#179: The Assumed Reality

The Assumed Reality

A Lecture in the Voice and Spirit of Neville Goddard

You have been schooled by the appearances of life to believe that you must first see the thing before you can accept it as real. You have been told that seeing is believing. But I tell you that this is the reversal of the truth. Believing is seeing. The assumption of the reality of the thing is what causes the thing to appear. When you grant to your desire the same reality you now grant to your present state, you set in motion the forces that will bring it to pass. The assumption is the reality. The appearance is but the shadow that follows the assumption.

You are always living in an assumed reality. There is no moment when you are not assuming some state to be the fact of your life. The only difference between the man who realizes his desire and the man who does not is the difference in what they assume as real. The one assumes the fulfillment as real and sustains that assumption. The other assumes the lack or the problem as real and sustains that. Both are assuming. Both are granting reality. But they are granting it to opposite states. And life, being no respecter of persons, gives to each the fruit of his assumption.

To change your life, you do not change the outer facts first. You change the assumption from which the facts spring. You grant reality to a new state. You assume that you are already the man or woman you wish to be. You feel the feeling of the wish fulfilled. You think from that state rather than toward it. And as you do, the old state loses its reality for you, and the new state takes its place. The world, which is but the mirror of your assumptions, must then reflect the new.

It is not easy at first, for the old assumption has been granted reality for a long time. It has built up a momentum. The senses have been trained to report only what is consistent with the old assumption. But you must be willing to deny the evidence of the senses when it contradicts your assumption. You must be willing to say within yourself, "This appearance is not the truth. The truth is what I have assumed." This is not lying to yourself. This is recognizing that the appearance is the effect of a previous assumption, while your new assumption is the cause of a new effect that is on its way.

The senses are faithful servants. They will report what is. But what is, is what has been assumed. When you change the assumption, you change what is. The senses will then report the new is. But they cannot report it until the assumption has had time to objectify itself. This is why you must persist. This is why you must not be moved by the appearance that contradicts your assumption. The appearance is the old. Your assumption is the new. And the new must become the old if you remain faithful.

What does it mean to grant reality to imagination? It means to feel that the thing imagined is already a fact. It means to live in the consciousness of it as though it were already true. It means to make it the dominant theme of your inner conversations. It means to react to the outer world from the standpoint of the assumed state rather than from the standpoint of the old state. When something happens that would have caused you to react in the old way, you react instead from the new assumption. You say within yourself, "This cannot be, for I am already the one who..." And you feel the truth of your words. This is granting reality.

You do not need to see how it will come to pass. In fact, you must not try to see how. The moment you begin to speculate on the how, you are doubting the assumption. You are saying that the assumption alone is not enough, that it needs the help of your conscious planning. But the assumption is enough. The power that created the world is the power that will bring your assumption into form. Your conscious mind does not know the way. It is not meant to know the way. Its function is to assume the end and to remain faithful to the assumption. The way will be shown in due time, and it will be a way that your conscious mind could never have devised.

This is what is meant by the awareness of being the thing desired is the way. The awareness of being the fulfilled one is the way. Not the reasoning mind, not the planning, not the struggling. The simple assumption of "I am he" is the way. When you can say with conviction, "I am the healthy one," "I am the wealthy one," "I am the loved one," you have found the way. And the way will lead you to the manifestation without your knowing how it is being done.

Many have found this too simple. They have sought for complicated techniques and elaborate rituals. But the truth is simple. The assumption is simple. The feeling of the wish fulfilled is simple. And because it is simple, it is despised by the wisdom of the world. But to those who are willing to be simple, to those who are willing to grant reality to the simple feeling of the end, it is the power that transforms lives.

You must be willing to live as though your assumption were true even when everything in your outer world denies it. This is the test. This is the price of the realization. But the price is not paid to some external power. The price is paid to yourself. You pay it by surrendering the old assumption. You pay it by withdrawing your faith from the appearance and placing it in the assumption. And when you have paid this price, you will find that the thing has already been given you in consciousness, and the outer will simply catch up with the inner.

The interval between the assumption and the realization may be long or short. It depends upon the strength of the assumption and the persistence with which it is sustained. But the interval is not your concern. Your concern is the assumption itself. Keep the assumption alive. Nourish it with your attention. Feed it with your feeling. And it will grow until it is strong enough to objectify itself. Then you will see it in your world, and you will know that it was not the seeing that made it real, but the assuming.

This is the lesson you must learn if you would be free from the tyranny of appearances. The appearances are not your master. They are your servant. They serve the assumption you have granted reality. Change the assumption, and the service changes. But you must change it in the inner world first. You must grant the new reality there before you can see it here.

Tonight, as you go to your rest, assume the reality of your desire. Do not hope for it. Do not wish for it. Assume it. Feel yourself to be the one who has it. Let the feeling of it fill your mind and your heart. Do not argue with it. Do not question it. Simply assume it as true. And as you fall asleep in this assumption, you will have planted the seed that must grow. The morning may bring no visible change, but the change has occurred in the only place that matters. Persist in the assumption throughout the day. Return to it whenever the old appearance tempts you to doubt. And you will find that the assumed reality becomes the experienced reality.

There is no state that is impossible to assume. There is no desire that is denied to the one who will assume its reality. The only denial is the denial of the assumption itself. You deny your desire when you refuse to assume its fulfillment. You affirm it when you grant it reality in consciousness. Choose, then, what you will affirm. Choose what you will assume as real. For your assumption is your reality, and your reality is your life.

The world will not understand this. The world will call it fantasy, wishful thinking, escape from reality. But the world does not know what reality is. The world takes the shadow for the substance. You are learning to take the substance for the substance and to let the shadow take care of itself. And in this learning, you are awakening to the power that is your birthright—the power to assume the reality of any state and to see that state expressed in your world.

So grant reality to your imagination. Treat the assumed as the real. Live from it. Think from it. Feel from it. And the world will be compelled to reflect it. This is not a promise for the future. This is the law of your being now. Assume it, and it is so.

The feeling that accompanies the assumption is the key to its power. It is not enough to think the thought of the fulfilled desire. You must feel the feeling of it. The feeling is the acceptance. The feeling is the granting of reality. When you can feel "I am" the one who has it, you have granted it reality. The thought alone may be doubted. The feeling cannot be doubted when it is truly felt. So dwell upon the feeling. Cultivate the feeling. Let the feeling of the wish fulfilled become your inner atmosphere. Then the assumption will be strong, and the manifestation will be certain.

You may find at first that the feeling is weak. The old assumption has been felt for so long that it has a strong feeling tone. But as you persist in assuming the new, the new feeling will grow. The old feeling will fade. And one day you will find that the new feeling is the natural one. You will feel yourself to be the fulfilled one without effort. This is the sign that the assumption has been accepted. This is the sign that the manifestation is near.

Do not force the feeling. Forcing implies doubt. Simply assume and let the feeling come. If it does not come at first, assume anyway. The assumption will produce the feeling in time. The important thing is the assumption itself. The feeling will follow the assumption as the shadow follows the object. Assume first. Feel second. This is the order.

And when the feeling comes, you will know that you have granted reality to the assumption. You will know that you have done the work. Then you can rest in the knowledge that the law is at work. You can go about your daily tasks in the outer world without anxiety, for you know that the inner work has been done. The outer will take care of itself.

This is the peace that passes understanding. This is the rest that the assumption brings. You are not striving to make something happen. You are simply assuming that it has happened. And in that assumption, you are at peace. The struggle is over. The work is done. The manifestation is certain.

The consciousness that you are is the consciousness that assumes. There is no other consciousness. When you assume a state, you are not adding something to yourself. You are simply becoming aware of being that state. You are shifting your awareness from one state to another. And since awareness is all there is, the state of which you are aware is the state you are. This is why the assumption is not a lie. It is the truth of what you are choosing to be.

You have been many states in your lifetime. You have assumed the state of childhood, the state of youth, the state of maturity. You did not wait for the senses to confirm these states before you assumed them. You simply grew into them by assuming the consciousness of them. Now you must do consciously what you once did unconsciously. You must assume the state you desire with the same naturalness with which you once assumed the state of your chronological age.

The difference is that now you know what you are doing. You know that assumption is the key. You know that you are not at the mercy of the outer world. You are the one who determines what the outer world will be by what you assume it to be. This knowledge is your freedom. But it is also your responsibility. For now you can no longer blame the world for what you are experiencing. You must look within and see what you are assuming. And if you do not like what you are experiencing, you must change what you are assuming.

This is the great responsibility that comes with the knowledge of this law. But it is also the great joy. For it means that you are not a victim. You are a creator. You create by assumption. You create your health by assuming health. You create your wealth by assuming wealth. You create your freedom by assuming freedom. You create your love by assuming love. Whatever you desire to create, you create by assuming its reality in consciousness.

And the creation is not in the future. The creation is now. When you assume, you have created. The manifestation may take time to appear in the outer, but the creation is instantaneous in the inner. This is why you can give thanks before you see the thing. You give thanks because you have already received it in consciousness. The thanks is the acknowledgment that the assumption has been accepted. And the acceptance is the signal that the manifestation is on its way.

Do not be concerned if the manifestation delays. The delay is not a denial. It is simply the time required for the assumption to work its way through the old assumptions that are still objectifying themselves. As the old momentum exhausts itself, the new assumption will have clear field. And when it does, the manifestation will be swift and unmistakable.

You can hasten the process by remaining faithful to the assumption and by not giving reality to the old appearance. Every time you react to the old appearance as though it were real, you are feeding the old assumption. Every time you react from the new assumption, you are feeding the new. Choose, then, which you will feed. Choose which assumption you will grant reality. For the one you feed is the one that will grow.

This is the practical application of the truth. It is not enough to know the truth. You must live the truth. You must grant reality to the assumption in every moment of reaction. When the telephone rings and it is not the call you assumed, do not react with disappointment. React from the assumption that the call you desire is already on its way. When the mail comes and it does not contain the letter you assumed, do not react with discouragement. React from the assumption that the letter is already written and on its way. This is living from the assumption. This is granting it reality despite the appearance.

And as you do this, you will find that the appearances begin to change. The calls will come. The letters will come. The events will come. Not because you have forced them, but because you have assumed them. The assumption is the force. The assumption is the power. And it is a power that works silently, invisibly, but irresistibly.

So you see, the assumed reality is the primary reality. The sensed reality is but the secondary reflection. When you understand this, you will no longer be a slave to the senses. You will be the master of assumption. And in being the master of assumption, you will be the master of your world.

The world is yourself pushed out. What you assume of yourself, you assume of the world, for there is no other. The assumed reality is not a private dream. It is the very substance out of which your world is made. When you grant it reality, you are not escaping the world. You are creating the world. You are determining what the world will be by what you assume the world to be in consciousness.

So assume the best. Assume the fulfillment. Assume the reality of your heart's desire. And do not wait for the senses to confirm it. Grant it reality now. Feel it as so now. Live from it now. For the assumed reality is the only reality that matters. All else is but the shadow that must follow where the assumption leads.

You are the one who assumes. You are the one who grants reality. You are the one who determines what will be expressed in your world. Assume wisely. Assume lovingly. Assume the end that fulfills your desire. And you will find that the end is already in the beginning. The assumption of the end is the beginning of its manifestation. And the manifestation is certain when the assumption is sustained.

This is the truth that sets you free. This is the truth that transforms your world. Grant reality to your imagination. Treat the assumed as the real. And the real will appear. It cannot do otherwise. For consciousness is the only reality, and assumption is the key to consciousness. Assume it, and it is so.