Glossary of Terms

Abdullah was an Ethiopian rabbi and Neville Goddard's esoteric teacher. He introduced Neville to the deeper, psychological meanings of the Bible and the Kabbalah, teaching him the foundational principle that imagination creates reality. He instructed Neville through practical application, famously telling him, "You are already in Barbados" when Neville desired to travel there without money.

Assumption is the act of adopting the feeling of the wish fulfilled. It is the practice of living from the end, assuming the psychological state of having already attained one's goal, rather than thinking of the goal. According to Neville, an assumption, though false, if persisted in, will harden into fact.

In Neville's teaching, Christ is not a historical figure, but rather the Human Imagination itself. Christ is the creative power and wisdom of God embedded within every individual. The birth of Christ represents the awakening of man to the realization that his own imagination is God.

The fundamental premise of Neville's philosophy. It states that there is nothing in the external world that does not originate from consciousness. The physical world is merely a mirror reflecting the contents of consciousness. Therefore, to change the external world, one must first change their consciousness.

A concept denoting that all people and events in your external world are simply reflections of your own internal states, beliefs, and assumptions. Others have no free will in your reality; they only play the roles you subconsciously assign them. Thus, changing your concept of yourself automatically changes how others behave toward you.

Feeling is the secret to manifestation. It is not merely an emotion, but the deep, sensory and psychological conviction that a desired state is already a present reality. To effectively impress the subconscious mind, a desire must be felt as a current fact.

For Neville, God is not an external deity residing in the sky, but the absolute awareness of being, defined by the name "I AM." God and human imagination are one and the same. The external world is the outward projection of God (Imagination) expressing itself through man.

"I AM" is the unconditioned awareness of being. It is the fundamental state of existence before any attributes (like "I am rich" or "I am poor") are attached to it. It is the true name of God and the core identity of every human being, serving as the blank canvas upon which reality is painted.

Human imagination is the divine body of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is the sole creator of the external world. Neville divided imagination into two forms: natural (carnal) imagination, which passively reflects the evidence of the senses, and Awakened Imagination, which actively dictates and creates reality from within.

The Law of Assumption is the central operational principle of Neville's teachings. It posits that whatever you assume to be true and feel as a reality, your subconscious mind will accept and objectify in your physical world. It is the mechanism by which imagining creates reality.

The practical application of the Law of Assumption. It means to conduct one's inner life—thoughts, feelings, and internal conversations—from the perspective of already having obtained one's desire. It is dwelling in the end state rather than hoping for it in the future.

The practice of rigorously observing and controlling one's inner conversations and thoughts. Neville taught that just as our physical bodies are built from the food we eat, our external circumstances are built from the internal words and ideas we consistently consume and entertain.

Revision is the practice of altering one's memory of past events to match what one wishes had happened. Neville taught that because time is an illusion and all things exist now in imagination, revising a past event effectively changes its consequences in the present and future.

The Sabbath is not a specific day of the week, but a mystical state of mind. It is the profound sense of peace and rest that follows the successful assumption of a desire. When one has fully accepted that the work is done in imagination, they enter the Sabbath, resting from mental effort while the seed grows into physical manifestation.

A state (or State of Consciousness) is an attitude of mind, a body of beliefs, or a psychological condition that a person occupies. Neville taught that there are infinite states of consciousness (like poverty, wealth, sickness, health) and that individuals are simply animating the state they currently reside in. A person can move from one state to another through imagination.

Often abbreviated as SATS, this is a borderline state of consciousness between waking and sleeping, similar to deep meditation or mild hypnosis. Neville recommended entering this drowsy, relaxed state to impress the subconscious mind with the feeling of the wish fulfilled, as the conscious mind's resistance is lowered.

In Neville's teaching, the Golden Rule ("Do unto others as you would have them do unto you") is the ultimate ethical boundary for using imagination. Because "everyone is you pushed out," imagining harm for another ultimately brings harm to oneself. Imagination should only be used lovingly on behalf of others.

The Law refers to the overarching principle that "Imagining Creates Reality." It dictates that our outer world is an exact reflection of our inner state of consciousness. The Law can be consciously applied to change one's circumstances.

The Promise is the ultimate destiny of man: the awakening and unfolding of God within the individual. While The Law allows us to change our physical world, The Promise is the realization of our true divine nature, culminating in the complete resurrection of the individual as God.