In this article, we’ll explore what the Imagination truly is. According to Neville Goddard, and many other New Thought authors, Imagination is not just your ability to “make stuff up” — It’s the infinite creative power of the universe within you.
When you learn how to direct your Imagination, you will have opened the door to a totally new way of living. It is the power behind manifestation
What is Imagination According To Neville Goddard?
Pure Imagination is the first cause, the creative power and the fundamental reality.
In Neville’s words, your Imagination is “God-in-man” (I Am All Imagination) or “the actual creative power of God within you.” (Imagination Creates Reality)
Think of your Imagination as the infinite power, source, and intelligence that initially created you, now manifested in your own being. It is your true self. Within you, Imagination is an infinite power and intelligence, the source of all things, the infinite love and life. It is God, or pure spirit itself. As you gradually learn to wield this power, you will be able to manifest anything you want.
Experientially, when you go into meditation, you can feel that there is a greater presence within you. This is your Imagination, the greater self. This is something that is hard to explain in words, but something you can experience by going into meditation.
In my view, the term Imagination is equivalent to other terms you may have heard, like the subconscious mind, subjective mind, spirit, consciousness, and so on. These are all just different ways of describing the same power and its presence within you.
How Imagination Creates Reality
Your imagination is the creator of your reality. All of your external conditions and circumstances are the result of internal states of imagination.
It follows from this that the physical world has no causative power. It is only a projection of Imagination in much the same way that a virtual reality video game is the result of electrical signals within the computer.
If your present reality is unfavorable or you have a goal you want manifested, don’t look to change the external world through outer action. Instead, look to the redeeming power of Imagination — this is where the true cause lies.
Through the proper use of your Imagination, you can achieve or become anything you desire. You have an infinite power at your disposal, and there is no limit to what it can do for you.
How To Use Your Imagination For Manifesting Your Desires
Let’s now look at how to use your Imagination for the manifestation of any goal or desire you may have.
In this section, I will highlight some important principles for the practical application of this power.
A Definite Technique
First, here is a technique Neville taught for manifesting something. I talk more about this in my article on Neville’s “SATS” technique.
- Pick a goal, a desire you want to manifest into your life.
- Go into a meditative, trance-like state of consciousness.
- Imagine a scene that would take place had your desire been accomplished. For example, if you wanted to be financially free, you could imagine yourself traveling, driving a new car, being congratulated by friends, or whatever it may be. This is an “imaginal act,” as Neville called it.
- Feel the reality of the scene as if you were actually there. Do not use effort. Sacrifice the vividness of your visualization for effortlessness. It has to be easy.
- Once you’ve woken up from your meditation, you can go about your daily life as usual. If you did the technique correctly, you will have impressed your imagination. It will undertake the task, and bring it into manifestation.
General Rules to Follow When Using Your Imagination
Let’s now go over some general rules of application. How do we provide the optimal mental conditions so that we get the best possible results?
Effortlessness and ease: In the practice of using your Imagination, the law of reversed effort reigns supreme. It should always be EASY to perform the imaginal act. This is due to the dual aspect of the mind. You are not using willpower, which is of the conscious mind, you are using the Imagination, the deeper power within you. It’s not your individual self that does the work, but “the Father” — a point often emphasized by Neville.
Permeating the mind with the feeling of the wish fulfilled: Immerse yourself in the scene of your accomplished desire. Feel the reality of it. Holding one thought to the exclusion of all others, combined with a trance-like state of consciousness is really effective. This total self-persuasion is the best method I know of for directing Imagination. Again, remember that this should be easy and effortless.
Meditation/Trance/State akin to sleep: Engaging in meditation or entering a trance-like state, you remove the barriers of the conscious reasoning mind. In this state, the external world dims, and the internal world amplifies, allowing a pure, unfiltered connection with Imagination.
You can read more about the importance of meditation in this article.
Simplicity: While the analysis and study of Imagination and manifestation may be complicated and intellectually engaging, the practical aspect should remain uncomplicated and straightforward. Again, this goes hand in hand with the principles of effortlessness and ease. When doing your imaginal act, don’t overthink things. Simply just do the method explained earlier intuitively and without analyzing or intellectualizing the process too much.
Conclusion
Hopefully, you now have a greater understanding of what Imagination is, and you’ll be able to read and understand Neville’s works more clearly. Remember, there is only one unified power, no matter the term you may use. It doesn’t matter whether you call it Imagination, the subconscious mind, spirit, God, Consciousness, etc., they are all talking about the same thing in different ways.
You can actually “find” your Imagination by meditating. Try meditating, and try manifesting something. Experiment, see what happens! Before you know it, you will have learned to wield a power greater than you could have ever imagined!
Anyway, I hope you found this article helpful. Thanks for reading!
