met Al at a railroad station. He was sitting at a counter having a snack. That was all he wanted of me here, was to join him in a little physical meal. He was the same Al, still denying the Fatherhood of God as I have experienced it. He had his own fatherhood of God and could cry his eyes out while playing the lovely old hymns. He could sing “Nearer my God to thee,” yet continue to think of his God as way out in space. When I told him of the only God who is housed within, he turned a deaf ear. He had his own little Jesus Christ and wanted no one to rob him of that.
Scripture tells that when those who heard him tell of the Father could not accept his words, he said: “I go unto my Father and your Father, to my God and your God.” Now I ask you, if I and my Father are one, and I and your Father are one, are you and I not one? Those who call themselves Christians today still reject Him. They have their little icons out in space and worship some stupid little concept of the mind, unable to believe in the resurrection coming from within. But I tell you: you are God the Father of humanity, the most wonderful, theatrical play ever conceived. And you are God, playing all the parts until you awaken, break the shell, and are self-born. Coming out of humanity, you return to the Being you really are, for there is nothing but God.
Everyone is playing the eternal play, told so beautifully in scripture. When the resurrection occurred, the only scripture known at the time was the Old Testament. There was no New. He interpreted the Old by telling his experiences.
In the three oldest manuscripts of the Book of John, the 18th verse of the first chapter reads: “No one has ever seen God. He who is in the bosom of the Father, God’s only begotten, he has made him known.” In the 4th century the word “son” was substituted for the word “God” and the sentence rearranged from “God’s only begotten” to “the only begotten Son.” My mission is to let you know who that Son is. He is David, God’s only begotten, and there is no other Son. The churches cannot see it, because they have rearranged scripture to fit their purpose. But you have never heard any bold affirmation concerning I am the tradition or I am the convention. You will hear I am the truth, I am the way, I am the life, I am the resurrection – but never I am the convention, or I am the tradition. We are hiding from ourselves when we keep traditions and conventions alive. Convention says Jesus Christ is God’s Son, but our Bible has been changed over and over again by men who – having no vision – cannot understand its truth.
Here is a vision of a friend: In the vision she finds herself in a gambling casino. The owner approaches carrying a stick to count off her winnings which – instead of being chips – is a long loaf of French bread, sliced, but joined at the crust. She calls out $50 and he repeats the sum and cuts off a slice of bread. Then she said: “$100.” He repeated the amount and cut another slice. Every time she gave a figure he repeated it, becoming more and more frustrated with each slice, much to her enjoyment. Coming to the end of the loaf she said to herself: “What number shall I call next?” and she heard “$1,150.” As she called it and received the entire loaf, the loaf began to bleed like a rare piece of roast beef, and she awoke.
The figure 1,150 is important here as it totals the number tone [sic] seven, which is Spiritual perfection. In his 6th chapter, John speaks of bread as “my body,” saying: “Unless you eat my body and drink my blood you have no life in yourself.” Why? Because life is in the blood. Here is a perfect vision of the symbolism of scripture. She has completely accepted the truth that the body of God is her own wonderful human imagination. Life (blood) is flowing forth from her now, as she has accepted her imaginal body in its fullness and blames no one else now, for she knows he is only herself. When you reach the point where you cannot blame another because you have accepted your imagination as the sole cause of the phenomena of life, you have eaten the loaf and drank the blood.
Your recent letters have thrilled me beyond measure. One gentleman found himself attending a concert at the Hollywood Bowl, listening to a long-haired gentleman who – he intuitively knew – would repeat the same performance. Instantly knowing it was being presented again, he became aware of a lady seated next to him, who said: “What is that in the sky?” Taking his binoculars, he looked up to see a multicolored bird resembling a parrot, who spoke, saying: “Get out of here. We don’t want any part of you.” Then it came down and touched his face with its wings.
This was no idle dream, but a wonderful adumbration of what will take place when the multi-colored parrot becomes a pure white dove. It was a woman in his vision, not a man. It will be a woman who will turn and say to him: “They avoid Man, but He so loves you He penetrated the ring of offense to demonstrate his love.” His vision was a foreshadowing of what is in store for him.
A lady, whose eyes are now open as an incurrent witness, saw me dying. In her vision she told her friend not to touch me, for if she did I would not be set free. Then, as she watched, I died. These are wonderful visions for her to have, for “Unless I die thou canst not live. But if I die I rise again and thou with me. Wouldst thou love one who never died for thee? Or ever die for one who has not died for thee? And if God dieth not for Man and giveth not Himself eternally for Man, Man could not exist. So God died.” I have awakened from the dream of life. I have been born from above, and the only one who is born from above is God, He who perpetually dies. Her vision was perfect, and I cannot congratulate her enough.
I am not here to flatter you, but to tell you the truth as I have experienced it. There truly is an inmost center in us all, where truth abides in fullness; and to know the true knowledge of God we must stop trying to break through from without. Rather, we must release this imprisoned splendor from within.
Listen to my story. Believe it implicitly, and the crust will break; and he who is radiant light will come out, transforming everything it touches into beauty and perfection, to reflect the perfection you know yourself to be. We are told in the 25th [chapter] of Matthew: “Come, blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” This kingdom is a body of perfection. Awakening in that body of awareness, you know yourself to be that which the world is reflecting. And in that body you cannot come upon imperfection because you are perfect. That is what is in store for you. “Come, blessed of my Father, enter into and inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”
In his 5th chapter, John tells those around him that they have never heard His voice or seen His form, but “I know thee, O Lord.” And in the 17th chapter, he turns to his disciples and says of them: “They know that thou hast sent me.” He knew he had found a few who really believed his story and would spread it. Then others would continue the telling, as it will grow and grow. The truth of which I speak has been heard through the hearing of your ear; but eventually you will know the true knowledge of God from experience.
Turn your ears away from anyone who speaks of a God outside of you, for there is no external God. He who created and supports the world is housed in you. These words are blasphemy to the world, but I tell you they are true. One day you will crack the shell, and He who is imprisoned splendor will come out. Memory will return, and you will know all that you knew before that the world was.
By coming down and taking on the limitations of the flesh, you have expanded yourself beyond what you were prior to your descent. I tell you: no one takes your life, you laid it down yourself. You have the power to lay it down and the power to pick it up again. We came down of our own accord because there was no one else to come, as we are the Elohim. The word first appears as the word “God” in the statement: “In the beginning God.” It is the Elohim who said: “Let us make man in our image,” and the word was translated “Lord” in the statements “The Lord took his place in the divine council.” In the midst of the gods (Elohim) he held judgment saying: “I say, You are gods (Elohim) Sons of the Most High, all of you; nevertheless, you shall die like men and fall as one man, O Princes.” It takes all of humanity to form the one God who created and sustains the universe.
I am not speaking of anyone on the outside. That is not the truth of which the scriptures speak. It makes no effort to change society, but rather urges all to “Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar’s.” He doesn’t try to make the slave a free person, but leaves him just as he is. Today all of our energies are going into keeping records and changing things. I recently received a notice from the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. I thought they were interested in my health, and since I have been paying their insurance since 1936, I went to see them today. The lady asked me many questions, none of which were related to my health. She said she knew everything else about me, which confirmed my suspicions that we are all computerized numbers. She needed proof that I would be 65 this coming February. I showed her my passport, for I have no driver’s license as I do not drive, but she wanted a birth certificate. I told her that on the island and in the year I was born, a birth certificate was too expensive; but I was baptized and somewhere I have that certificate. She urged me to write for it, and I will; but our visit made me realize that everything about the garment you wear is already known by the government, all carefully computerized and filed.
But you are not the garment, which – in my case – will be 65 in February. You created the world; so don’t let anyone scare you, as you and the one who is trying to frighten you, are one and the same being. There is no other God. You can prove my words by simply imagining you are already living in the state you desire. Do not raise one finger to make it so; simply believe it to be so. Go about your business as though it were true and it will happen, because that is the way you brought everything into being.
Can you imagine what it would be like if you were the man (the woman) you would like to be? Sustain that imaginal act as though it were true, and no power in the world can stop it from becoming true, because there is no other power. Try it beginning tonight. Take a glorious concept of life. Nothing less than the very best, and simply imagine it to be true about you and those you love. Start with your immediate circle and – although at the moment your circle may deny it by reason of what they are doing – persist in your assumption as though it were true, and it will harden into fact.
Grant all of your sleeping brothers their right to pursue God in some other direction. They will never find him in any other way, save by experiencing the story of Jesus Christ. Then and only then will they know the true knowledge of God.
Now let us go into the silence.