Neville Goddard SERIES 2 – The Next Level (Week 1)
Lesson 9 – Let’s Make it Simple
“You are now in the garden of Eden ... and the garden is your mind, but you need--like every gardener -- you need pruning shears.
You have a mission, you have a purpose . . . it is not to be some mighty power, but simply to tend the garden of God.
That's your purpose. You are placed in the garden to dress it and to keep it, that only the lovely things grow . . . “
Neville Goddard, The Pruning Shears of Revision (1954)
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I was recently reminded that we are not learning how to make imagination work; instead we are learning to recognize that it is already working - and ALWAYS working. And so we study to put Neville’s words into practice - “YOU are the operant Power; it doesn’t operate itself!”.
I just thought of one of those driverless cars. Are we willing to go wherever it takes us, without programming the destination? Lol, “I’m your vehicle, baby. I’ll take you anywhere you want to go.” (from the song “Vehicle” by The Ides of March - 1970).
We have gotten so use to using our minds and our thoughts, thinking they are a seamless part of us, that it’s easy to forget that the very thing we have been using all our lives is also the ultimate tool of Creation.
There is a distinction between contemplating a teaching and practicing it. Both have value, but we don’t want to turn every experience into an intellectual exercise. Instead the deeper we go, the more practical we get.
Neville often opened his lectures with the words – This is going to be a very practical night . . . . So, let’s follow that lead.
It doesn’t matter if we know scripture “back to front” (as Neville liked to say) if we don’t realize it’s the manual to mastery of the mind and therefore the world. And after that realization comes the crux of the matter, as again the verse surfaces:
“The word came to us as it did to them, but it did not profit them, not being mixed with faith in them that heard it”.
- (Hebrews 4:2, King James Version (KJV)
Everyone has the same inner Christ, the Imagination, but we all live in a different world. We think we are sharing experiences, but in truth our filters lie between us and the story we perceive. Neville is showing us how to remove the filters to more clearly see the truth.
In truth, every moment is a moment of mastery. At some level we can make that commitment or not, we are not forced to apply this teaching to our lives. Neville gave his life to make sure we knew how to use Imagination and could make the choice to be in the driver’s seat of life.
All quotes from THE PRUNING SHEARS OF REVISION - 1954 (excerpts)
“Take the conversations with your friends today - were they pleasant, were they arguments, no matter what it is, were they negative?
Then rewrite the script and just imagine the conversation to have taken place that ... you are writing for the first time.
And it will take place,
for everything in your world that you behold,
though it APPEARS without,
it is within,
in your Imagination.”
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Putting Neville to the Test
Think of something that happened today that you wish had gone differently. It doesn't have to be an emotional incident – you lightly stubbed your toe, someone hung up on you, or maybe your smoke alarm went off.
Close your eyes for a moment.
Recall what happened.
Now Imagine it happening the way you would have preferred.
Experience that revised moment until you feel a sense of joy, as you convince yourself that the new version was what actually happened.
Accept the new experience and move on.
That's all. No analysis of why it happened, and no need to keep checking whether you've done it correctly.
The lesson isn't about becoming better at thinking. It's about becoming more willing to use imagination. We are changing our filters, as it was the filter (state of consciousness) that caused us to perceive the situation in the first place.
“I firmly believe that if you will wisely and daily use the pruning shears of revision that you will find there is no objective beyond your ability to realize.”
“I have found from experience that these revised days, if really lived, will change (our) tomorrows.”
And now, let us go into the Silence . . .
Rosechalice