The world we experience is merely a reflection of our assumptions about it. Through the power of imagination, you can change your world and fulfil your wildest dreams.

For the 38-year-old Neville Goddard receiving the military conscription letter was nothing short of a nightmare. Due to his age and family responsibilities, Goddard dreaded the prospect of having to leave his wife and daughter for a world war he was ill-prepared to confront. His options were severely limited; if his commanding officer did not approve of his discharge, the decision would be final. Following regulations, he petitioned for discharge, yet his request was denied within four hours of its submission. With nowhere else to turn, Goddard looked within. Many years prior, Goddard had trained under the tutelage of an Ethiopian Jew named Abdullah, who had taught him the esoteric meanings of the Bible. Abdullah revealed that everything was Consciousness and that the reality we experience is merely the reflection of what we assume about it. Our assumptions therefore create our world.

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Now was the time in his life to apply this ‘law of assumption’. Channelling all of his concentration, he visualised the future he deeply desired to have, repeating this exercise nightly as he drifted off to sleep. Nine days later, he was allowed to reapply for discharge, only this time, he found success. Goddard offers his personal testimony as evidence for the power and efficacy of the lesson he spent his life preaching – namely, that your world is what you make it. Change your assumptions, and you can change your life. His lectures and series of short books offer a tantalising glimpse into an untapped power he believes we all possess: the ability to overcome any obstacle through the act of visualisation.

There is only one reality: Consciousness. Certain holy scriptures reveal the true name of this Consciousness as I AM. In other words, there is no separation between you – your true Self – and God. Your ‘I’ is the very same ‘I’ of God. Yet if ‘I’ am God, why do I have so little control over my world? This, according to Goddard, is the great illusion. Everything about your world is your own creation. Your beliefs about yourself manifest in the circumstances of your life. 

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While the idea that we all live under an illusion might seem negative, for Goddard, it is the best news we can receive. Illusions can be broken, and once we come to embrace our true identity and the power we have over our world, we can learn to become the master over our situation rather than a slave to its whims. Goddard labels this the ‘law of assumptions’; accordingly, it entails that the world moves in response to our feelings about it. Change your feelings, and the world will follow. 

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How does one achieve this? It begins with desire. First, we must identify and designate the state of affairs we wish to occur. Then, we must enter a state of immobility and full attention, imagining that we have already achieved this state. In other words, we cannot merely want it; we must assume we already have it. The more you invoke your power of visualisation, the greater this power becomes. Soon you will struggle to differentiate your visualisations from the world of manifestation, and returning from the imagined state will come as a shock. The world you see in your imagination has thereby become your future state. For Goddard, this is the essence of prophecy: not seeing into an inevitable future but the calling forth of what one wishes to achieve. 

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Such power will sound daunting to some, but Goddard reminds us that we are always creating based upon our assumptions. The question is simply whether we will do so consciously or not. By embracing our true, divine identity, we can escape the illusion that our circumstances are beyond our control. Anything, no matter how impractical it may seem, is within our reach, for nothing is impossible to God.

Goddard’s claims may sound remarkable to those who have never heard them, but to many who have received them and put them into practice, they are the doorway to a life of success. Goddard, himself, imbues his various works with personal testimonies from those who have applied the law of assumption and seen astonishing results. Over half a century after his passing, his teachings continue to garner hundreds of thousands of supporters, each with their own stories of accomplishment. Yet no amount of testimony or intellectual arguments could ever prove the power of this practice. Goddard, himself, cautions against such an exercise. Certainty only comes from experience. 

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Thus, The Power of Awareness, along with every other Goddard work, is less an attempted proof of his claims than a plea to test his method for yourself. If you want to evaluate its truth, simply try the nearly effortless routine of visualisation. But be warned: Goddard asserts that our ability to manifest what we want remains dependent on our capacity to authentically feel ourselves in that state. And only persistence will yield results.