THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS
By Neville GoddardOther Books by Neville 
AWAKENED IMAGINATION, Includes The Search 
IMMORTAL MAN 
THE LAW AND THE PROMISE 
THE NEVILLE READER    Includes: The Law and The Promise, 
Prayer –
The Art of Believing, 
Feeling is the Secret, 
Resurrection, 
Freedom for All, 
Out of This World, 
Seedtime and Harvest 
THE POWER OF AWARENESS 
YOUR FAITH IS YOUR FORTUNE 
The Power of Awareness    NEVILLE
DeVorss Publications,        Camarilla, California
Copyright © 1952 by Neville
Revised Edition Copyright © 1992 by Victoria Goddard
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission  
in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes. ISBN: 087516-655-5 Sixth Printing, 2005 
DeVorss & Company, Publisher 
P.O. Box 1389 
Camarillo CA 93011-1389            www.devorss.com 
Printed in the United States of America 
To Arthur and his beloved Verne, whose awareness brought this book into being. CONTENTS       http://www.archive.org/stream/ThePowerOfAwareness/Neville_ThePowerOfAwareness#page/n43/mode/2up    
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 2 of 51A Word from the Publisher 
1. I AM 
2. CONSCIOUSNESS 
3. POWER OF ASSUMPTION 
4. DESIRE 
5. THE TRUTH THAT SETS YOU FREE 
6. ATTENTION 
7. ATTITUDE 
8. RENUNCIATION 
9. PREPARING YOUR PLACE 
10. CREATION 
11. INTERFERENCE 
12. SUBJECTIVE CONTROL 
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 3 of 5113. ACCEPTANCE 
14. THE EFFORTLESS WAY 
15. THE CROWN OF THE MYSTERIES 
16. PERSONAL IMPOTENCE 
17. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE 
18. BE YE DOERS 
19. ESSENTIALS 
20. RIGHTEOUSNESS 
21. FREEWILL 
22. PERSISTENCE 
23. CASE HISTORIES 
24. FAILURE 
25. FAITH 
26. DESTINY 
27. REVERENCE 
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 4 of 51A WORD FROM THE PUBLISHER 
FORTY YEARS ago Neville added notes in his own hand to his personal copy of the newly published  
Power of Awareness. In conveying this copy to DeVorss & Company for the purpose of a new printing,  
Neville's daughter, Victoria Goddard, has both authenticated the handwriting as her father's and authorized  
the publication of a new edition incorporating his notes. Of these additions there are no fewer than twenty, ranging in length from several lines to the substitution of  
a single word for another. This latter, however, brief as it is, confers a significant change on the meaning of  
the text. Indeed, Neville's notes everywhere clarify his meaning and in places convey important insights  
and guidance so much so that in his very next work, Awakened Imagination, he would incorporate some of  
them. Thumbing through Neville's copy of this book, I came upon a snapshot of him in Army uniform  
inserted as a bookmark. It was dated 1943 and, on the back, it bore his own inscription to the effect that this  
was the soldier mentioned in Case History 1 (p. 89). And Vicki Goddard has confirmed my surmise that  
Case History 2 (p. 92) is also autobiographical, although more loosely so. Notice that Neville's family  
name, Goddard, is here given as Lordard. Such are the pleasures of playing literary detective, although it has to be conceded that they are greatly  
enhanced by having the author's own working copy of his book to hand. Certainly he is very much alive in  
his printed work, but curiously more so in the handwritten additions one encounters with excitement here  
and there. The reader will find these printed in the body of the text, surrounded by brackets, since in every  
case it was clear precisely where they fell. It is with the thought that Neville's brilliant metaphysics might be, for its students, more vital still that  
DeVorss  &  Company  has  brought  out  this  unique  edition  of  The  Power  of  Awareness. A  word  of  
appreciation and gratitude is due to Vicki Goddard for her generous assistance. THE POWER OF AWARENESS     Arthur Vergara, Editor 
Leave the mirror and change your face. Leave the world alone and change your conceptions of yourself. NEVILLE 
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 5 of 51Chapter One 
                        I AM 
All things when they are admitted are made manifest by the light: for everything that is made manifest is  
light. Eph. 5:13 
THE  "light"  is  consciousness. Consciousness  is  one,  manifesting  in  legions  of  forms  or  levels  of  
consciousness. There is no one that is not all that is, for consciousness, though expressed in an infinite  
series of levels, is not divisional. There is no real separation or gap in consciousness. I AM cannot be  
divided. I may conceive myself to be a rich man, a poor man, a beggar man or a thief, but the  center of my 
being remains the same regardless of the concept I hold of myself. At the center of manifestation there is  
only one I AM manifesting in legions of forms or concepts of itself and "I am that I am." I AM is the self-definition of the absolute, the foundation on which everything rests. I AM is the first  
cause-substance. I AM is the self-definition of God. I AM hath sent me unto you. I AM THAT I AM. Be still and know that I AM God. I AM is a feeling of permanent awareness. The very center of consciousness is the feeling of I AM I may  
forget who I am, where I am, what I am but I cannot forget that I AM. The awareness of being remains,  
regardless of the degree of forgetfulness of who, where, and what I am. I AM is that which, amid unnumbered forms is ever the same. This great discovery of cause reveals that,  
good or bad, man is actually the arbiter of his own fate, and that it is his concept of himself that determines  
the world in which he lives [and his concept of himself is his reactions to life]*  [*Bracketed material is  
explained in the publisher's Px.--Ed. s note. ] In other words. If you are experiencing ill health, knowing the truth about cause, you cannot attribute I Am  
the  illness  to  anything  other  than  to  the  particular  arrangement  of  the  basic  cause-substance,  an  
arrangement which [was produced by your reactions to life, and] is defined by your concept "I am unwell." This is why you are told "Let the weak man say, 'I am strong' " (Joel 3:10), for by his assumption, the  
cause-substance I AM is re-arranged and must, therefore, manifest that which its rearrangement affirms. This principle governs every aspect of your life, be it social, financial, intellectual, or spiritual. I AM is that reality to which, whatever happens, we must turn for an explanation of the phenomena of life. It is I AM's concept of itself that determines the form and scenery of its existence. Everything depends  
upon its attitude towards itself; that which it will not affirm as true of itself cannot awaken in its world. That is, your concept of yourself, such as "I am strong," "I am secure," "I am loved," determines the world  
in which you live. In other words, when you say, "I am a man, I am a father, I am an American," you are  
not defining different I AM's; you  are defining different concepts or arrangements of the one cause-
substance the one I AM. Even in the phenomena of nature, if the tree were articulate it would say, "I am a  
tree, an apple tree, a fruitful tree." Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 6 of 51When you know that consciousness is the one and only reality-conceiving itself to be something good, bad,  
or indifferent, and becoming that which It conceived itself to be -you are free from the tyranny of second  
causes, free from the belief that there are causes outside of your own mind that can affect your life. In the state of consciousness of the individual is found the explanation of the phenomena of life If man s  
concept of himself were different, everything m his world would be different. His concept of himself being  
what it is, everything in his world must be as It IS. It IS dearly clear that there is only one I AM and you are that I AM. And while I AM is infinite, you, by  
your concept of yourself, are displaying only a limited aspect of the infinite I AM. Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul. As the swift seasons roll! Leave thy low-vaulted past! Let  
each new temple, nobler than the last. Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast Till thou at length art  
free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea! Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 7 of 51Chapter Two 
                       CONSCIOUSNESS  
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. (By  manifesting  is  meant  
experiencing the results of these concepts in your world.) It is of vital importance to understand clearly just  
what consciousness is. The reason lies in the fact that consciousness is the one and only reality, it is the first and only cause -sub  
stance of the phenomena of life. Nothing has existence for man save through the consciousness he has of it. Therefore, it is to consciousness you must turn, for it is the only foundation on which the phenomena of life  
can be explained. If we accept the idea of a first cause, it would follow that the evolution of that cause could never result in  
anything  foreign  to  itself. That  is,  if  the  first  cause-substance  is  light,  all  its  evolutions,  fruits,  and  
manifestations would remain light. The first cause-substance being consciousness, all its evolutions, fruits,  
and phenomena must remain consciousness. All that could be observed would be a higher or lower form or  
variation of the same thing. In other words, if your consciousness is the only reality, it must also be the  
only substance. Consequently, what appears to you as circumstances, conditions, and even material objects  
are really only the products of your own consciousness. Nature, then, as a thing or a complex of things  
external  to  your  mind,  must  be  rejected. You  and  your  environment  cannot  be  regarded  as  existing  
separately. You and your world are one. Therefore, you must turn from the objective appearance of things to the subjective center of things, your  
consciousness, if you  truly desire  to know  the cause of the phenomena  of life, and how to use this  
knowledge to realize your fondest dreams. In the midst of the apparent contradictions, antagonisms, and  
contrasts of your life, there is only one principle at work, only your consciousness operating. Difference  
does not consist in variety of substance, but in variety of arrangement of the same cause-substance, your  
consciousness. The world moves with motiveless necessity. By this is meant that it has no motive of its own, but is under  
the necessity of manifesting your concept. Consciousness ' (is?) the arrangement of your mind, and your mind is always arranged in the image of all  
you believe and consent to as true. The rich man, poor man, beggar man or thief are not different minds,  
but different arrangements of the same mind, in the same sense that a piece of steel when magnetized  
differs not in substance from its demagnetized state but in the arrangement and order of its molecules. A  
single electron revolving in a specified orbit constitutes the unit of magnetism. When a piece of steel or  
anything else is demagnetized, the revolving electrons have not stopped. Therefore, the magnetism has not  
gone out of existence. There is only a rearrangement of the particles, so that they produce no outside or  
perceptible effect. When particles are arranged at random, mixed up in all directions, the substance is said  
to be demagnetized but when particles are marshaled in ranks so that a number of them face in one  
direction, the substance is a magnet. Magnetism is not generated; it is displayed. Health, wealth, beauty,  
and genius are not created; they are only manifested by the arrangement of your mind -that is, by your  
concept of yourself [and your concept of yourself is all that you accept and consent to as true. What you  
consent to can only be discovered by an uncritical observation of your reactions to life. Your reactions  
reveal where you live psychologically; and 
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 8 of 51where you live psychologically, determines how you live here m the outer visible world]. The importance  
of this in your daily life should be immediately apparent. The basic nature of the primal cause is consciousness. Therefore, the ultimate substance of all things is  
consciousness. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 9 of 51Chapter Three 
                           POWER OF ASSUMPTION 
Man's chief delusion is his conviction that there are causes other than his own state of consciousness. All  
that befalls a man all that is done by him all that comes from him happens as a result of his state of  
consciousness. A man's consciousness is all that he thinks and desires and loves, all that he believes is true  
and consents to. That is why a change of consciousness is necessary before you can change your outer  
world. Rain falls as a result of a change in the temperature in the higher regions of the atmosphere, so, in  
like manner, a change of circumstance happens as a result of a change in your state of consciousness. Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind. To be transformed, the whole basis of your thoughts must change. But your thoughts cannot 
change unless you have new ideas, for you think from your ideas. All transformation begins with an  
intense, burning desire to be transformed. The first step m the "renewing of the mind" is desire You must  
want to be different [and intend to be] before you can begin to change yourself. Then you must make your  
future dream a present fact. You do this by assuming the feeling of your wish fulfilled. By desiring to be  
other than what you are, you can create an ideal of the person you want to be and assume that you are  
already that person. If this assumption is persisted in until it becomes your dominant feeling, the attainment  
of your ideal is inevitable. The ideal you hope to achieve is always ready for an incarnation, but unless you  
yourself offer It human parentage, it is incapable of birth 
therefore, your attitude should be one in which having desired to express a higher state -you alone accept  
the task of incarnating this new and greater value of yourself. In giving birth to your ideal you must bear in mind that the methods of mental and spiritual knowledge are  
entirely different. This is a point that IS truly understood by probably not more than one person in a  
million. You know a thing mentally by looking at it from the outside, by comparing it with other things, by  
analyzing it and defining if [by thinking of it:] whereas you can know a thing spiritually only by becoming  
it, [only by thinking from it]. You must be the thing itself and not merely talk about it or look at it. You  
must be like the moth in search of his idol, the flame, who spurred with true desire, plunging at once into  
the sacred fire, folded his wings within, till he became one colour and one substance with the flame. He  
only knew the flame who in it burned, and only he could tell who ne'er to tell returned. Just as the moth in his desire to know the flame was willing to destroy himself, so must you in becoming a  
new person be willing to die to your present self. You must be conscious of being healthy if you are to  
know what health is. You must be conscious of being secure if you are to know what security is. Therefore,  
to incarnate a new and greater value of yourself, you must assume that you already are what you want to be  
and then live by faith in this assumption which is not yet incarnate in the body of your life in confidence  
that this new value or state of consciousness will become incarnated through your absolute fidelity to the  
assumption that you are that which you desire to be. This is what wholeness means, what integrity means. They mean. submission of the whole self to the feeling of the wish fulfilled in certainty that that new state  
of consciousness is the renewing of mind which transforms. There is no order in Nature corresponding to  
this willing submission of the self to the ideal beyond the self. Therefore, it is the height of folly to expect  
the incarnation of a new and greater concept of self to come about by natural evolutionary process. That  
which requires a state of consciousness to produce its effect obviously cannot be effected without such a  
state of consciousness, and in your ability to assume the feeling of a greater life, to assume a new concept  
of yourself, you possess what the rest of Nature does not possess Imagination the instrument by which you  
create your world. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 10 of 51Your imagination is the instrument, the means, whereby your redemption from slavery, sickness, and  
poverty is effected. If you refuse to assume the responsibility of the incarnation of a new and higher  
concept of yourself, then you reject the means, the only means, whereby your redemption that is, the  
attainment of your ideal can be effected. Imagination is the only redemptive power in the universe. However, your nature is such that it is optional  
to you whether you remain in your present concept of yourself (a hungry being longing for freedom, health,  
and security) or choose to become the instrument of your own redemption, imagining yourself as that  
which you want to be, and thereby satisfying your hunger and redeeming yourself. O be strong then, and brave, pure, patient and true; The work that is yours let no other hand do. For the  
strength, for all need, is faithfully given From the fountain within you the Kingdom of Heaven. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 11 of 51Chapter Four 
                           DESIRE 
THE CHANGES which take place in your life as a result of your changed concept of yourself always  
appear to the unenlightened to be the result, not of a change of your consciousness, but of chance, outer  
cause, or coincidence. However, the only fate governing your life is the fate determined by your own  
concepts, your own assumptions; for an assumption, though false, if persisted in will harden into fact. The  
ideal you seek and hope to attain will not manifest itself, will not be realized by you, until you have  
imagined that you are already that ideal. There is no escape for you except by a radical psychological  
transformation of yourself, except by your assumption of the feeling of your wish fulfilled. Therefore,  
make results or accomplishments the crucial test of your ability to use your imagination. Everything depends on your attitude towards yourself. That which you will not affirm as true of 
yourself can never be realized by you, for that attitude alone is the necessary condition by which you  
realize your goal. All transformation is based upon suggestion, and this can work only where you lay yourself completely  
open to an influence. You must abandon yourself to your ideal as a woman abandons herself to love, for  
complete abandonment of self to it is the way to union with your ideal. You must assume the feeling of the  
wish fulfilled until your assumption has all the sensory vividness of reality. You must imagine that you are  
already experiencing what you desire. That is, you must assume the feeling of the fulfilment of your desire  
until you are possessed by it and this feeling crowds all other ideas out of your consciousness. The man who is not prepared for the conscious plunge into the assumption of the wish fulfilled in the faith  
that it is the only way to the realization of his dream is not yet ready to live consciously by the law of  
assumption, although there is no doubt that he does live by the law of assumption unconsciously. But for  
you who accept this principle and are ready to live by consciously assuming that your wish is already  
fulfilled, the adventure of life begins. To reach a higher level of being, you must assume a higher concept  
of yourself. If you will not imagine yourself as other than what you are, then you remain as you are, for if ye believe  
not that I am He, ye shall die in your sins. If you do not believe that you are He (the person you want to be), then you remain as you are. Through the  
faithful systematic cultivation of the feeling of the wish fulfilled, desire becomes the promise of its own  
fulfilment . The assumption of the feeling of the wish fulfilled makes the future dream a present fact. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 12 of 51Chapter Five 
                        THE TRUTH THAT SETS YOU FREE  
THE DRAMA of life is a psychological one in which all the conditions, circumstances, and events of your  
life are brought to pass by your assumptions. Since your life is determined by your assumptions, you are forced to recognize the fact that you are either a  
slave to your  assumptions  or their  master. To become  the master  of your  assumptions  is the key to  
undreamed-of freedom and happiness. You can attain this mastery by deliberate conscious control of your  
imagination. You determine your assumptions in this way: Form a mental image, a picture of the state  
desired, of the person you want to be. Concentrate your attention upon the feeling that you are already that  
person. First, visualize the picture in your consciousness. Then feel yourself to be in that state as though it  
actually formed your surrounding world. By your imagination that which was a mere mental image is  
changed into a seemingly solid reality. The great secret is a controlled imagination and a well-sustained attention firmly and repeatedly focused on  
the object to be accomplished. It cannot be emphasized too much that, by creating an ideal within your  
mental sphere, by assuming that you are already that ideal, you identify yourself with it and thereby  
transform yourself into its image, [ thinking from the ideal instead of thinking of the ideal. Every state is already there as "mere possibilities" as long as we think of them, but as overpoweringly real  
when we think  from them]. This was called by the ancient teachers "Subjection to the will of God" or  
"Resting in the Lord," and the only true test of "Resting in the Lord" is that all who do rest are inevitably  
transformed into the image of that in which they rest [thinking from the wish fulfilled]. You become  
according to your resigned will, and your resigned will is your concept of yourself and all that you consent  
to and accept as true. You, assuming the feeling of your wish fulfilled and continuing therein, take upon  
yourself the results of that state; not assuming the feeling of your wish fulfilled, you are ever free of the  
results. The Truth That Sets You Free 
When you understand the redemptive function of imagination, you hold in your hands the key to the  
solution of all your problems. Every phase of your life is made by the exercise of your imagination. Determined imagination alone is the means of your progress, of the fulfilling of your dreams. It is the  
beginning and end of all creating. The great secret is a controlled imagination and a well sustained attention  
firmly and repeatedly focused on the feeling of the wish fulfilled until it fills the mind and crowds all other  
ideas out of consciousness. What greater gifts could be given you than to be told the Truth that will set you  
free? The Truth that sets you free is that you can experience in imagination what you desire to experience  
in reality, and by maintaining this experience in imagination, your desire will become an actuality. You are limited only by your uncontrolled imagination and lack of attention to the feeling of your wish  
fulfilled. When the imagination is not controlled and the attention not steadied on the fee   ling of the wish  
fulfilled, then no amount of prayer or piety or invocation will produce the desired effect. When you can call  
up at will whatsoever image you please, when the forms of your imagination are as vivid to you as the  
forms of nature, you are master of your fate. [You must stop spending your thoughts, your time and your  
money. Everything in life must be an investment. ] Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 13 of 51Visions of beauty and splendour, Forms of a long-lost race, Sounds and faces and voices. From the fourth  
dimension of space And on through the universe boundless, Our thoughts go lightning shod. Some call it  
imagination, And others call it God. Neville follows this with the date April 12, [19]53. In Awakened Imagination (1954) he would write, "On  
the morning of April 12, 1953, my wife was awakened by the sound of a great voice of authority speaking  
within her and saying, 'You must stop spending your thoughts, time, and money. Everything in life must be  
an investment.' To spend is to waste, to squander, to lay out without return. To invest is to lay out for a  
purpose from which a profit is expected. This revelation of my wife is about the importance of the moment. It is about the transformation of the moment. . . . It is only what is done now that counts. . . . Whenever we  
assume the feeling of being what we want to be, we are investing." (ch. b) Ed. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 14 of 51Chapter Six 
                       ATTENTION 
A double-minded man is unstable in all his ways. James 1:8 
Attention is forceful in proportion to the narrowness of its focus, that is, when it is obsessed with a single  
idea or sensation. It is steadied and powerfully focused only by such an adjustment of the mind as permits  
you to see one thing only, for you steady the attention and increase its power by confining it. The desire  
which realizes itself is always a desire upon which attention is exclusively concentrated, for an idea is  
endowed with power only in proportion, to the degree of attention fixed on it. Concentrated observation is  
the attentive attitude directed [from]* some specific end. The attentive attitude involves selection, for when  
you pay attention, it signifies that you have decided to focus your attention on one object or state rather  
than on another. *Neville substitutes from for towards, the reading in the original. -Ed. Therefore, when you know what you want, you must deliberately focus your attention on the feeling of  
your wish fulfilled until that feeling fills the mind and crowds all other ideas out of consciousness. 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. The great secret of success is to focus the attention on the  
feeling of the wish fulfilled without permitting any distraction. All progress depends upon an increase of  
attention. The ideas which impel you to action are those which dominate the consciousness, those which  
possess the attention. [The idea which excludes all others from the field of attention discharges in action.] This one thing I do, forgetting those things that are behind, I press toward the mark. This means you, this one thing you can do, "forgetting those things that are behind." You can press 
Attention toward the mark of filling your mind with the feeling of the wish fulfilled. To the unenlightened man this will seem to be all fantasy, yet all progress comes from those who do not  
take the accepted view, nor accept the world as it is. As was stated heretofore, if you can imagine what you  
please, and if the forms of your thought are as vivid as the forms of nature, you are by virtue of the power  
of your imagination master of your fate. Your imagination is you yourself, and the world as your imagination sees it is the real world. When you set out to master the movements of attention, which must be done if you would successfully  
alter  the  course  of  observed  events,  it  is then  you  realize  how  little  control  you  exercise  over  your  
imagination and how much it is dominated by sensory impressions and by a drifting on the tides of idle  
moods. To aid in mastering the control of your attention, practice this exercise: Night after night, just before you  
drift off to sleep, strive to hold your attention on the activities of the day in reverse order. Focus your  
attention on the last thing you did, that is, getting in to bed, and then move it backward in time over the  
events until you reach the first event of the day, getting out of bed. This is no easy exercise, but just as  
specific exercises greatly help in developing specific muscles, this will greatly help in developing the  
"muscle" of your attention. Your attention must be developed, controlled, and concentrated in order to  
change your concept of yourself successfully and thereby change your future. Imagination is able to do  
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 15 of 51anything, but only according to the internal direction of your attention. If you persist night after night,  
sooner or later you will awaken in yourself a centre of power and become conscious of your greater self,  
the real you. Attention is developed by repeated exercise or habit. Through habit an action becomes easier,  
and so in course of time gives rise to a facility or faculty, which can then be put to higher uses. When you  
attain control of the internal direction of your attention, you will no longer stand in shallow water but will  
launch out into the deep of life. You will walk in the assumption of the wish fulfilled as on a foundation  
more solid even than earth. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 16 of 51Chapter Seven 
                           ATTITUDE 
EXPERIMENTS RECENTLY Conducted by Merle Lawrence (Princeton) and Adelbert Ames 
(Dartmouth) in the latter's psychology laboratory at Hanover, N.H., prove that what you see when you look  
at something depends not so much on what is there as on the assumption you make when you look. Since  
what we believe to be the "real" physical world is actually only an "assumptive" world, it is not surprising  
that these experiments prove that what appears to be solid reality is actually the result of "expectations" or  
"assumptions." Your assumptions determine not only what you see but also what you do, for they govern  
all your conscious and subconscious movements towards the fulfilment of themselves. Over a century ago  
this truth was stated by Emerson as follows: 
As the world was plastic and fluid in the hands of God, so it is ever to so much of his attributes as we bring  
to it. To ignorance and sin, it is flint. They adapt themselves to it as they may, but in proportion as a man  
has anything in him divine, the firmament flows before him and takes his signet and form. Your assumption is the hand of God moulding the firmament into the image of that which you assume. The  
assumption of the wish fulfilled is the high tide which lifts you easily off the bar of the senses where you  
have so long lain stranded. It lifts the mind into prophecy in the full right sense of the word; and if you  
have that controlled imagination and absorbed attention which it is possible to attain, you may be sure that  
all your assumption implies will come to pass. When William Blake wrote, 
What seems to be, is, to those to whom it seems to be he was only repeating the eternal truth, there is  
nothing unclean of itself: but to him that esteemeth anything to be unclean, to him it is unclean. Rom. 14:14 
Attitude 
Because there is nothing unclean of itself {or clean of itself), you should assume the best and think only of  
that which is lovely and of good report. It is not superior insight but ignorance of this law of assumption if  
you read into the greatness of men some littleness with which you may be familiar or into some situation or  
circumstance an unfavorable conviction. Your particular relationship to another influences your assumption  
with respect to that other and makes you see in him that which you do see. If you can change your opinion  
of another, then what you now believe of him cannot be absolutely true but is only relatively true. The  
following is an actual case history illustrating how the law of assumption works: 
One day a  costume  designer  described  to me  her difficulties  in working with a  prominent  theatrical  
producer. She was convinced that he unjustly criticized and rejected her best work and that often he was  
deliberately rude and unfair to her. Upon hearing her story, I explained that if she found the other rude and  
unfair, it was a sure sign that she, herself, was wanting and that it was not the producer, but herself that was  
in need of a new attitude. I told her that the power of this law of assumption and its practical application  
could be discovered only through experience, and that only by assuming that the situation was already what  
she wanted it to be could she prove that she could bring about the change desired. Her employer was  
merely bearing witness, telling her by his behavior what her concept of him was. I suggested that it was  
quite  probable that she was carrying  on conversations with him in her mind  which  were filled  with  
criticism and recriminations. There was no doubt but that she was mentally arguing with the producer, for  
others only echo that which we whisper to them in secret. I asked her if it was not true that she talked to  
him mentally, and, if so, what those conversations were like. She confessed that every morning on her way  
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 17 of 51to the theatre she told him just what she thought of him in a way she would never have dared address him  
in person. The intensity and force of her mental arguments with him automatically established his behavior  
towards her. She began to realize that all of us carry on mental conversations, but, unfortunately, on most  
occasions these conversations are argumentative . . . that we have only to observe the passer by on the  
street to prove this assertion . . . that so many people are mentally engrossed in conversation and few  
appear to be happy about it, but the very intensity of their feeling must lead them quickly to the unpleasant  
incident they themselves have mentally created and therefore must now encounter. When she realized what  
she had been doing, she agreed to change her attitude and to live this law faithfully by assuming that her  
job was highly satisfactory and her relationship with the producer was a very happy one. To do this, she  
agreed that before going to sleep at night, on her way to work, and at other intervals during the day she  
would imagine that he had congratulated her on her fine designs and that she, in turn, had thanked him for  
his praise and kindness. To her great delight she soon discovered for herself that her own attitude was the  
cause of all that befell her. The behavior of her employer miraculously reversed itself. His attitude, echoing, as it had always done,  
that which she had assumed, now reflected her changed concept of him. What she did was by the power of her imagination. Her persistent assumption influenced his behavior and  
determined his attitude toward her. With the passport of desire on the wings of a controlled imagination she travelled into the future of her own  
predetermined experience. Thus we see it is not facts, but that which we create in our imagination, which shapes our lives, for most of  
the conflicts of the day are due to the want of a little imagination to cast the beam out of our own eye. It is  
the exact and literal-minded who live in a fictitious world. As this designer, by her controlled imagination,  
started the subtle change in her employer's mind, so can we, by the control of our own imagination and  
wisely directed feeling, solve our problems. By the intensity of her imagination and feeling, the designer cast a kind of enchantment on her producer's  
mind and caused him to think that his generous praise originated with him. Often our most elaborate and  
original thoughts are determined by another. We should never be certain that it was not some woman treading in the wine press who began that subtle  
change in men's mind, or that the passion did not begin in the mind of some shepherd boy, lighting up his  
eyes for a moment before it ran upon its way. William Butler Yeats 
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 18 of 51Chapter Eight 
                       RENUNCIATION 
There is no coal of character so dead that it will not glow and flame if but slightly turned. Resist not evil. [ What you resists persists ! ] Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. THERE IS a great difference between resisting evil and renouncing it. When you resist evil, you give it  
your attention, you continue to make it real. When you renounce evil, you take your attention from it and  
give your attention to what you want. Now is the time to control your imagination and Give beauty for  
ashes, joy for mourning, praise for the spirit of heaviness, that they might be called trees of righteousness,  
the planting of the Lord that He might be glorified. You give beauty for ashes when you concentrate your attention on things as you would like them to be  
rather than on things as they are. You give joy for mourning when you maintain a joyous attitude regardless  
of unfavorable circumstances. You give praise for the spirit of heaviness when you maintain a confident  
attitude instead of succumbing to despondency. In this quotation the Bible uses the word tree as a synonym  
for man. You become a tree of righteousness when the above mental states are a permanent part of your  
consciousness. You are a planting of the Lord when all your thoughts are true thoughts. He is I AM as  
described in Chapter One. I AM is glorified when your highest concept of yourself is manifested. When you have discovered your own controlled imagination to be your saviour, your attitude will be  
completely  altered  without  any  diminution  of  religious  feeling,  and  you  will  say  of  your  controlled  
imagination 
Behold this vine. I found it a wild tree, whose wanton strength had swollen into irregular twigs. But I  
pruned the plant and it grew temperate in its vain expense of useless leaves, and knotted as you see into  
these clean full clusters to repay the hand that wisely wounded it. By vine is meant your imagination, which, in its uncontrolled state, expends its energy in useless or  
destructive thoughts and feelings. But you, just as the vine is pruned by cutting away its useless branches  
and roots, prune your imagination by withdrawing your attention from all unlovely and destructive ideas  
and concentrating on the ideal you wish to attain. The happier, more noble life you will experience will be  
the result of wisely pruning your own imagination. Yes, be pruned of all unlovely thoughts and feelings  
that you may think truly, and thy thoughts shall the world's famine feed; Speak truly, and each word of  
thine shall be a fruitful seed; Live truly, and thy life shall be a great and noble creed. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 19 of 51Chapter Nine 
                          PREPARING YOUR PLACE 
And all mine are thine, and thine are mine. John 17:10 
Thrust in thy sickle, and reap; for the time is come for thee to reap; for the harvest of the earth is ripe. Rev. 14:15 
All is yours. Do not go seeking for that which you are. Appropriate it, claim it, assume it. Everything  
depends upon your concept of yourself. That which you do not claim as true of yourself cannot be realized  
by you. The promise is 
“Whosoever hath, to him it shall be given, and he shall have more abundance; but whosoever  
hath not, from him shall be taken away even that which he seemeth to have. Hold fast, in your imagination, to all that is lovely and of good report, for the lovely and the good are  
essential in your life if it is to be worthwhile. Assume it. You do this by imagining that you already are  
what you want to be and already have what you want to have. As a man thinketh in his heart so is he. Be still and know that you are that which you desire to be, and you will never have to search for it. In spite of your appearance of freedom of action, you obey, as everything else does, the law of assumption. Whatever you may think of the question of free will, the truth is your experiences throughout your life are  
determined by your assumptions whether conscious or unconscious. An assumption builds a bridge of  
incidents that lead inevitably to the fulfilment of itself . Man believes the future to be the natural development of the past. But the law of assumption clearly shows  
that this is not the case. Your assumption places you psychologically where you are not preparing Your  
Place physically; then your senses pull you back from where you were psychologically to where you are  
physically. It is these psychological forward motions that produce your physical forward motions in time. Precognition permeates all the scriptures of the world. In my Father's house are many mansions; If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place  
for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you unto myself: that where  
I am, there ye may be also. . . . And now I have told you before it came to pass, that, when it is come to  
pass, ye might believe. John 14:2, 3, 29 
The "I" in this quotation is your imagination which goes into the future, into one of the many mansions. Mansion is the state desired . . . telling of an event before it occurs physically is simply feeling yourself  
into the state desired until it has the tone of reality. You go and prepare a place for yourself by imagining  
yourself into the feeling of your wish fulfilled. Then, you speed from this state of the wish fulfilled where  
you have not been physically back to where you were physically a moment ago. Then, with an irresistible  
forward movement, you move forward across a series of events to the physical realization of your wish,  
that where you have been in imagination, there you will be in the flesh also. Unto the place from whence the rivers come, thither they return again. Eccles. 1:7 
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 20 of 51Chapter Ten 
                     CREATION 
I am God, declaring the end from the beginning, and from ancient times things that are not yet done. Isaiah 46:9, 10 
CREATION IS finished. Creativeness is only a deeper receptiveness, for the entire contents of all time and  
all space, while experienced in a time sequence, actually coexist in an infinite and eternal now. In other  
words, all that you ever have been or ever will be in fact, all that mankind ever was or ever will be exists  
now. This is what is meant by creation, and the statement that creation is finished means nothing is ever to  
be created, it is only to be manifested. What is called creativeness is only becoming aware of what already  
is. You simply become aware of increasing portions of that which already exists. The fact that you can  
never  be  anything  that  you  are  not  already or experience  anything  not  already existing  explains  the  
experience of having an acute feeling of having heard before what is being said, or having met before the  
person being met for the first time, or having seen before a place or thing being seen for the first time. The whole of creation exists in you, and it is your destiny to become increasingly aware of its infinite  
wonders and to experience ever greater and grander portions of it. If creation is finished, and all events are taking place now, the question that springs naturally to the mind is  
"what determines your time track?" That is, what determines the events which you encounter? And the  
answer is your concept of yourself . Concepts determine the route that attention follows. Here is a good test  
to prove this fact. Assume the feeling of your wish fulfilled and observe the route that your attention  
follows. You will observe that as long as you remain faithful to your assumption, so long will your  
attention be confronted with images clearly related to that assumption. For example; if you assume that you  
have a wonderful business, you will notice how in your imagination your attention is focused on incident  
after incident relating to that assumption. Friends congratulate you, tell you how lucky you are. Others are  
envious and critical. From there your attention goes to larger offices, bigger bank balances, and many other  
similarly related events. Persistence in this assumption will result in actually experiencing in fact that  
which you assumed. The same is true regarding any concept. If your concept of yourself is that you are a failure, you would  
encounter in your imagination a whole series of incidents in conformance to that concept. Thus it is clearly seen how you, by your concept of yourself, determine your present, that is, the particular  
portion of creation which you now experience, and your future, that is, the particular portion of creation  
which you will experience. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 21 of 51Chapter Eleven 
                            INTERFERENCE  
You ARE free to choose the concept you will accept of yourself. Therefore, you possess the power of  
intervention, the power which enables you to alter the course of your future . The process of rising from  
your present concept to a higher concept of yourself is the means of all true progress. The higher concept is  
waiting for you to incarnate it in the world of experience. Now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the  
power that worketh in us, unto him be glory. Eph. 3:20 
Him, that is able to do more than you can ask or think, is your imagination, and the power that worketh in  
us is your attention. Understanding imagination to be HIM that is able to do all that you ask, and attention  
to be the power by which you create your world, you can now build your ideal world. Imagine yourself to  
be the ideal you dream of and desire. Remain attentive to this imagined state, and as fast as you completely  
feel that you are already this ideal it will manifest itself as reality in your world. He was in the world, and the world was made by him and the world knew him not. The mystery hid from the ages; Christ in you, the hope of glory. The "He," in the first of these quotations, is your imagination. As previously explained, there is only one  
substance. This  substance  is  consciousness. It  is  your  imagination  which  forms  this  substance  into  
concepts, which concepts are then manifested as conditions, circumstances, and physical objects. Thus  
imagination made your world. This supreme truth with but few exceptions man is not conscious of. The mystery, Christ in you, referred to in the second quotation, is your imagination, by which your world  
is molded. The hope of glory  is your awareness of the ability to rise perpetually to higher levels. Christ is not to be found in history nor in external forms. You find Christ only when you become aware of  
the fact that your imagination is the only redemptive power. When this is discovered, the "towers of dogma  
will have heard the trumpets of Truth, and, like the walls of Jericho, crumble to dust." Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 22 of 51Chapter Twelve 
                            SUBJECTIVE CONTROL  
YOUR IMAGINATION is able to do all that you ask in proportion to the degree of your attention. All  
progress, all fulfilment of desire, depend upon the control and concentration of your attention. Attention  
may be either attracted from without or directed from within. Attention is attracted from without when you  
are consciously occupied with the external impressions of the immediate present. The very lines of this  
page  are  attracting  your  attention  from  without. Your  attention  is  directed  from  within  when  you  
deliberately choose what you will be preoccupied with mentally. It is obvious that in the objective world  
your attention is not only attracted by but is constantly directed to external impressions. But, your control  
in the subjective state is almost nonexistent, for in this state attention is usually the servant and not the  
master the passenger and not the navigator of your world. There is an enormous difference between attention directed objectively and attention directed subjectively,  
and the capacity to change your future depends on the latter. When you are able to control the movements  
of your attention in the subjective world, you can modify or alter your life as you please. But this control  
cannot be achieved if you allow your attention to be attracted constantly from without. Each day, set  
yourself the task of deliberately withdrawing your attention from the objective world and of focusing it  
subjectively. In other words, concentrate on those thoughts or moods which you deliberately determine. Then those things that now restrict you will fade and drop away. The day you achieve control of the  
movements of your attention in the subjective world, you are master of your fate. You will no longer accept the dominance of outside conditions or circumstances. You will not accept life  
on the basis of the world without. Having achieved control of the movements of your attention, and having  
discovered the mystery hid from the ages, that Christ in you is your imagination, you will assert the  
supremacy oi imagination and put all things in subjection to it. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 23 of 51Chapter Thirteen 
                                ACCEPTANCE 
Man's Perceptions are not bounded by organs of Perception: he perceives more than sense (though ever so  
acute) can discover. HOWEVER MUCH you Seem to be living in a material world, you are actually living in a world of  
imagination. The outer, physical events of life are the fruit of forgotten blossom-times results of previous  
and  usually  forgotten  states  of  consciousness. They  are  the  ends running  true  to  oft  times  forgotten  
imaginative origins. Whenever you become completely absorbed in an emotional state, you are at that moment assuming the  
feeling  of  the  state  fulfilled. If  persisted  in,  whatsoever  you  are  intensely  emotional  about  you  will  
experience in your world. These periods of absorption, of concentrated attention, are the beginnings of the  
things you harvest. It is in such moments that you are exercising your creative power the only creative  
power there is. At the end of these periods, or moments of absorption, you speed from these imaginative  
states (where you have not been physically) to where you were physically an instant ago. In these periods  
the imagined state is so real that when you return to the objective world and find that it is not the same as  
the imagined state, it is an actual shock. You have seen something in imagination with such vividness that  
you now wonder whether the evidence of your senses can now be believed, and like Keats you ask, was it a  
vision or a waking dream? Fled is that music . . . Do I wake or sleep? This shock reverses your time sense. By this is meant that instead of your experience resulting from your  
past, it now becomes the result of being in imagination where you have not yet been physically. In effect,  
this moves you across a bridge of incident to the physical realization of your imagined state. The man who  
at will can assume whatever state he pleases has found the keys to the Kingdom of Heaven. The keys are  
desire, imagination, and a steadily focused attention on the feeling of the wish fulfilled. To such a man any  
undesirable objective fact is no longer a reality and the ardent wish no longer a dream. Prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour  
you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it. Malachi 3:10 
The windows of heaven may not be opened and the treasures seized by a strong will, but they open of  
themselves and present their treasures as a free gift a gift that comes when absorption reaches such a degree  
that it results in a feeling of complete acceptance. The passage from your present state to the feeling of  
your wish fulfilled is not across a gap. There is continuity between the so-called real and unreal. To cross  
from one state to the other, you simply extend your feelers, trust your touch, and enter fully into the spirit  
of what you are doing. Not by might nor by power but by my spirit, saith the Lord of hosts. Assume the spirit, the feeling of the wish fulfilled, and you will have opened the windows to receive the  
blessing. To assume a state is to get into the spirit of it. Your triumphs will be a surprise only to those who  
did not know your hidden passage from the state of longing to the assumption of the wish fulfilled. The Lord of hosts will not respond to your wish until you have assumed the feeling of already being what  
you want to be, for acceptance is the channel of His action. Acceptance is the Lord of hosts in action. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 24 of 51Chapter Fourteen 
                                THE EFFORTLESS WAY  
THE PRINCIPLE of "Least Action" governs everything in physics from the path of a planet to the path of a  
pulse of light. Least Action is the minimum of energy, multiplied by the minimum of time. Therefore, in  
moving from your present state to the state desired, you must use the minimum of energy and take the  
shortest possible time. Your journey from one state of consciousness to another is a psychological one, so,  
to  make  the  journey,  you  must  employ  the  psychological  equivalent  of  "Least  Action,"  and  the  
psychological equivalent is mere assumption. The day you fully realize the power of assumption, you discover that it works in complete conformity with  
this principle. It works by means of attention, minus effort. Thus, with least action through an assumption  
you hurry without haste and reach your goal without effort. Because creation is finished, what you desire already exists. It is excluded from view because you can see  
only the contents of your own consciousness. It is the function of an assumption to call back the excluded  
view and restore full vision. It is not the world but your assumptions that change. An assumption brings the  
invisible into sight. It is nothing more nor less than seeing with the eye of God, i.e., imagination. For the Lord seeth not as a man seeth, for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on  
the heart. The heart is the primary organ of sense, hence the first cause of experience. When you look "on the heart"  
you are looking at your assumptions: assumptions determine your experience. Watch your assumption with  
all diligence for out of it are the issues of life. Assumptions have the power of objective realization. Every  
event in the visible world is the result of an assumption or idea in the unseen world. The present moment is all-important, for it is only in the present moment that our assumptions can be  
controlled. The future must become the present in your mind if you would wisely operate the law of  
assumption. The future becomes the present when you imagine that you already are what you will be  when 
your assumption is fulfilled. Be still (least action) and know that you are that which you desire to be. The 
end of longing should be Being. Translate your dream into Being. Perpetual construction of future states without the consciousness of already being them, that is, picturing  
your  desire without actually  assuming  the  feeling  of the  wish fulfilled,  is the  fallacy  and mirage  of  
mankind. It is simply futile day-dreaming. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 25 of 51Chapter Fifteen 
                             THE CROWN OF THE MYSTERIES  
THE ASSUMPTION of the wish fulfilled is the ship that carries you  over the unknown seas to the  
fulfilment of your dream. The assumption is everything; realization is subconscious and effortless. Assume a virtue if you have it not. Act on the assumption that you already possess that which you sought. Blessed is she that believed; for there shall be a performance of those things which were told her from the  
Lord. As the Immaculate Conception* is the foundation of the Christian mysteries, so the Assumption† is their  
crown. * Mary's birth without Original Sin. However, Neville seems to have in mind the Virgin    
                       Birth of Jesus. -Ed. †The taking up of the body (usually, the body of Mary) into heaven? - Ed. Psychologically, the Immaculate Conception means the birth of an idea in your own consciousness unaided  
by  another. For  instance  when  you  have  a  specific  wish  or  hunger  or  longing,  it  is  an  immaculate  
conception in the sense that no physical person or thing plants it in your mind. It IS self-conceived. Every  
man is the Mary of the Immaculate Conception and birth to his idea must give. * The Assumption is the crown of the mysteries because it is the highest use of consciousness. When in imagination you assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled, you are mentally lifted up to a higher  
level. When, through your persistence, this assumption becomes actual fact, you automatically find yourself  
on a higher level (that is, you have achieved your desire) in your objective world. Your assumption guides  
all your conscious and subconscious movements towards its suggested end so inevitably that  it actually 
dictates the events. The drama of life is a psychological one and the whole of it is written and produced by your assumptions. Learn the art of assumption, for only in this way can you create your own happiness. *Stylistic inversion deriving from quotation not cited= "…and must give birth to his idea."-Ed. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 26 of 51Chapter Sixteen 
                              PERSONAL IMPOTENCE  
SELF-SURRENDER IS essential, and by that is meant 'the confession of personal impotence. I can of mine own self do nothing. [ The father in me doeth the work. ] Since  creation  is  finished,  it  is  impossible  to  force  anything  into  being. The  example  of  magnetism  
previously given is a good illustration. You cannot make magnetism; it can only be displayed. You cannot  
make the law of magnetism. If you want to build a magnet, you can do so only by conforming to the law of  
magnetism. In other words, you surrender yourself, or yield to the law. In like manner, when you use the  
faculty of assumption, you are conforming to a law just as real as the law governing magnetism. You can  
neither create nor change the law of assumption. It is in this respect that you are impotent. You can only  
yield or conform, and since all of your experiences are the result of your assumptions (consciously or  
unconsciously) the value of consciously using the power of assumption surely must be obvious. Willingly identify yourself with that which you most desire, knowing that it will find expression 
(Imagine/see ?) the wish fulfilled and be consumed as its victim, then rise as the prophet of the law of  
assumption. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 27 of 51Chapter Seventeen 
                                  ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE  
IT IS of great significance that the truth of the principles outlined in this book have been proven time and  
again by the personal experiences of the Author. Throughout the past twenty-five years he has applied  
these principles and proved them successful in innumerable instances. He attributes to an unwavering  
assumption of his wish already being fulfilled every success that he has achieved. He was confident that by  
these fixed assumptions his desires were predestined to be fulfilled. Time and again he assumed the feeling  
of his wish fulfilled and continued in his assumption until that which he desired was completely realized. Live your life in a sublime spirit of confidence and determination; disregard appearances, conditions, in  
fact all evidence of your senses that deny the fulfilment of your desire. Rest in the assumption that you are  
already what you want to be, for in that determined assumption you and your Infinite Being are merged in  
creative unity, and with your Infinite Being (God) all things are possible. God never fails. For who can stay His hand or say unto Him, What doest thou? Through the mastery of your assumptions you are in very truth enabled to master life. It is thus that the  
ladder of life is ascended: thus the ideal is realized. The clue to the real purpose of life is to surrender  
yourself to your ideal with such awareness of its reality that you begin to live the life of the ideal and no  
longer your own life as it was prior to this surrender. He calleth things that are not seen as though they were, and the unseen becomes seen. Each assumption has its corresponding world. If you are truly observant, you will notice the power of your  
assumptions to change circumstances which appear wholly immutable. You, by your conscious assumptions, determine the nature of the world in which you live. Ignore the  
present state and assume the wish fulfilled. Claim it; it will respond. The law of assumption is the means by which the fulfilment  of your desires may  
be realized. Every moment of your life, consciously or unconsciously, you are assuming ? ). You can no 
more avoid assuming a feeling than you can avoid eating and drinking. All you can do is control the nature  
of your assumptions Thus, it is clearly seen that the control of your assumption is the key you now hold to  
an ever expanding, happier, more noble life. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS.doc                                                          Page 28 of 51Chapter Eighteen 
                                 BE YE DOERS 
Be ye doers of the word and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves. For if any be a hearer of the  
word, and not a doer, he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass and goeth his way, and  
straightway forgetteth what manner of man he was. But whoso looketh into the perfect law of liberty, and  
continue therein, he being not a forgetful hearer but a doer of the work, this man shall be blessed in his  
deed. James 1:22-25 
THE WORD in this quotation means idea, concept, or desire. You deceive yourself by "hearing only" when  
you expect your desire to be fulfilled through mere wishful thinking. Your desire is what you want to be,  
and looking at yourself "in a glass" is seeing yourself in imagination as that person. Forgetting "what  
manner of man" you are is failing to persist in your assumption. The "perfect law of liberty" is the law  
which makes possible liberation from limitation, that is, the law of assumption. To continue in the perfect  
law of liberty is to persist in the assumption that your desire is already fulfilled. You are not a "forgetful  
hearer" when you keep the feeling of your wish fulfilled constantly alive in your consciousness. This  
makes you a "doer of the work," and you are blessed in your deed by the inevitable realization of your  
desire. You must be doers of the law of assumption, for without application the most profound understanding will  
not produce any desired result. Frequent reiteration and repetition of important basic truths runs through these pages.
thepowerofawarenessbynevillegoddard-141002023635-phpapp02.txt
Summarize the following text section accurately and concisely. Maintain specific details and numerical information, and use anti-repetition mechanisms:

        THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS
By Neville GoddardOther Books by Neville 
AWAKENED IMAGINATION, Includes The Search 
IMMORTAL MAN 
THE LAW AND THE PROMISE 
THE NEVILLE READER    Includes: The Law and The Promise, 
Prayer –
The Art of Believing, 
Feeling is the Secret, 
Resurrection, 
Freedom for All, 
Out of This World, 
Seedtime and Harvest 
THE POWER OF AWARENESS 
YOUR FAITH IS YOUR FORTUNE 
The Power of Awareness    NEVILLE
DeVorss Publications,        Camarilla, California
Copyright © 1952 by Neville
Revised Edition Copyright © 1992 by Victoria Goddard
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form without permission  
in writing from the publisher, except by a reviewer who may quote brief passages for review purposes. ISBN: 087516-655-5 Sixth Printing, 2005 
DeVorss & Company, Publisher 
P. O. Box 1389 
Camarillo CA 93011-1389            www. devorss. com 
Printed in the United States of America 
To Arthur and his beloved Verne, whose awareness brought this book into being. CONTENTS       http://www. archive. org/stream/ThePowerOfAwareness/Neville_ThePowerOfAwareness#page/n43/mode/2up    
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS. doc                                                          Page 2 of 51A Word from the Publisher 
1. I AM 
2. CONSCIOUSNESS 
3. POWER OF ASSUMPTION 
4. DESIRE 
5. THE TRUTH THAT SETS YOU FREE 
6. ATTENTION 
7. ATTITUDE 
8. RENUNCIATION 
9. PREPARING YOUR PLACE 
10. CREATION 
11. INTERFERENCE 
12. SUBJECTIVE CONTROL 
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS. doc                                                          Page 3 of 5113. ACCEPTANCE 
14. THE EFFORTLESS WAY 
15. THE CROWN OF THE MYSTERIES 
16. PERSONAL IMPOTENCE 
17. ALL THINGS ARE POSSIBLE 
18. BE YE DOERS 
19. ESSENTIALS 
20. RIGHTEOUSNESS 
21. FREEWILL 
22. PERSISTENCE 
23. CASE HISTORIES 
24. FAILURE 
25. FAITH 
26. DESTINY 
27. REVERENCE 
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS. doc                                                          Page 4 of 51A WORD FROM THE PUBLISHER 
FORTY YEARS ago Neville added notes in his own hand to his personal copy of the newly published  
Power of Awareness. In conveying this copy to DeVorss & Company for the purpose of a new printing,  
Neville's daughter, Victoria Goddard, has both authenticated the handwriting as her father's and authorized  
the publication of a new edition incorporating his notes. Of these additions there are no fewer than twenty, ranging in length from several lines to the substitution of  
a single word for another. This latter, however, brief as it is, confers a significant change on the meaning of  
the text. Indeed, Neville's notes everywhere clarify his meaning and in places convey important insights  
and guidance so much so that in his very next work, Awakened Imagination, he would incorporate some of  
them. Thumbing through Neville's copy of this book, I came upon a snapshot of him in Army uniform  
inserted as a bookmark. It was dated 1943 and, on the back, it bore his own inscription to the effect that this  
was the soldier mentioned in Case History 1 (p. 89). And Vicki Goddard has confirmed my surmise that  
Case History 2 (p. 92) is also autobiographical, although more loosely so. Notice that Neville's family  
name, Goddard, is here given as Lordard. Such are the pleasures of playing literary detective, although it has to be conceded that they are greatly  
enhanced by having the author's own working copy of his book to hand. Certainly he is very much alive in  
his printed work, but curiously more so in the handwritten additions one encounters with excitement here  
and there. The reader will find these printed in the body of the text, surrounded by brackets, since in every  
case it was clear precisely where they fell. It is with the thought that Neville's brilliant metaphysics might be, for its students, more vital still that  
DeVorss  &  Company  has  brought  out  this  unique  edition  of  The  Power  of  Awareness. A  word  of  
appreciation and gratitude is due to Vicki Goddard for her generous assistance. THE POWER OF AWARENESS     Arthur Vergara, Editor 
Leave the mirror and change your face. Leave the world alone and change your conceptions of yourself. NEVILLE 
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS. doc                                                          Page 5 of 51Chapter One 
                        I AM 
All things when they are admitted are made manifest by the light: for everything that is made manifest is  
light. Eph. 5:13 
THE  "light"  is  consciousness. Consciousness  is  one,  manifesting  in  legions  of  forms  or  levels  of  
consciousness. There is no one that is not all that is, for consciousness, though expressed in an infinite  
series of levels, is not divisional. There is no real separation or gap in consciousness. I AM cannot be  
divided. I may conceive myself to be a rich man, a poor man, a beggar man or a thief, but the  center of my 
being remains the same regardless of the concept I hold of myself. At the center of manifestation there is  
only one I AM manifesting in legions of forms or concepts of itself and "I am that I am. " I AM is the self-definition of the absolute, the foundation on which everything rests. I AM is the first  
cause-substance. I AM is the self-definition of God. I AM hath sent me unto you. I AM THAT I AM. Be still and know that I AM God. I AM is a feeling of permanent awareness. The very center of consciousness is the feeling of I AM I may  
forget who I am, where I am, what I am but I cannot forget that I AM. The awareness of being remains,  
regardless of the degree of forgetfulness of who, where, and what I am. I AM is that which, amid unnumbered forms is ever the same. This great discovery of cause reveals that,  
good or bad, man is actually the arbiter of his own fate, and that it is his concept of himself that determines  
the world in which he lives [and his concept of himself is his reactions to life]*  [*Bracketed material is  
explained in the publisher's Px. --Ed. s note. ] In other words. If you are experiencing ill health, knowing the truth about cause, you cannot attribute I Am  
the  illness  to  anything  other  than  to  the  particular  arrangement  of  the  basic  cause-substance,  an  
arrangement which [was produced by your reactions to life, and] is defined by your concept "I am unwell. " This is why you are told "Let the weak man say, 'I am strong' " (Joel 3:10), for by his assumption, the  
cause-substance I AM is re-arranged and must, therefore, manifest that which its rearrangement affirms. This principle governs every aspect of your life, be it social, financial, intellectual, or spiritual. I AM is that reality to which, whatever happens, we must turn for an explanation of the phenomena of life. It is I AM's concept of itself that determines the form and scenery of its existence. Everything depends  
upon its attitude towards itself; that which it will not affirm as true of itself cannot awaken in its world. That is, your concept of yourself, such as "I am strong," "I am secure," "I am loved," determines the world  
in which you live. In other words, when you say, "I am a man, I am a father, I am an American," you are  
not defining different I AM's; you  are defining different concepts or arrangements of the one cause-
substance the one I AM. Even in the phenomena of nature, if the tree were articulate it would say, "I am a  
tree, an apple tree, a fruitful tree. " Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS. doc                                                          Page 6 of 51When you know that consciousness is the one and only reality-conceiving itself to be something good, bad,  
or indifferent, and becoming that which It conceived itself to be -you are free from the tyranny of second  
causes, free from the belief that there are causes outside of your own mind that can affect your life. In the state of consciousness of the individual is found the explanation of the phenomena of life If man s  
concept of himself were different, everything m his world would be different. His concept of himself being  
what it is, everything in his world must be as It IS. It IS dearly clear that there is only one I AM and you are that I AM. And while I AM is infinite, you, by  
your concept of yourself, are displaying only a limited aspect of the infinite I AM. Build thee more stately mansions, O my soul. As the swift seasons roll. Leave thy low-vaulted past. Let  
each new temple, nobler than the last. Shut thee from heaven with a dome more vast Till thou at length art  
free, Leaving thine outgrown shell by life's unresting sea. Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS. doc                                                          Page 7 of 51Chapter Two 
                       CONSCIOUSNESS  
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. (By  manifesting  is  meant  
experiencing the results of these concepts in your world. ) It is of vital importance to understand clearly just  
what consciousness is. The reason lies in the fact that consciousness is the one and only reality, it is the first and only cause -sub  
stance of the phenomena of life. Nothing has existence for man save through the consciousness he has of it. Therefore, it is to consciousness you must turn, for it is the only foundation on which the phenomena of life  
can be explained. If we accept the idea of a first cause, it would follow that the evolution of that cause could never result in  
anything  foreign  to  itself. That  is,  if  the  first  cause-substance  is  light,  all  its  evolutions,  fruits,  and  
manifestations would remain light. The first cause-substance being consciousness, all its evolutions, fruits,  
and phenomena must remain consciousness. All that could be observed would be a higher or lower form or  
variation of the same thing. In other words, if your consciousness is the only reality, it must also be the  
only substance. Consequently, what appears to you as circumstances, conditions, and even material objects  
are really only the products of your own consciousness. Nature, then, as a thing or a complex of things  
external  to  your  mind,  must  be  rejected. You  and  your  environment  cannot  be  regarded  as  existing  
separately. You and your world are one. Therefore, you must turn from the objective appearance of things to the subjective center of things, your  
consciousness, if you  truly desire  to know  the cause of the phenomena  of life, and how to use this  
knowledge to realize your fondest dreams. In the midst of the apparent contradictions, antagonisms, and  
contrasts of your life, there is only one principle at work, only your consciousness operating. Difference  
does not consist in variety of substance, but in variety of arrangement of the same cause-substance, your  
consciousness. The world moves with motiveless necessity. By this is meant that it has no motive of its own, but is under  
the necessity of manifesting your concept. Consciousness'(is. ) the arrangement of your mind, and your mind is always arranged in the image of all  
you believe and consent to as true. The rich man, poor man, beggar man or thief are not different minds,  
but different arrangements of the same mind, in the same sense that a piece of steel when magnetized  
differs not in substance from its demagnetized state but in the arrangement and order of its molecules. A  
single electron revolving in a specified orbit constitutes the unit of magnetism. When a piece of steel or  
anything else is demagnetized, the revolving electrons have not stopped. Therefore, the magnetism has not  
gone out of existence. There is only a rearrangement of the particles, so that they produce no outside or  
perceptible effect. When particles are arranged at random, mixed up in all directions, the substance is said  
to be demagnetized but when particles are marshaled in ranks so that a number of them face in one  
direction, the substance is a magnet. Magnetism is not generated; it is displayed. Health, wealth, beauty,  
and genius are not created; they are only manifested by the arrangement of your mind -that is, by your  
concept of yourself [and your concept of yourself is all that you accept and consent to as true. What you  
consent to can only be discovered by an uncritical observation of your reactions to life. Your reactions  
reveal where you live psychologically; and 
Neville - THE  POWER  OF  AWARENESS. doc                                                          Page 8 of 51where you live psychologically, determines how you live here m the outer visible world]. The importance  
of this in your daily life should be immediately apparent. The basic nature of the primal cause is consciousness. Therefore, the ultimate substance of all things is  
consciousness.
Neville Goddard
Who is the author of this book?
The power of assumption and the importance of changing one's concept of oneself
What is the main theme of this book?
Changing one's concept of oneself and assumption of the feeling of the wish fulfilled
What is the key to changing one's life?
The author emphasizes the importance of imagination as a means to change one's life and manifest one's desires
What is the role of imagination in the author's teachings?
The author suggests that reality is created by one's consciousness and that one's concept of oneself determines the world they live in.
What is the author's message about the nature of reality?