A lesson inspired by Neville Goddard’s teachings.
So you’ve done your imaginal act, planted the seed and now feel certain that your manifestation will occur any moment. Then you’re blindsided by the physical reality appearing to show you the opposite. Or new obstacles suddenly arise out of nowhere. So how do you avoid reacting to the “3D” — undesirable circumstances in the current physical reality? How do you remain in the state of the wish fulfilled?
Soothe Yourself with Affirmations
There are several tactics you can try to avoid reactions to unwanted occurrences. You can use simple phrases, a.k.a. affirmations, to soothe yourself and affirm what you want. If it’s not something stressful, you may say to yourself, “I am sure to have it, sooner than later.” Neville says not to say I WILL BE but I AM. However there is no need to be superstitious about phrasing because it’s not that literal. He’s talking about a state of consciousness, feeling yourself NOW to be that person who inevitably has the desired experience. He’s not saying future planning keeps things at bay. What matters is identifying with the desired experience, so that you feel a certain expectancy of it and neutralize any longing or frustration.
‘Ye shall decree a thing and it shall come to pass’ can now be told in this manner: You shall become conscious of being or possessing a thing and you shall express or possess that which you are conscious of being.
The law of consciousness is the only law of expression.
‘I AM the way.’ ‘I AM the resurrection.’
Your Faith is Your Fortune – Chapter 2, Neville Goddard
If it’s something more urgent, then you might soothe yourself by saying something like, “Be still and know that I am God.” You can also breathe and release any negative energy. Letting emotion pass without mental narration is important — don’t repress the physical emotion but don’t assign it the meaning of an undesirable reality. No more “old story.” After that release, you can then affirm what you want and that “It’s a done deal.” This is a good phrase because it doesn’t require the desired thing or situation to be in your immediate physical experience. It’s like the Amazon order analogy; as long as you don’t cancel it, your order will arrive very soon. So you must also do nothing to “cancel it.” Don’t mentally imagine or even consider any other option. If you find your mind veering, playfully dismiss any fear with an attitude of “that’s silly and not real.” And then steer it back again to what you want, and again affirm it is done.
Satan, Blake writes, is a ‘Reactor.’ He never acts; he only reacts. And if our attitude to the happenings of the day is ‘reactionary,’ are we not playing Satan’s part?
The spiritual man Acts; for him, anything that he wants to do, he can do and do at once in his imagination. And his motto is always, ‘The Moment is Now.’
The Law and the Promise – Chapter 14, Neville Goddard
Revise in Real Time
Most important is dealing with any onslaught of information and “facts” that appear to oppose the desire. These prove most challenging for people to ignore. It’s easy to forget who you are and react. Revise in real time as much as possible to avoid reacting*. In your mind, try talking over what you are hearing in the moment, imagining different words if it’s unfavorable news. In the Law and the Promise, Neville tells the story of a man who does instant revision when he goes into a shop to get a record that was supposedly sold out. The shopkeeper says he doesn’t have it. But the man decides to hear something else. Then of course he gets it.
*Note: to create space between your observer mind and your reactions, practice mindfulness meditation regularly and it will become habitual. Neville advises practicing the ability to focus and direct the mind in a drowsy state; it’s the same thing.
The power of attention is the measure of your inner force. Concentrated observation of one thing shuts out other things and causes them to disappear.
Your attention must be developed, controlled, and concentrated in order to change your concept of yourself successfully and thereby change your future.
The Power of Awareness – Chapter 6, Neville Goddard
Here’s where revision gets really interesting: not only can you revise the unfavorable event or news in real time, but if you do happen to react badly to it, you can also revise your reaction! So while you definitely don’t want to indulge in old stories and reactions that don’t align with your desired state, also don’t be unduly afraid of your own reactions or random thoughts to the point of superstition. Simply give them less weight, and regard your current calmed-down state as overriding it. Once a reaction is past, it can immediately be revised.
Now this is how we do it. At the end of my day, I review the day; I don’t judge it, I simply review it. I look over the entire day, all the episodes, all the events, all the conversations, all the meetings; and then, as I see it clearly in my mind’s eye, I rewrite it. I rewrite it and make it conform to the ideal day I wish I had experienced. I take scene after scene and rewrite it, revise it, and having revised my day, then in my imagination I relive that day, the revised day, and I do it over and over in my imagination until this seeming imagined state begins to take on to me the tones of reality.
The Pruning Shears of Revision, Neville Goddard
Stop, Drop and Meditate
Another tip is to do “mini meditation sessions” on the spot when you notice yourself reacting negatively. You don’t need to get into a deep meditative state, so you can do this anywhere. If you can close your eyes, then do so; but really, you simply need to take a few breaths and relax the body as much as possible. Then ask yourself in your mind, “How does it feel to have what I want?” As an answer, mentally pull up an imaginal scene or repeat an affirmation that allows you to yield to a satisfied and certain feeling. This takes maybe 10-30 seconds max.
Releasing Prayers
When something undesirable occurs, we may avoid taking responsibility for having selected it with our own consciousness because, well, that feels bad. It feels better to blame someone or something else and feel righteous instead. But in the long run, it would feel so much better to actually create what you want! So to not take responsibility for your unwanted creation is also a failure to claim your power. To dissolve any shame and blame or anger towards others or yourself that prevents you from shifting to the desired state, you can try some “releasing prayers.” These are especially helpful when you’re struggling to get past an emotional reaction to something undesirable. And these are also essentially revision practices, which is what forgiveness is.
Don’t blame; only resolve.
Awakened Imagination – Chapter 4, Neville Goddard
Here are three releasing prayers to try:
- The first is called the ho’oponopono prayer. This is a forgiveness meditation inspired by a traditional Hawaiian conflict healing practice. If you’re not familiar with the prayer, it’s simply repeating the phrases: “I am sorry. Please forgive me. Thank you. I love you.” It doesn’t have to be directed at anyone or anything, although it can be. Essentially you’re always forgiving yourself for having selected a reality you don’t desire. That empowers you to select something better. Frankly, the exact phrases don’t really matter, nor their order. It’s not that the words are “magical,” but the simple yet deep implications of these phrases are striking to the subconscious. You might also either picture your past self — whose consciousness selected the undesirable circumstance — or yourself as a child. And of course, do this in a relaxed meditative state, often increasingly getting more and more relaxed as you breathe, and any emotional energy over a matter neutralizes.
- The second is taken from various “prayers” written by Joseph Murphy, another past teacher of the Law. His scripts are often very long, so these are shortened to become simple affirmations: “Divine love is alive in me today” or “I am filled with divine love.” Again, words matter less than their impact on you, and certain phrases may strike an individual more than another. Think of love as dissolving any hurt, bitterness, anger, etc., that prevents you from entering your desired state of consciousness. So here again, you can do repetitions in an increasingly relaxed state until the reaction fades and a peaceful feeling comes over you. Try coming up with your own mini-prayers also!
- A third prayer style is to focus on body tension while saying some “letting go” affirmations, such as these by Louise Hay, another teacher of the Law. She focused her teaching on getting past negative emotions you’re holding onto that may be causing physical ailments (“dis-ease”). So it helps to tune into your body a lot, as the outer state reflects the inner. Get relaxed, and then see if you can find a point of tension in the body — anything from pain to an itch. Then repeat your chosen affirmation while intently focusing on that part, seeing if you can relax it more. Suggested phrases: “I move forward with grace and ease;” “I am willing to let go;” “ I let go of whatever may be blocking me;” and “All is well in my world.”
Therefore, a very good practice before you enter into your meditation is first to free every man in the world from blame. For LAW is never violated, and you can rest confidently in the knowledge that every man’s conception of himself is going to be his reward. So you do not have to bother yourself about seeing whether or not man gets what you consider he should get. For life makes no mistakes and always gives man that which man first gives himself.
At Your Command – Chapter 3, Neville Goddard
Formal meditation of being in particular position or closing one’s eyes isn’t necessary. These practices can be done anywhere, at anytime, and at any length. You may also try using any of the prayers for in-the-moment revisions to any old mentality that you may detect, to interrupt an unwanted pattern playing out, or to soothe fear of an unwanted future occurrence. Again, practicing mindfulness meditation helps you catch these reactions immediately, so you can shift into the state of the wish fulfilled. This is what “mental diet” basically is. As your old mental patterns “wither,” and you cease to react negatively to external conditions, your new inner state will become habitual, and then, the wish must manifest.
Just as a branch withers and dies if the sap of the vine ceases to flow towards it, so do things in your world pass away if you take your attention from them; because your attention is as the sap of life that keeps alive and sustains the things of your world.
To dissolve a problem that now seems so real to you, all that you do is remove your attention from it. In spite of its seeming reality, turn from it in consciousness. Become indifferent, and begin to feel yourself to be that which would be the solution of the problem.
At Your Command – Chapter 3, Neville Goddard
When you have taken your attention away completely by shutting out the evidence of the senses, begin to FEEL the joy of having received the things desired. When the agreement is established within you so that all doubts and fears have passed away, then you too will fill all the empty measures of your life and have an abundance running over.
At Your Command – Chapter 4, Neville Goddard
NOW is the accepted time. So create a new heaven, enter into a new state of consciousness, and a new earth will appear. ‘The former things shall pass away. They shall not be remembered, not come into mind anymore. For behold, I (your consciousness) come quickly and my reward is with me.’
At Your Command – Chapter 4, Neville Goddard