Daniel 12: The Awakening of Inner Consciousness

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Quick Insights

A time of inner upheaval signals the separation of conscious patterns: some aspects awaken to life, others fall away into shame or contempt.
The great protector that stands up is the faculty of self-awareness defending the integrity of identity during crisis.
Sealing the words and closing the book describes the unconscious holding its secrets until maturation allows comprehension.
Periods measured in symbolic days mark psychological phases of testing, purification, and eventual shining when wisdom becomes habitual.

What is the Main Point of Daniel 12?

The chapter describes a psychological passage in which imagination, attention, and inner judgment dramatize a purification process: crisis exposes hidden beliefs, awareness acts as guardian, and through patience and revised inner assumptions the self emerges clarified and luminous.

What is the Spiritual Meaning of Daniel 12?

What reads as prophecy can be understood as the map of consciousness moving through an acute trial. The 'time of trouble' is an intensified inner conflict when old narratives, fears, and identifications lose coherence. In such moments the psyche produces vivid drama: parts that were dormant are stirred into motion, and the mind registers a choice point where old containers either dissolve or harden. This disturbance is not random punishment but an invitation for attention to discriminate between true identity and inherited story. The figure who stands up is awareness itself rising to protect what is essential: when the mind distinguishes itself from passing thoughts and emotions it acts like a guardian, reorienting feeling and imagination toward preservation rather than surrender. The image of those who 'sleep in the dust' awakening to different fates maps to divergent outcomes within inner life — some latent tendencies are reanimated into life-giving virtues, others reveal their rot and are discarded. The moral polarity is psychological: wisdom brightens perception and radiates influence, while unexamined habit produces shame and isolation. Sealing words until the time of the end speaks to the maturation of understanding. Certain insights cannot be comprehended until the psyche has lived through the necessary contractions and expansions. Knowledge multiplies and the person moves to and fro in life's arenas, gathering information; only after synthesis and embodied patience does clarity arrive. Thus sacred timing is internal timing: cultivation of imagination and the steady occupancy of a chosen inner state bring the sealed meaning into manifestation.

Key Symbols Decoded

Michael standing up is the image of concentrated self-aware will that defends the chosen identity against chaotic impulses. He is not a distant warrior but the waking will that says no to defeatist identifications and yes to one's intended direction. The book that records names and the awakening of sleepers suggest the ledger of inner convictions and the resurrection of latent possibilities when attention acknowledges them. Those written in the book are those whose imaginal acts have been sustained long enough to be accepted by subconscious habit. Rivers, linen-clad figures, and sworn times translate to flowing feeling, purity of imaginative stance, and appointed psychological phases. Water is continuous emotion; to stand upon it is to rest one's imagination upon feeling rather than be carried by it. The pledge of measured days represents precise intervals of inner testing — stages during which belief is both tried and refined until the new assumption takes root and organizes outer experience.

Practical Application

When inner turmoil arrives, treat it as a contained experiment. Begin by witnessing the disturbance without yielding to its narrative, recognizing the guardian faculty that can choose thought and feeling. Use imagination deliberately: rehearse a simple scene in which the desired aspect of yourself is fully present and already expressed, saturating it with feeling until it feels real. Repeat this inwardly during quiet moments and before sleep so that rich, emotional assumptions are impressed upon the subconscious ledger. Allow patience to be your practice; understand that purification is staged. Expect periods where the old self resurfaces to be tried and shown its impotence. Stay in the posture of the witnessing will, refuse identification with transient fear, and persist in living from the end result you desire. Over time the sealed meanings will open and the psyche will reorganize itself around the chosen image, bringing about changes in behavior and circumstance that match the inner reality you have sustained.

The Inner Drama of End-Time Awakening

Daniel 12 read as a psychological drama reveals not a timetable of outer events but a map of inner transformation, a script describing states of mind and the economy of imagination as it creates and redeems experience. In this reading each person, scene, and number stands for a faculty, a phase, or a condition of consciousness engaged in the single human drama of waking from identity with appearance into identity with the creative self.

The opening sentence, where Michael 'stands up, the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people,' introduces the central figure of inner authority: the awakened, defending self. Michael is not an external warrior but the faculty of decisive attention and divine imagination that rises to protect the integrity of the self when identity with limiting ideas is threatened. He stands 'for the children of thy people'—for the aspects of the self that have been given over to the world of sense. When Michael stands, inner defense against destructive beliefs is mobilized.

'There shall be a time of trouble such as never was' names the inevitable crisis which precedes awakening: the collapse of current assumptions, the stripping away of illusions. Psychological life requires such a crucible. It is the pressure that forces attention inward. This trouble has been called apocalyptic because it is the unmasking of what we mistook for reality. In ordinary language it is panic, loss, betrayal, grief — events that push one to reconsider identity. But the drama insists these troubles are not punitive; they are catalytic, aimed at the deliverance of 'thy people'—the inner community of possibilities written in the book.

The 'book' is the ledger of imagination: memory, self-narrative, and the imagined future that governs behavior. 'Every one that shall be found written in the book' points to the fact that only those identities already inhabited in the imagination will be delivered into manifestation. What is written is what is expected; what is imagined is what is brought forth. This is why the chapter speaks of the sleeping rising: 'many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake.' Sleep here is subconscious habitualness; dust is accumulated opinion and dead ideas. Awakening separates those who rise to life—those who accept a new imaginative story—from those who awaken to shame: the latter discover the falsity of their former investments and must face regret until they correct the imagination.

The polarity of outcome—'some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt'—is not moral damnation but the psychological result of inner revision or failure to revise. Those who had cultivated noble inner images now shine; those who maintained deceitful or fearful images find those images exposed. 'They that be wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament' names the practical wisdom of conscious imagers: to abide in the creative act of imagining the good and lawful expression of self. 'They that turn many to righteousness as the stars forever' points to the radiating influence of revised inner states; once the imagination is trained to dwell in benevolent ideals, one becomes a source of entrainment for others.

The direction to Daniel to 'shut up the words, and seal the book, even to the time of the end' describes the interior protocol of revelation: transformative understanding is often sealed until the person is ready to embody it. The subconscious keeps certain insights latent until sufficient purification and readiness are present. 'Many shall run to and fro, and knowledge shall be increased' is the restless mind seeking information; exposure to facts and doctrines increases, but without the conversion of imagination increased knowledge alone does not change destiny. The multiplication of knowledge in the world corresponds to the stream of mental objects vying for attention; the awakened faculty chooses. Increased knowledge raises the stakes and accelerates inner sorting.

The vision of two on the riverbank and the 'man clothed in linen, which was upon the waters of the river' is a compact image of psychological dynamics. The river stands for the emotional unconscious—flowing, deep, sometimes turbulent. The one 'clothed in linen' is the dignified conscious imagination, robed in purity (linen) and standing upon the waters: imagination reigning over emotion. This is the crucial act of the awakened state—imagination above feeling, not at their mercy; it uses feeling as the medium of creation rather than being driven by it. The presence of two observers on opposite banks makes the point that transformation is witnessed by both conscious and unconscious faculties, and that the inner movement affects both sides.

When the man upon the waters 'held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever,' his gesture testifies to a covenant made within. The raised hands symbolize declaration: attention consecrated to a new law of being. The oath is not to an external deity but to the eternal creative power within — the imagination that sustains reality. The appointed period—'a time, times, and an half'—expresses the rhythm of inner change: a stage of awakening, a stage of consolidation, and a partial completion where the ego still lags. Numbers in this idiom stand for phases rather than literal days. 'When he shall have accomplished to scatter the power of the holy people, all these things shall be finished' indicates that the scattering of old power structures—habits, identities, loyalties to false beliefs—must be breached before the new configuration can stand. The 'holy people' are the potentials of the self that need to be dislodged from false lodgings.

Daniel's candid 'I heard, but I understood not' is the common state of hearing inner truth but lacking the capacity to embody it. The answer, 'Go thy way, Daniel... the words are closed up and sealed till the time of the end,' insists patience: revelation unfolds in readiness. 'Many shall be purified, and made white, and tried' is the description of the refinement process: trials serve as heat that separates dross from gold. Purification is not punishment but the purification of intention and desire so imagination can operate without contamination.

'But the wicked shall do wickedly: and none of the wicked shall understand' indicates that those invested in the habitual misuse of imagination will persist in misunderstanding; their inner instrument fails to turn. Wickedness is psychological mismanagement—allowing fear, envy, or resentment to dictate imaginative acts. Understanding requires the reversal of habit—a discipline of deliberate imaginative revision.

The enigmatic measures—'from the time that the daily sacrifice shall be taken away... 1290 days... blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the 1335 days'—refer to time intervals of inner perseverance. The 'daily sacrifice' is not ritual but the daily surrender of creative faculty to the dictation of outside events: each time one yields imagination to fear or external opinion, one sacrifices creative authority. The removal of this continual surrender marks the start of true autonomous imagining. The days are symbolic counts of patience: the inner work requires a sustained period of consistent imaginative practice. Blessedness accrues to him who waits—who persists in revision and faith—until the final stage when his new identity is established and stands in its lot.

The closing injunction, 'Go thy way till the end be: for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the days,' offers the promise of rest through successful transformation. Rest is not torpor but peace that comes when the imagination has been aligned with vision and therefore produces consistent outer evidence. To 'stand in thy lot' is to claim the role and conditions befitting the new inner identity.

Practically, this chapter prescribes an interior regimen: recognize the Michael within; allow troubles to prompt inward revision rather than external blame; read the book of your life as a changing script you may seal and unseal through intention; refuse the 'daily sacrifice' of yielding imagination to appearances; train imagination to stand upon feeling, commanding it; endure the intervals of purification with patient revision; and persist until the new self manifests and 'shines' in outer life.

Viewed as a psychological drama, Daniel 12 is less prophecy of external chronologies and more an anatomy of awakening. It dramatizes the tension between sleep and wakefulness, between the old ledger of identity and the rewritten book of being, between emotion as fluctuating waters and imagination as the suiting garment of inner command. It is a manual for reclaiming the creative power that has always been operating in consciousness but must be woken, defended, disciplined, and patiently enacted until the new world within restructures the world without.

Common Questions About Daniel 12

How does Neville Goddard interpret 'many shall awake' in Daniel 12?

Neville interprets ‘many shall awake’ as a multitude of inner awakenings rather than an external mass event; people awaken when they alter their dominant assumption and live from a new state of consciousness, whereby some awaken into life and others into shame according to the quality of their imaginal acts (Daniel 12). The awakening is measured by the light you carry — the wise shine as the brightness of the firmament because they have assumed the victorious state within. Spiritual practice, disciplined imagination, and persistence determine which awakening becomes your destiny, for your conscious assumption shapes the life that answers you.

How can I apply Neville's law of assumption to the promises of Daniel 12?

Apply the law of assumption by occupying the end state implied in Daniel 12: imagine and feel yourself already delivered and written in the book, living from that fulfilled scene until it hardens into fact; treat the promise as a psychological reality to live from, not a distant prophecy (Daniel 12). Refuse to be governed by contradictory senses, rehearse a single vivid scene nightly that implies your deliverance, and assume the inner attitude of faith and gratitude as present reality. Consistency in feeling and attention will bring the inner book to acknowledge your name and the outer world to conform to that assumed state.

What does Daniel 12 mean about the resurrection, according to Neville Goddard?

Neville taught that the resurrection in Daniel 12 is not a physical event but the awakening of consciousness from sleeping belief to realized identity; when it says many who sleep shall awake, it means imaginal rebirth into the state you assume, either to everlasting life or to shame, depending on your inner assumption (Daniel 12). The great prince who stands is your subjective Christ or divine imagination that brings about this transition. The book in which names are written is the record of assumed states; those who persist in living as if their desire is fulfilled are raised into the new state and experience its outward manifestation.

Does Neville see the 'sealed book' in Daniel 12 as a symbol of states of consciousness?

Yes; Neville reads the sealed book of Daniel 12 as the hidden record of assumed states that remains closed until you internally fulfill and unseal it by living the state imagined, after which the book acknowledges your reality (Daniel 12). The sealing represents the inefficacy of mere intellectual knowledge; only by entering the feeling of the wish fulfilled does the book open. The unsealing is accomplished by disciplined assumption and faithful imaginal acts so that what was once latent in your consciousness becomes manifest in life, and you stand in your lot at the end of the days.

What imaginal acts or meditations does Neville recommend for the 'time of distress' in Daniel 12?

For the time of distress mentioned in Daniel 12, Neville recommends entering a calm, detailed imaginal scene where you are already safe and delivered, using sensory-rich rehearsal to impress the subconscious; imagine the great prince standing for you, your name accepted in the book, and feel the relief and joy as if real now (Daniel 12). Practice this at night and during quiet moments, persist in the one scene until it feels natural, and dismiss fearful reports of the senses. The imaginal act is to live from the end: see, hear, and feel the outcome, then carry that state into daily life.