Neville Goddard is considered by many to be the ultimate teacher and source for the Law of Assumption. Therefore, his entire collected works published in The Neville Goddard Delux Collection by Noah Press is where we shall begin with book reviews and recommendations.
If you’re just starting your journey with the Law of Assumption and you have yet to read Goddard, this is where you should begin and end. I suggest obtaining his entire collected works and you can buy them individually, in sets, or in this massive monster tome. There is a lot of information to absorb and if you’re ever in confusion regarding manifestation, I always suggest going to the source (Goddard) and moving away from repeatedly seeking answers from YouTube or Reddit or other social media. Just seek Neville. Consuming too many theories on the LoA can cause you to get confused and can cause doubt.
As for the art of manifesting your desired reality, the most important concepts, I feel, to be taken from Neville are the I AM (knowing that you have God within you and all the power), doing your SAtS every single night while focusing on a scene that implies you already have your wish, and reaching the Sabbath.
At Your Command
This first short book acts as a baseline with the master message at hand: you are the God of your own reality. Neville asks you to let go of your old convictions of the self and decree the reality you choose for yourself. The importance of forgiveness is also a major topic discussed.
“If you, the reader, will give up all of your former beliefs in a God apart from yourself, and claim God as your awareness of being – as Jesus and the prophets did – you will transform your world with the realization that, “I and my father are one.””
Awakened Imagination & The Search
This book delves deep into one’s ability to conjure the very reality he or she desires by learning to adjust their inner and subconscious thoughts to match those desires. If your inner thoughts are laden with doubts and fears, that which you desire will not manifest. Goddard provides tips and advice, including SAtS (State Akin to Sleep) and other imaginal acts, to help train your brain to think more positively and align with the reality you desire. Again, forgiveness and love for others is at play in this book.
We are also introduced to the notion that “creation is finished” and that all potential realities exist simultaneously. There is no reality we cannot conjure or have. All possibilities exist.
“We, by a series of mental transformations, become aware of increasing portions of that which already is, and by matching our own mental activity to that portion of creation which we desire to experience, we activate it, resurrect it, and give it life.”
Feeling Is the Secret
One of Goddard’s most popular and most quoted books, Feeling is the Secret dives deep into the interconnectedness of feelings and thoughts and how they work in tandem to bolster your subconscious and become a stronger being. Sleep, prayer, and belief are elements that can help you to control emotions and therefore, your reflected reality. Goddard explains how uncontrolled emotions cause desired outcomes to collapse while providing ways to control these emotions through SAtS, prayer, and the belief that you are God.
“All changes of expression are brought about through a change of feeling. A change of feeling is a change of destiny. All creation occurs in the domain of the subconscious. What you must acquire, then, is a reflective control of the operation of the subconscious; that is, control of your ideas and feelings.”
Freedom For All
Goddard uses the Bible as the ultimate parable to explain the Laws of Assumption. In this book, he draws many examples and shows how the authors used stories and parables as a way to explain who you truly are and the power that each of us holds as we create and manifest our own realities. He also discusses the meaning of the Sabbath as it relates to the Law of Assumption, and this is a day of rest after six hard days of staying true to your convictions and mastering your feelings. The Sabbath is when you can rest knowing that your desires are already in your grasp. Another concept that is built upon is the art of healing and how removing one’s attention from a problem or something that causes emotional pain essentially drains the life out of that reality.
“Man discovered that his consciousness was the cause or creator of his world, so he proceeded to tell the story of creation in a series of symbolic stories known to us today as the Bible.”
He Breaks the Shell
Goddard simplifies His creation of mankind into four main acts. Act 1 is our resurrection in which we become awakened within our bodies and minds. In Act 2, we find our spirituality and understand that this is our true purpose. In Act 3 we discover that God is within us and in Act 4 God is satisfied with His creation. As I understand it, Goddard believes we repeat these acts until we reach Act 4. This book is filled with examples of scripture and his interpretations.
“God’s primal wish, “Let us make man in our image,” is maturing to its appointed hour.
I Know my Father
This book is an in-depth discussion on the I AM – your consciousness of being. Nevile explains that when people do not understand that they have this innate power within them, they are enslaved and resigned to however they identify as. He asks you to choose who you are, whenever you like. You have the power to decide your own reality by choosing who you are, and the outer world around you has no choice but to reflect this. He also reiterates to ignore things in reality that counter your professed I AM. They will change soon enough.
“Claim yourself now, this moment, to be that which you desire to be and regardless of what your claim may be your Father, the awareness that is Now, will give it to you by becoming the thing claimed but you must ask him in this manner.”
Out of This World
Not to be skipped, this book discusses the importance of focusing your attention on the spiritual plane rather than the 3D. Your imagination is how you do this. What you pay attention to alters your state of being, so don’t let your immediate reality (your physical surroundings) control your thoughts. Turn away from anything that displeases you and fix that reflection by doing your imaginal scenes and SAtS. Neville stresses that your connection to the supernatural and your control will strengthen when you turn more toward your own mind rather than focusing on the physical plane. Many people interpret this book as an example to get unplugged, turn off the TV, and use your imagination. Want entertainment? Pick up a book, not the remote. Dedicate more of your time to prayer and imagination, and your 3D world will change faster.
“The habit of withdrawing attention from the region of sensation and concentrating it on the invisible develops our spiritual outlook and enables us to penetrate beyond the world of sense and to see that which is invisible.”
The Art of Believing
This is another of Neville’s most quoted books. Here, he discusses the requirement of believing your imagination. When you have utter faith and conviction in the desired outcome that you envision, only then will your prayers be answered in the affirmative. He also discusses the very nature of these desires and imaginings – they must be positive. For if you are constantly dwelling on an argument or something that makes you angry (when you desire the opposite), it is a continuation of this argument and malcontent that you will experience. Do not judge others but only see the good in others. In essence, be as Christ himself. Treat others as you would wish to be treated in your imagination and manifestations.
“There must be no conflict in your mind when you are praying. Turn from what is to what ought to be. Assume the mood of fulfilled desire, and by the universal law of reversibility, you will realize your desire.”
Ressurection – A Confession of Faith
This book is more of a theological discussion and interpretation than anything else. Neville pulls scripture from the Bible and proceeds to explain it in terms of the Laws of Assumption. This can be a little thick to wade though if you don’t have a good understanding of the Bible.
“There is no secular history in the Bible. The Bible is the history of salvation and is wholly supernatural.”
Seedtime and Harvest
This is a wonderful compilation of wisdom and real-life success stories to read. In this book, Neville shares some of his own successes as well of those of his students and listeners. He explains the problems that he or others have had and what they wanted to see changed, and then the steps they took to see these problems rectified. Much of the solution was simply to reframe the thoughts these people had of others. To let go of the anger and see them in light and love when going into their imaginative state and SAtS. He explains that when we direct negative emotions toward someone or something, those negative emotions come right back to us.
“Transformation is in principle always possible, for the transformed being lives in us, and it is only a question of becoming conscious of it.”
The Law and the Promise
One of the most exciting books there is, The Law and the Promise showcases some of the biggest manifestations his students and friends have created as a result of his teachings. Between the stories, Neville explains how all of the 3D world around you is direct results of our own imaginings. Nothing cannot BE without us, without us creating and sustaining these physical surroundings. He also discusses the art of revision to correct previous mistakes or make big changes in your current reality. And most excitingly, on a personal note, he encourages you to dream big. Whatever amazing and wonderful thing you can imagine – imagine it bigger and better than your own mental limit will allow. The true-life stories you read in this book will excite and motivate you.
“The world in which we live is a world of imagination, and man – through his imaginal activities – creates the realities and the circumstances of life; this he does either knowingly or unknowingly.”
The Power of Awareness
This book is where Neville gets to the nitty gritty of assumptions, and these assumptions are not about other things, only about the self. Knowing your “I AM” is the awareness of your own consciousness and knowing that you have the power to deliver imagination to reality, and you do this not by changing anything externally but only by assuming who you are in relation to the external world. Assume the identity you want. He discusses faith, constant persistence in the craft, positivity, emotional states, and more while also delivering more of the massive success stories that are wonderful to read.
“It is only by a change of consciousness, by actually changing your concept of yourself, that you can “build more stately mansions” – the manifestations of higher and higher concepts.”
Your Faith Is Your Fortune
In this book, Neville requests that you have faith in the I AM and in the law. He suggests that you need to abandon the thought that God is apart from you and instead fully accept that your consciousness is the the creator of all around you. You are the master, the God. In order to bring about all of your wildest fantasies, you must accept and declare your I AM, and then turn your back on all things that displease you. Know with certainty that you have all the power within you to create anything you desire.
“If man would give up his belief in a God apart from himself, recognize his awareness of being to be God (this awareness fashions itself in the likeness and image of its conception of itself), he would transform his world from a barren waste to a fertile field of his own liking.”