THE CASE HISTORY OF NEVILLE GODDARD II

In the first part of ‘The Case History of Neville Goddard’, I shared what can be understood of how Neville lived his life from all he shared in his classes and lectures. In this second part, I’ll extend this discussion to cover his marriage, his finances, his health and his death.

I recall 6th May 2022 when I first read this statement from Neville’s lecture Gifts Bestowed by God. He said, ‘I tell it from experience; and then, from then on, when I have found a crisis in my life, I have applied it. I do not live by it every second of time because I am fairly satisfied with the life I live; and so there is no need for constant change in my life, but there are moments in the lives of all of us where we reach a crisis, and then you have to take action if you know who Christ is. For, bear in mind: “By Him all things were made, and without Him was not anything made that was made.”’ Do you realise the gravity of his words? Here I was in a strange city and with my income cut down for four months, and my career at a halt. My relationship wasn’t delightful and I read these words.

They meant to me: I can so exercise my imagination to the point of peace of mind, success in every area of my mind until at last, I don’t have to use it for my personal desires again, unless I am revising for others. That made me really pay attention to what my teacher had to say uniquely. And you’d agree he never had to exercise it for himself repeatedly because he created such a successful life for himself in all areas. Let’s explore the other aspects.

Neville and His Marriage

Neville had two marriages. The first was for fourteen years when they were separated all those years. His son from that marriage lived with him, but from the day he married his first wife, he had the consciousness that it was an unsuccessful marriage. And it happened so. She was eight years older than Neville and their marriage had failed right from Neville’s stay in New York City in 1922.

I cannot specify the time that Neville began to imagine a new marriage for himself, but he did. He started first to imagine that he was happily married to a wonderful woman who had him a lovely daughter. He fell in love with the state, and in 1936 (possibly the same year he imagined his new state of marriage) he met his second wife. Be mindful that in 1936, he was still studying with Abdullah and had not started his teaching career. But he took Bill to his family in Barbados six months after they met. He felt she was going to be his wife from their moment of meeting, and he carried on this feeling.

When he was ready to engage Bill, he imagined a simple scene of sleeping in the same apartment on the same bed as Bill his wife beside him. It is significant to note that Neville took his own suggestion that a man could imagine a greater responsibily here, for he was living in a hotel then. Living in an apartment with the sense of his wife sleeping beside him, that made his wish fulfilled for ‘the engagement.’ That was his greater responsibility.

Neville imagined another scene for his married life altogether. In this scene, he imagined having a 27 year old daughter who wondered how her father could be in love with a beautiful woman of 29. And Neville replied her: ‘She’s your mother.’ This scene, Neville used to imagine an EVERGREEN LOVE!

Neville had a romantic and fulfilling companionship with Bill. For example, Neville took her on many vacations. In fact, Neville took her on vacations with every means of transportation available at his time, and Neville travelled first-class always. There was a year when they went on vacations and Neville spent all his money on their lavish life. There’s not a wife who would not enjoy that.

Two years after their marriage, Neville’s wife did not work for the rest of her life. She was not only the keeper of his purse, but also the proud spender of it. I share the same view with Neville that there is not a woman who doesn’t want that if she’s married. So, he had more than enough money to finance himself and his wife, and asked her to not work again. They weren’t partners; they were companions. And Neville treated her so kindly that even her family attested to it back to Neville even when they didn’t personally like him for his teachings (they were orthodox Christians and thought Neville taught heresies).

Neville’s wife had her maid. Neville’s wife attended his lectures and studied with him. Neville’s wife shared some of her personal desires with Neville to imagine in her behalf. And Neville’s wife took Neville’s message to conscious practice from 1953. She believed in him, not only as a teacher of the law, but as a real, capable and great man.

Neville loved her so much that he often said if he had a party with friends but she was absent, the whole party would feel empty, and he mentioned that she felt the same way. Neville and his wife were simply great lovers.

For this section, read or listen to the following lectures: Power, He Is Dreaming Now and Proof and the Law Works.

Neville and His Finances

Since I’m restricting this to what we can pick from his lectures, I can share that Neville once worked as an errand boy for J. C. Penny and Co. where he was paid $22/week. That constituted an income of $88/month. In today’s valuation, that would be about $2000 monthly income to Neville. Although he survived on it, he did not hesitate to imagine better when the desire came upon him. So, what became of his financial life after his imaginings?

First, there’s Neville with his finances from his career alone and Neville from his finances with his career AND inherited wealth. The first is Neville until 1950. From 1951, his father left him with a block of stock in the family’s wealth that became an ‘independent source of income’ for Neville, and his rich family.

Let’s estimate together just what Neville might have been receiving monthly. In the last article, we mentioned that each attendee would pay $12.5 weekly to attend his lectures. And he had between 500 and 2500 people attending his lectures. Consequently, before his inheritance of wealth, Neville’s annual revenue would be between $187500 and $937500 for his lectures if we restricted them to 30 weeks a year (since he had many vacations and breaks yearly). If you check it in today’s figures, Neville made a range of $2.3 million to $11.5 million in revenue. I haven’t mentioned his income from writing his books, of which I have no idea.

From 1951, he received quarterly dividends from his block of stock in Goddard Enterprises Ltd. I couldn’t estimate what it was worth nor how much he received. But you can tell this much. By 1972, the year he departed, he had millions in his account. And I mean millions of that time. At least two million dollars were comfortably sitting in Neville’s account.

You would hear him say often that whoever had billions probably stole it. And that he himself did not want money beyond his definition of a comfortable living. Neville did not mean to say, really, that a person couldn’t be a millionaire or a billionaire. He just said to specify the state as to exclude thinking you must give up your luxurious lifestyle for money. In fact, he said ‘Don’t let any one tell you that any limit is placed upon the power of belief. There is no limit placed upon it. But don’t forget the Promise.’ (Prophetic Sketches) He is saying don’t make money the means of your achievement when you can exercise your imagination and that alone creates reality.

Financially, Neville was successful. He was secured, not as a middle class member. He was secured and free as a Neville’s class member. Because it takes that class to have millions and work at the incredibly few hours and weeks that he worked, keeping such a lovely relationship and growing a family as he did. And he achieved all this by imagining alone!

Neville and His Health

Neville’s health is such a unique case for me. Especially besides he saying, ‘Assume that you are healthy,’ I did not really hear him speak much about his health. His bold persuasion that ‘Pills will not do it. Diet or climate will not do it. I must become conscious of being healthy by assuming the feeling of being healthy.’ (Lesson One, 1948)

This one lecture Eternity Within, Neville shared about his attitude to health there. He said whilst he was 61 years old, he felt like he was 37 years of age. He said he was physically fit at the time as he was 25 years before. This is a claim you would not find many people of his age making, since by their self-concept towards their health, they would bicker and whine. His attitude alone is great towards his health. But that was the man Neville. His attitude towards anything is greatness.

Read the suggested lecture, Eternity Within.

Neville and His Death

To wrap this series up, let’s talk about Neville’s death. He knew it was coming before it came. Neville already lived not a long life but a rich life. As he himself said, and something that Robert Meade implied often, when we reflect on our years, it is not the numbers that matter; it is the variety of experiences that matter. I sit in my home sometimes, but experience life from Canada, America, India and South Africa in the same day. Isn’t that day worth more than one week of travelling around in my city? That’s what Neville measured his life by. And we must admit that Neville’s experiences were some of the richest known in humankind, physically and mystically. But again, unlike many people, he knew too well that his death was approaching.

Neville made lecture plans regularly year after year. Meaning at the end of a year, he made plans for the incoming year and his lecture ideas for them. But in the year when he died, after his series of last lectures which were probably between July and August 1972, he made no further plans. He expected it with peace and joy.

It is not death that we are so mortally afraid of, but our dying. The manner of death. Would we have achieved all our desires? Would we have experienced our life as richly as we wish? Neville’s life shows us that it is not only possible, but it has been done!

This man who was born in 1905 and died in 1972, aged 67 lived quite richly, especially after he learned with and followed the lessons from Abdullah.

When I learned that he was found dead in a gory sight, I first shrunk at that idea. But listening to his lectures later made me realise that he died exactly as he wanted to. Attribute his death in connection to his habit of drinking, and you miss the point. For Neville’s father who was a heavier drinker died at the age of 81. The idea being his death and his alcohol intake really have no connection. But for a person in whose consciousness drinking means poisoning, they are not only connected, but are causal. If he could speak about his own death, he would probably say: ‘Don’t fall under the illusion of second causes. Let the medical results and autopsy reveal it is a heart attack or brain aneurysm; the medical practitioners were paid to do that. But he lives on, restored to the Eternal Body. So, you don’t mourn him. He is now with the Awakened Brothers.’ That’s what Neville would say.

Neville is such a teacher who taught from experience. He learned from a teacher of distinction and practice, Abdullah, so that’s expected. He taught only one message, Your Wonderful Human Imagination is the Eternal God who Creates the Dream of Life. He enjoins you to operate it. Decide for your life. Choose your terms of comfort and live it.

Neville did not teach that physical action is necessary or required for success, as he himself laid the example of teaching even into the dreams and visions of others. He held the conviction that it’s all mental. And it worked for him.

If the Case History of Neville’s life can be summarized into the briefest words, they would be:

It Works!

Yours royally 👑,
Adelere Adesina 🤴🏿