Do Not Try To Devise The Means

One of the greatest New Thought thinkers to have ever lived was Neville Goddard. To this day, Neville’s work resonates with audiences all across the globe, due to the concise vision that he outlined, his actionable philosophy, and the sense of possibility and power that permeates all of his work.

Engaging with the central ideas of Neville’s work would take quite some time — and, in a sense, we have already done so within this blog — due to the fact that there are several central ideas within Neville’s work, and each one is vast in its own way.

Rather than covering the vast reaches of his philosophy and ideals, there is one key idea that I would like to share with you. While this idea was not a central theme of Neville’s work, per se, it served as a key facet of the themes and ideas that Neville spoke of, while also serving as a mode of engaging with your desires and ambitions.

“But I’ll Tell You One Thing, Do Not Concern Yourself With The Means. Always Go To The End. Dwell In The End, And You Will Hurt No One. But If You Try To Devise The Means, You Are, Well, Messing The Whole Thing Up.”

No matter what you desire is, and no matter how silly or impossible it may seem to be, go to the end. Feel it as a present fact, and allow these feelings to turn into an assumption of your desire as a present fact.

Dwell in this assumption, persist in assuming that your desire is a fact. Do not devise the means, or concern yourself with creating the means. Simply go to the end, and live in the end.

Those last two paragraphs are just me riffing off of the quite, but I believe they sum up one of Neville’s core tenets: go to the end, and live in the end.

Do Not Try To Devise The Means

Many of us — and, as always, by “many of us” I am only speaking of myself — attempt to feel our desires as a present fact. As we do so, though, we concern ourselves with the supposed impossibility of our desires and what we are creating.

The reason that so much seems “impossible” to ourselves is because we are attempting to devise the means of fulfillment. Rather than allowing the desire to fulfill itself in the best and most beautiful manner possible, we attempt to define and constrain the means of fulfillment.

Through the act of attempting to devise the means of fulfillment, we assert the “reality” of our present surroundings and circumstances, while denying the greater reality of that which we are imagining.

Within each and every one of us, there is an infinite creative power. We all have easy and immediate access to this creative power. We can all use this infinite creative power towards the desires and ambitions that we hold in our heart.

One of the most significant reasons why we don’t do this, though, is because we think from our circumstances and the limitations emanating from those circumstances. Our own present circumstances, it appears, do not allow for the fulfillment of our grandest and most significant desires and ambitions.

Because of this, we limit ourselves and go for what’s more “realistic”, never allowing the truth of who we are and what we are capable of to come through and take on a form of its own.

Even the simplest and most effortless desires can be brought away from fruition due to our emphasis on devising the means. By constraining our focus towards what seems “possible” and “realistic”, we deny the infinite magic of the world we live in, and the true powers that we all possess.

Our reliance on “present facts” and “rationality” leads to self-imposed limitations that restrict and confine every single aspect of ourselves. Making the choice to rely on imagination, however, and choosing to live in the end rather than trying to devise the means, allows for all limits and boundaries to be broken, for it is imagination that serves as both the truth of this world and the truth of who we are.

Conclusion

While I cannot say, with certainty, that Neville meant exactly what was just written, I am confident that he would agree with much of it.

If we wish to succeed in applying the ideas and practices that Neville taught, then we must go to the end, as Neville taught, and surrender to the imaginal reality of our wishes, desires, and ambitions.

In the end, I hope you enjoyed this simple and brief essay! Thank you so much for reading, and if you would like to reach me for any reason at all, you can do so at “maxwellcakin@gmail.com”!

Best Wishes & Have A Great Day!