#43: Dwell Therein

Dwell Therein

A Lecture in the Voice and Spirit of Neville Goddard

You have all, at one time or another, built the most stately habitations in your mind. You have seen in imagination the perfect health you long for, the abundant supply that would free you, the loving companionship that would fill your days with joy, the success that would crown your efforts. Yet how often have you left these noble dreams vacant? You construct them with care, you admire them from a distance, and then you step back into the old state and wonder why they never become real. Why build a stately habitation unless you intend to dwell therein? This is the common fault of man—perpetual construction and deferred occupancy. You dream, yet you do not live in the dream. You desire, yet you do not occupy the desire as your natural home.

Tonight I speak to you of the one simple, majestic art that changes everything: the art of mentally living inside the fulfilled desire until it becomes your natural dwelling place. Man is all imagination, and imagination is God in action. Where you are in imagination, there you are in reality, for your imagination is yourself. To dwell therein is not to visit the state of the wish fulfilled as a tourist. It is to take up residence there, to make that state your permanent address in consciousness. You move in, you settle in, you live from that state as though it were the only reality, and then the outer world, which is but the shadow, must conform.

Think for a moment what it means to dwell. A dwelling is not a place you pass through on occasion. It is the place from which you view all things, the place you return to naturally when the mind is at rest, the place that feels more real to you than any other. When you dwell in the fulfilled desire, you think from it, not of it. You do not look at your desire as something distant, something yet to come. You look out upon the world as the man or woman who already possesses it. You feel the naturalness of it. You breathe the atmosphere of its fulfillment. You hear the inner conversations that belong to that state, and you see the world reflecting back to you the evidence of its reality. This is living in the controlled waking dream. This is the secret.

You need not force anything. You simply assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled and you remain in that feeling until it hardens into a natural conviction. The senses may deny it. The world may present its old picture with all its seeming limitations. But you, knowing that consciousness is the only reality, pay no attention to the outer. You withdraw your attention from the present condition and you place it wholly in the end. You dwell there. You abide there. You make that state your home. And because you dwell there, the creative power of imagining answers your adventurous fancy and the wish fulfilled breaks in upon you unawares.

Man must be where he is in imagination, for his imagination is himself. If you continue to dwell in the state of lack, you will continue to out-picture lack. If you continue to dwell in the state of limitation, limitation will be your constant companion. But when you change your dwelling place in consciousness, when you move into the state of the desire fulfilled and make it natural to you, then the old conditions dissolve and the new conditions rise to meet you. The bridge of incident is built automatically. Events will arrange themselves in the outer world to bring the fulfillment into being, but you need not concern yourself with the how. Your only concern is to dwell in the end.

This is the art you are here to master. It is not a matter of occasional prayer or fleeting hope. It is a matter of persistent, natural occupancy. You return to the state again and again until the feeling of fulfillment becomes so familiar that it feels more real than the evidence of your senses. You sleep in that state. You wake in that state. You walk through your day carrying the quiet certainty of that state. You do not strain or struggle. You simply be it. You live in it as naturally as you now live in your present conception of yourself. And because you are living in it, because you have made it your dwelling place, it must externalize itself.

Consider the power that is released when you truly dwell therein. You are no longer fighting against conditions. You are no longer trying to change the world by changing things. You are changing the world by changing the state from which you view it. You are the center of imagining, and from that center you move mentally from things as they are to things as they ought to be. This mental movement is the most important discovery you can ever make. It reveals you as a being with powers of intervention, able to alter the course of events through a series of transformations in consciousness. You do not coerce the outer world. You simply occupy the inner state, and the outer world rearranges itself in harmony with your new dwelling place.

Tonight, I ask you to test this truth for yourself. Take one desire that is dear to your heart. Do not think about it. Enter into it. Assume the feeling that it is already so. Feel yourself to be the one who has it. See the world from that standpoint. Hear the congratulations, feel the relief, know the joy as your own. Then remain in that feeling. Dwell there. Do not leave it because the outer world has not yet changed. The outer world is only the reflection of where you have been dwelling. Change the dwelling and the reflection must change.

You may find at first that the old habits of thought try to pull you back. The senses will report the old story. But you are not the slave of your senses. You are the master of your imagination. You gently withdraw your attention from the report of the senses and you return to the state of the wish fulfilled. You make it your home. You make it so natural that it requires no effort to remain there. This is the key. When the state feels natural, when it feels like the place you belong, then the creative power within you has accepted it as true, and it must come to pass.

The awareness of being is God. When you dwell in the fulfilled desire, you are saying in the language of consciousness, “I am that.” I am healthy. I am prosperous. I am loved. I am at peace. And because I am is God, that state is established in your world. You do not have to persuade God to do something. You simply become one with the state by dwelling in it, and God, which is your own awareness, externalizes it perfectly. This is not theory. This is law. Imagination creates reality, and you are the imagining itself.

Let this truth sink deeper into you. To dwell therein is to live in the end. It is to think from the end. It is to act as though the end is now. You do not wait for the outer confirmation. You give the outer confirmation by living in the inner fulfillment. You do not hope for it. You know it. You do not wish for it. You are it. This knowing, this being, this natural occupancy is the secret of those who have mastered the principle. They have learned to live in their dream until, in fact, they do just that.

You can do this tonight. You can enter the state and make it your dwelling place. You can feel the naturalness of it. You can rest in it as in a familiar room. And as you rest there, as you abide there, the power that created the universe will move through the bridge of incident to bring the fulfillment into your outer experience. You need do nothing else. Your only responsibility is to dwell.

Many will hear this and still return to the old state. They will visit the desire but not occupy it. They will construct the dream but not live in it. But you who hear with understanding will take this word and use it. You will enter the state and you will dwell there. You will make the fulfilled desire your natural home in consciousness. And because you dwell there, because you live there, because it becomes natural to you, the outer world will bear witness to the truth of your assumption.

This is the great secret. This is the art. Dwell therein. Live inside the fulfilled desire until it becomes your natural dwelling place. Do not leave it. Do not visit it and return to the old. Occupy it fully. Make it your home. And you will discover, as all who have truly practiced this have discovered, that imagination is God and that where you are in imagination you must be in the flesh. The wish fulfilled will break in upon you unawares, and you will know that you have found the key to the kingdom.

You are the operant power. You decide where to dwell. You decide what state shall be your home. Choose wisely. Choose the state of the wish fulfilled. Enter it now. Feel it now. Live in it now. And let it become so natural to you that you cannot imagine being anywhere else. Then watch, in quiet certainty, as the world rearranges itself to match the state in which you dwell.

This is not a technique to be tried once and set aside. This is a way of life. This is the continual practice of living in the end. Every moment offers you the choice: will you dwell in the old state or will you dwell in the new? Will you occupy the state of lack or will you occupy the state of fulfillment? The choice is always yours. And as you choose to dwell in the fulfilled desire, as you make it your natural dwelling place, you will see the promise fulfilled in every area of your life.

Let no one tell you that this is difficult. It is the simplest thing in the world once you understand it. You are imagining all the time. The only question is where you are placing your imagination. Place it in the end. Place it in the fulfilled desire. Dwell there. Abide there. Live there. And the creative power that is your very being will do the rest.

You are not the victim of circumstance. You are the creator of circumstance. You create by dwelling. You create by occupying. You create by living inside the fulfilled desire until it feels completely natural. Then the outer world must reflect that naturalness. It has no choice. Consciousness is the only reality, and you are consciousness. Therefore, be the consciousness of the wish fulfilled. Dwell in that consciousness. Make it your home.

Tonight, as you leave this place in the outer sense, remain in the inner sense in the state of your desire fulfilled. Carry that state with you. Return to it constantly. Let it become so familiar that it is your automatic response to life. When doubt arises, return to the state. When fear tries to enter, return to the state. When the senses report the old story, return to the state. Dwell there until the state dwells in you, until it is you.

This is the art. This is the secret. This is the way. Dwell therein, and you will walk in the fulfillment of every desire. The stately habitation is already prepared in your imagination. Enter it now. Occupy it now. Live in it now. And you will discover that you have always been the lord of your own mansion. You have only to claim your dwelling place and make it your home.

My friends, the truth is simple and it is eternal. Man is all imagination. Imagination creates reality. To realize your desire you must live in the feeling of the wish fulfilled until that feeling becomes natural to you. You must dwell therein. You must make the fulfilled desire your natural state of consciousness. When you do this, when you truly occupy the state, the outer world will bear witness to the truth of your assumption. The wish will be fulfilled, and you will know beyond all doubt that you have found the kingdom and that the kingdom is within you.

Dwell therein tonight. Dwell therein tomorrow. Dwell therein always. And you will never again build a dream only to leave it vacant. You will build and you will occupy. You will imagine and you will live in the imagination. You will desire and you will be the desire fulfilled. This is the art. This is the promise. This is the law. And it is working in you now as you accept it and as you dwell in the state of its fulfillment.

Let this truth sink deep into your being. You are the dweller in consciousness. Choose your dwelling place wisely. Choose the state of the wish fulfilled. Enter it fully. Live in it completely. Make it so natural that you cannot imagine being anywhere else. Then rest in the quiet certainty that the creative power of your own awareness is moving through the world of incident to bring about the perfect fulfillment of your every desire.

You have heard the word. Now live the word. Dwell therein. And the world will become the perfect reflection of the state in which you have chosen to make your home. This is the gospel. This is the good news. This is the truth that sets you free. Dwell therein, and freedom, fulfillment, and joy will be your constant companions.

The choice is before you now. The state is prepared. The habitation is stately beyond measure. Enter it. Occupy it. Dwell therein. And you will know the joy of the wish fulfilled as your natural, everyday experience. This is my message to you tonight. Take it, use it, live it. Dwell in the fulfilled desire until it becomes your natural dwelling place, and you will see the glory of God expressed in your world.