A friend and client of mine is a young sprout named Maxwell Atkin. He's scarily advanced in his development for being so young (probobaly because he was home schooled) and every time we interact it's as though I'm talking to my younger and wiser self. He's a writer and I highly recommend checking out his Medium Blog. We can occasionally be found sharing ideas both via voice and on the page and this essay marks the first of numerous future articles he pens that I will include amongst my own writing in the spoken word reality tunnel essays.
Narrated Essay #30 - A Method For Creating Reality By Maxwell Atkin & Niles Heckman.
Original Medium post by Max here.
A while back, a man named Neville Goddard gained a considerable amount of prominence in the Metaphysical field. His work was not as widely popular as Napoleon Hill, for example, but it was popular enough, and whatever venue he spoke at, people came.
Neville Goddard did not charge for these lectures or “seminars”, as they might be called today. If, to speak at a particular event, travel was required, he’d request that the funds needed to travel be sent over. But, he didn’t charge for the information itself. In fact, he said, in language that is slightly more visceral, that those who would charge hefty sums of money for such knowledge are, in fact, fraudsters, and that if he were to ever do so, that those in the audience should stop trusting him.
You may, or may not, agree with this sentiment, but it informed his work, and Neville was not a man known for keeping secrets — these beautiful and powerful reality-altering traditions and rituals — away from those who wished to learn.
During the time he taught — the mid-thirties to nineteen-seventy-two, the year of his passing — he spoke of Imagination as God, and he insisted that The Bible was merely a story designed to share this information with the common-folk of the day, while covering these ideas in metaphors that spoke directly to the Heart.
This was certainly not a popular or widely-accepted idea, but his points were considered and his ideas were, by many accounts, revolutionary to those who chose to acknowledge and accept them.
According to Neville Goddard, we are God. You are God. I am God. We are all God. And Imagination is the most beautiful and potent expression of our Godhood. Through Imagination, all things are possible. But, we must dissolve the boundaries between that which we hold to be “imaginary” — a word that often refers to things that are separate from that which we consider to be “real” — and that which we hold to be “real”, for the two are one-in-the-same, and if we dissolve those boundaries, we can create and become ANYTHING that we so desire.
One can venture deeper and deeper into this infinite rabbit-hole, and find ideas regarding the nature of stories and fiction itself, and how they are merely expressions of something that is happening in this moment. To Neville, all stories are true, and all stories are coming true, in this moment. Just as you can find ideas regarding this idea of “Acting As If” and changing the role that you play in this Cosmic Drama of ours. Venture deeper and deeper, and you begin to understand that Neville believed that we are ALWAYS creating our reality, and that we are the creator of all that is around us and all that is entering our lives.
This is a deep and controversial idea. And while we may have our doubts and our fears regarding this idea, we may find that there is a significant amount of truth to it. For we do create reality, and we can choose to accept someone else’s reality, and the beliefs and actions and ideas that such a reality entails, or we can create our own. And from that, we will, inevitably, change the very role that we play, for all such definitions are illusory and subject to the infinite motion and impermanence of Imagination.
Imagination is a tool that can conjure anything. Images. Smells. Tastes. Sounds. Sights. Anything at all. But without the feelings that come from such a thing, reality remains somewhat unchanged. You see, Neville Goddard knew that you can imagine that which you desire as much as you’d like — and there is tremendous value in doing just that, make no mistake — but without the feelings that come from the fulfillment of your desire, then there is nothing, for feelings are a language in of themselves, and if you know how to speak the language of God, if you know how to speak directly to that infinite faculty within yourself, then there is nothing that can, or will, stop you.
Furthermore, Neville made a point of saying and emphasizing the fact that imagining the receiving of your desire, is not the same as imagining the fulfillment of the desire. You see, when you imagine the specific act of receiving or obtaining that which you desire, you end up creating a number of blocks that severely limit that which can be created. This isn’t a bad thing, and it does work, but Neville made a point of emphasizing the fact that for the most success, the best success, you want to focus on the “End Result”.
The “End Result” can be many things. For Neville, it was an action that implied, in no uncertain terms, the complete fulfillment of the
desire that he had in mind. It could be an imaginal scene in which you are being congratulated by someone due to the fulfillment of your desire. This desire could be, for example, purchasing a house or going on a trip somewhere or losing weight or, if you want to get really big, inventing a new type of car. This scene is indicative of the End Result, and it implies the fulfillment of your desire. Then, according to Neville, you must repeat it and allow those seeds to be planted.
From this, you will be lead to the final step of the process. That of “Letting Go” and “Surrendering”. I’m speaking from my own experience when I say that this is the hardest thing to do, especially since you have, most likely, fallen in love with your End Result and what you know is coming, and you are excited and ready, but also a little nervous. It isn’t easy to do this, but you may find it to be necessary. Perhaps, the most necessary step of all.
In this little essay of ours, you are going to read a story that further affirm and give credence to the ideas that Neville spoke of, and you will attain a greater understanding of the cosmology and the metaphysics at play here. Finally, at the end of this essay, you will have the exact process that I have used, and that Neville spoke of, along with a few suggestions, in each step, for how to best execute each step in the process.
Does it actually work? This question is very much an “It depends”, because it may work for you, just as it has worked in these examples and many others, or it may not work for you. And whether or not it works for you depends on your willingness to accept and “try” this way of being and acting, but it also depends on how natural this way of being feels to you. There is no “one size fits all”. For some people, this method won’t work at all, it just isn’t right for them. And that’s totally okay! There are many methodologies and practices that may not do much for you, so don’t use them and, instead, use the ones that feel natural, the ones that do provide the results.
However, we will say this. If you choose to use it, to accept this way of being/thinking, for one-week, you will find that things are happening, and what happens may surprise you.
To illustrate an answer to this question, let's share two stories.
For a number of years, ever since a friend of mine was about sixteen, he wanted to go to Cambodia. To Siem Reap, Cambodia, where you can find Angkor Wat and Banteay Srei and Preah Khan and all of these beautiful and sacred temples, along with the city itself, which is truly beautiful and enchanting. Ever since he was a little boy, he'd dreamt of the city, even before he knew its name.
So, as you can imagine, he wanted to go there. More specifically, he wanted to move there, right after his last year of High School. There was a plan involved, and he knew the day that he wanted to move — September 7th — so he had that date in mind, and at the time, he was reading a lot of Neville Goddard and he realized that he should use his methods for obtaining money to purchase a plane ticket.
However, he realized that the money wasn’t actually what he wanted. He just wanted a plane ticket, so he changed the intention to that of obtaining a plane ticket to Siem Reap, Cambodia, for the date of September 7th.
Using a few ideas that he had gleaned from a couple of books that he had read, he made a list of about four things that he didn’t want to come from the intention, and eleven things that he did want to come from that intention. This allowed him to gain clarity and a better and more precise image of his “End Result”. Then, he set a “Due Date”. Ten days from that, he would have the plane ticket.
Of course, he needed a plan of some sort. Or, he thought he did. So, he told himself that every night, at nine o’clock, he would spend eleven-minutes envisioning, imagining, and feeling the sensations of having that ticket right in front of him.
These sessions were jumbled and somewhat confusing. He visualized the ticket, being on the plane, being in Siem Reap, and a bunch of other things that were connected to it, but he didn’t really understand the extent of the connection, and he ended up just letting the images and sensations flow over him. However, eventually, he ended up honing in on a specific imaginal scene that was, again, rather disoriented, but it was of him telling his parents that he had purchased this ticket and that he was so excited. In the scene, he said to them “Guys, he just purchased the ticket!” To affirm the intended date, he had his vision, in the scene, go to the calendar, which affirmed the due date that he had set.
Then, for nine-days, he repeated that scene, and felt it, while also allowing his imagination to wander throughout the scene, and the feelings. It became effortless.
During the last four-days, he stopped caring. It was a mixture of knowing that he already had the ticket — even though he, technically, didn’t — and not really having an expectation or specific desire. Don’t get me wrong, he did, but it wasn’t really a big deal anymore. He simply surrendered and let go.
And then, on that final day, he added up the money that he had earned from his freelance writing, along with receiving a really quick one-hundred dollar job and the processing of some older payments from clients of his, and he had six-hundred and twenty-seven dollars. The ticket was five-hundred and sixty-three. So, he bought the ticket, and then the imaginal scene played itself out, just as he had felt it, days earlier.
Initially, he was fearful. But soon enough, he stopped caring and let go, not really caring or minding what the outcome was, for deep within him, he knew that it was going to be okay, and that he was on the right path.
This happened very recently, for he graduated High School in the middle of the school year — early graduation — and he just recently purchased the ticket. He was very excited about this trip, and while a bit nervous and a bit scared, he was overwhelmingly excited more than anything else!
Before we end this essay, I’m going to share with you the method that was used. This method works, it works every time, and is recommend that you follow it, use it, and trust in it.
How Do I Do This?
Before we begin, it may be wise to go for a smaller intention, before you go for the “Big One”. Something that you aren’t particularly attached to, and are, more or less, indifferent to. You can, of course, do this alongside a bigger intention, but for your first time, I recommend going for something small.
Step One: What Do You Want?
Well, what do you want? It can be anything. Anything at all! So, don’t dumb it down. Of course, since this may just be your first time, it might be wise to dumb it down a little, but after that first time, expanding your vision is necessary.
Clarify what you want. Let’s say, for your first intention, you want fifty-dollars. Are these fifty U.S. Dollars? Write that down. Do you want them in cash? Write that down? Finally, the most important part of all, what do you intend to use this money for? Is there a goal that you have in mind? Or, are you simply trying to see if this process works? Again, write all of this down.
In the example, he wanted a plane ticket to Siem Reap, Cambodia. So, he wrote that down, and the purpose of that ticket was so that he could move to Siem Reap.
Step Two: What Is Your “End Result”?
Let’s say that you want fifty-dollars, because you want to buy fifty-dollars worth of lotto tickets. That is the End Result of having that money, and if this is the case, then your real intention is for the lotto tickets, and not, in fact, the money, for the money is simply another obstacle that is blocking your path towards that intention of yours.
To dissolve this, focus on the End Result, which is having those lotto tickets in your hand, and feeling the feelings that come with having purchased them.
This is where things can get a little tricky, however, because there are often multiple intentions at work, and it can be a little confusing as to how we get there. So, if you want the lotto tickets because you want to win money, then you’ve created so many obstacles. Ask yourself “Why do I want the money?”, and then go for those things, instead. Of course, if you just want money to prove that this works, then money is a reasonable intention. But if it’s just to pay off bills, go straight to the paying off of the bills, rather than the part where you obtain money, for if you’ve paid off the bills, then it’s implied that you’ve received money of some sort.
If there are multiple “End Results”, then you need to create something that encapsulates all of them into the single intention.
When he set his intention for obtaining a plane ticket to Siem Reap, Cambodia, his End Result was that of having the ticket in his hand, and feeling the certainty of knowing that he was going and that it is certain. If he intended to move a lot sooner, he could’ve simply envisioned himself on the plane or touching down, but since he was merely concerned with the ticket and simply having it, he envisioned that and the feelings that came from the certainty, rather than the full “End Result”. Perhaps it would’ve been better to go ahead in time, and then simply to see himself at the airport, looking at the ticket and seeing the “Purchase Date”. Nonetheless, they both work.
Step Three: What Is Your Scene?
This can be a little tricky, at first, and it’s recommend giving yourself two-days — out of five, for the experiment — to simply allow images and scenes to flood your mind. You can hold onto the ones you like, and discard the ones you don’t like. Simply surrender and allow them to come to you, and they will. From that, you will find a scene that implies the fulfillment of your desire.
For him, it was seeing the ticket on my computer screen, after having purchased it online, and then telling his Mother and Father that he had done so. And for my friend, it was texting me about his new girlfriend. This scene will be repeated throughout the days, and you will gradually give it more and more sensory detail and significance, as you continue to play it over and over again.
As for making the scene itself, I recommend just surrendering. Surrender, and let the sensations come to you. Don’t force anything. It will come to you, and you will know that it is a good scene, and you will, naturally, play it and repeat it and add detail to it.
Step Four: Play The Scene — Feel The Feelings
Take a deep breath. In for four, out for four. Do this seven-times, and you will feel lighter, calmer, relaxed, and content.
Close your eyes, and begin to let the sensations flood your mind. Keep your intention in focus, and then slowly build the scene. If you aren’t yet aware of the scene, continue to let sensations flood your mind, and allow the pieces to come together. Do not force it. Do not push and prod. Simply, let go.
When you find a scene that is truly magnificent and necessary for your purposes, play it over again. Edit it. Trim it down. Capture the implied fulfillment of your intention in a single phrase. And then repeat it. Play it over and over again. And as you play it over again, take the time to add sensory details to the scene.
Continue to play it until four-days have passed. Or longer, if you feel it is necessary, but four-days is just right.
When I did this, I spent eleven-minutes, each day, playing the scene over, with breaks for just visualizing and playing around with the scene and what I was creating. My friend, on the other hand, played it throughout the day, for a total of eleven-minutes. You don’t need to play it for eleven-minutes, but it’s the sweet spot for him, and it may be for you, too!
Step Five: Let Go And Surrender
Make sure to do this after each session, but on the fourth-day, it is time for you to let go and surrender. On that final day, it will be easy, for you have already done what is necessary, and you will know that there is no need to fear, to struggle, to strain, for all is well. All is well.
If you have any trouble with this, I have three recommendations for you.
The first one is to distract yourself right after you finish your session. Work on a project. Talk to a friend. Watch a movie. Draw something. Make something. Anything that you can think of. Ideally, you’re doing something that you enjoy doing, and are passionate about, which makes it easier for you to forget about the session and what you’ve created.
The second seconds on need. This coming up.
one is to do some breathing. Breath in and out, four the inhale and exhale, and do this as many times as you clears all of the tension and raw energy that may be
Finally, the third recommendation is that of saying aloud “Thank You. From This Moment On, I Let Go And Surrender. This, Or Something Better.”
This prayer means that you accept that which you intend to create, and are creating, or something even better.