'God Is Light' lecture by Neville Goddard emphasizes that God is literally light, love, and spirit, asserting these definitions should be taken as factual rather than metaphorical. He recounts a personal deep trance experience in which he became an infinite sea of light, demonstrating his claim experientially. Neville explains that when God awakens within each individual, they realize they are the light of the world and participate in divine manifestation. Through scriptural references, he shows how literal interpretation of passages like 'I am the light of the world' reveal our own divine nature. He describes healing dreams and the power of imagining desired outcomes as manifestations of God's light in us. Ultimately, he teaches that by persisting in imaginative assumption, one can consciously shape reality and awaken to their full spiritual identity.
We are told in the 1st Epistle of John, the 1st chapter: “This is the message we have received from him and proclaim to you, that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.” Is this a figure of speech or a literal fact? I am telling you from experience: it is a literal fact, for God is light!
There are three very firm statements made in scripture defining God. God is light. God is love, and God is spirit. John tells us here that God is light, a light in which there is no darkness.
Now try to follow me closely. The final gift to man is God himself and God is a revealer. Man’s knowledge of himself is based on his knowledge of the revealer. Scripture records what is said of the revealer. As he awakens in you, read scripture carefully and you will discover to what extent God has revealed himself to you.
Jesus makes this statement: “I am the light of the world; he who follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.” He is the light that lightens every man as he enters the world. Is this really true? Back in 1926 when I was twenty-one, I was visiting a friend in Larchmont, N.Y. He was the manager of a private club where several hundred boys and girls were gathered to dance. I did not join the group but retired early, turned on the nightlight, and began to read a book. The next thing I knew the sun was up, the light was still burning, and the opened book was lying on my chest. I knew from the page number that I had not read more than a page or two before I fell into a deep, deep trance, because the book had not been disturbed during that long period of maybe ten or twelve hours. I awoke to find myself cataleptic. My body seemed frozen, yet I was conscious of having returned from knowing myself to be an infinite sea of vibrant, liquid, living light. There was nothing but myself. I was the light of the universe and nothing, not one being, existed outside of me. No planet, no sun, no moon – only an infinite sea of light and I the light of the world. So I can say from experience: I am the light of the world!
When God awakens within you (and he will) you too will know you are He who is the light of the world, and if God is light then you must be God! After this revelation happens in you, every claim made in scripture concerning God will begin to unfold from within, just like a tree in blossom. You will know that God is love, for you will stand in the presence of infinite love, embrace and become one with that body.
I am human. I am man, and yet I know I am infinite love. Since my embrace I have no other feeling but the body of love that embraced me. While I am here talking with you now I am wearing but a small portion of myself, just a spark of an immensity of my own fiery being. I know from experience that I help and teach more when I am asleep then when I am awake, for now when I sleep I pass beyond the world of dream into a world of spirit waking. I know from the thought, the imaginings, the visions I have received from many of you, that they are fiery darts shot from my own fiery self. That same being of love is waking within us all and when he wakes, for an interval you become the new lamp of the world. But your light is not here. It is beyond the world of dream for here, he who knows he is the light of the world is always rejected. “He came to his own and his own received him not.” Even his own brothers did not believe in him. On this level it is always the same story, but when God awakens in you, you know who you are; and when the world calls you asleep, you are beyond the world of dream, having entered the world of Spirit waking; and from your fiery being you shoot your darts into the mind of those that you want to stir, to accept your message of salvation.
Now let me share with you this wonderful experience which was shared with me. In this lady’s dream I was standing in the center of a raised platform, surrounded by many rows of people, all deformed in various ways. As I instructed them, one by one they were healed, then they rose and departed. Noticing a madonna made of marble or stone nearby, she saw it become animated and dance for joy as the words I spoke so thrilled her. Then a few weeks ago she had this dream. In it I was a doctor in a hospital which had no surgery or drugs. Everyone simply came to me and was cured. Then she made this statement: “It is my hope that such a hospital can be here.”
May I tell her: “No, it is not here on this level at all.” This is a world of educated darkness where you and I – infinite beings as we are – entered for a purpose, and only a very small part of immortal self entered. That’s what we see here. You are an infinite being, for you are God. Everyone is God, but here we are just a spark of the immensity of our own fiery being. And because ultimately we are one, when one awakens and passes beyond the world of dream, he fires his arrows into the minds of all to stir them, to set that spark ablaze so that everything said of Jesus Christ (God personified in scripture) will be experienced. When it happens in you, you don’t need a new Bible or any credit on this level at all. You ask for no recognition. It was not granted then and it is not to be granted now. Even scripture tells us that even his own brothers did not believe in him. He came to his own people and they received him not. He was in the world and the world was made through him and the world knew him not. That is the story.
So much is said of light in scripture. He lights every man that comes into the world, because without his spark one could not breathe or live. God actually became us that we could become God, who is awakening and unfolding in all. One day you will know that you are all light, then all love, and finally all spirit. No mortal eye will ever see you, for although your birth from above does not appear in this world, the witnesses to the event are mortal. They see the sign of your birth, but they cannot see you because you are spirit. Talking about you as though you were not present, they speak of you in the most incredible terms saying: “How can he have a baby?” yet you take the sign in your arms and embrace it in the most endearing manner. That is the sign of your spiritual birth, revealing yet another definition that God is spirit.
Knowing that God is love and light, when your spiritual birth appears you will have experienced the three definitions of God. Then, still finding yourself confined to this little tiny portion of yourself, you will teach and help others in this world. Ask for no acclaim, no recognition, nothing – just simply teach it, and night after night as you fall asleep you will pass beyond the world of dream, and from the world of spirit waking you will shoot your fiery arrows into the minds of those who follow you. You will stir them and they will awaken as you have been awakened. At some time in your life you heard the story and, as you slept in the world of dream someone who knew God from experience shot an arrow into your mind and your spirit became a flame and God awoke in you. It’s the same being, for there is no race in God, no sect, no color; it’s just God and He is light.
We speak of darkness and light, yet is darkness a thing – or is it the absence of a thing? Is the hole in a sock a thing or is it the absence of a portion of the sock? I am speaking of actual light – vibrant, living, pulsing light, which hasn’t a thing to do with the pigment of skin. I wear all garments – black, yellow, pink and red. I am not greater in one garment than I am in another. In Christ there is no Greek, no Jew, no bond, no free, no male, no female. God is one in all and He awakens in all, and when he does everything claimed of Jesus Christ is experienced. One day, having played the central part, you too will close your eyes and leave this world. Having shot your arrows well, those who heard and believed you will awaken. They may forget you in time that doesn’t really matter, for the eternal story is recorded in the gospel. Your name may not be recorded there but it is recorded in eternity, for your true identity is God Himself!
On this level you can start from here, right now, and fulfill any dream. May I tell you: you are going to live the life that you are imagining, so imagine well! Imagine the most glorious thing in the world and – no matter how wonderful it is – may I tell you it is nothing compared to the being that you really are. Nothing in this world can come close to the being you really are. This world of Caesar is only a tiny section of your infinite being, but while you are here, dream nobly. Dream lovely dreams, for you can realize everything if you are willing to imagine that you have them now. Begin now to imagine you are the man (the woman) you would like to be, and regardless of what happens tomorrow, next week, or next month, if you persist in the assumption that you already are that which you want to be, you will become it in this world of flesh and blood. Everything here will vanish, yes – but why not test your creative power? Then you will begin to taste the power latent within you, and you will discover that you can conjure out of your own depth things that are seemingly impossible, conjured by the mere act of assumption. If you dare to act and persist in acting as though it were true and it becomes a fact, then you will know the truth of your creative power.
The promise you will have to take on faith. I tell you from experience: it is true. I have experienced the fact that God is love, the fact that God is the Father. Who would have thought that one born in 1905 (and my friend who is here tonight – in 1911) with no social, intellectual or financial background, would experience the fact that we are God the Father. That God’s Son David – he who decreed: “I will tell of the decree of the Lord. He said unto me: ‘Thou art my Son, today I have begotten thee'” – is our Son. Who would have thought that we, born in the 20th century, are the Father of one who was supposed to have lived 1000 BC, when we have no memory beyond that little moment in time. I can return to the age of three in my memory, yet we both returned to the same memory and remembered one who supposedly lived 3000 years ago.
We know from experience that we are the ones who declared: “You are my son, today I have begotten you.” We know we are the immortal being who took upon ourselves mortality to test our own infinite power by becoming just a small part of it. Having played the various parts we agreed to play, Fatherhood once more has become a part of our consciousness, and David has stood before us and called us Father. This is the thrill that is in store for everyone.
So when my friend saw this healing she saw correctly, for in 1946 I was lifted up, and as a heavenly chorus sang: “Neville is risen. Neville is risen,” everyone before me was made perfect in harmony with the perfection springing from within me. That is in store for everyone in this world, and in the end we are all gathered into one being, yet without a loss of identity. There is a friendship and, as with friends, you accept the existence of others, so God’s name is plural. It is a unity made up of others.
When you and I deliberately entered the state called Abraham we were told: “For a surety, your descendants will be sojourners in a land that is not theirs and they will be enslaved there for four hundred years. Then they will come out with great possessions.” Four hundred is the last letter of the Hebrew alphabet, whose symbol is a cross. Now crucified on a garment of flesh, you are enslaved by it and must perform all of its normal, natural functions. Regardless of whether you are a king or a serf, you must perform all of the functions of man. Isn’t that a slave? But one day “I” who am God will bring my identity with me, out of limitation and darkness into the world of light, for I am bringing out myself. It was God who made the decision and God who fulfills it in this wonderful world.
We are told in the 82nd Psalm: “I say, ‘You are gods, sons of the Most High, all of you, nevertheless you will die like men and fall as one man, O princes.'” If you are a prince, is your father not a king? Coming out from the Father into the land of forgetfulness, memory died as we fell as one man. But when we return we are the king, for we return as the Father. Now Sons of the Most High, God’s final gift to us is himself, and God is Love. God is Spirit and God is Light! And you are destined to experience everything that is claimed of Jesus Christ in the gospel.
Don’t try to change the Bible – leave it just as it is. I stand amazed, yet I cannot be disturbed when I read how the great scholars interpret it. Today I took the word “light” and was amazed how the scholars interpreted it as a figure of speech. They could not believe the word could be taken in a literal sense, so they gave it every kind of interpretation. These are the great minds of the day, men who are masters of the ancient tongue, but they know nothing because they haven’t had the experience. I tell you scripture is literally true. All the precepts of Jesus Christ must be accepted literally, for they will be experienced literally, in a region so remote from that which man knows or can even conceive. You can’t even think of it here but God does it there, and you will know that you are the central character of scripture, as the whole thing unfolds within you.
On this level, you dwell on what I have told you this night. You will find that it will pay off in tremendous dividends. You will reach the point when you will know that your wish is already fulfilled. Then you will sigh and say: “Thank you Father.” Even though you know you are the Father you can still address him as another, but an intimate self. “He who sent me is with me, he has never left me. If you see me you see him who sent me, for we are one. I and my Father are one.” You can actually have a wish, thank him, and wait for it to appear in this world – and it will.
Now, the same lady who wrote the letter concerning the healing said: “I wanted to see Bergman, so I called the agencies. I called friends whom I thought had influence; I made every physical effort to obtain a ticket to no avail. Then, aggravated with myself, I simply assumed I was in the audience, watching the show and enjoying it thoroughly. A few days later a friend who lives in New York City called to ask if I could see him on a certain night, as he was going to be in town. I agreed and after dinner he took me to see Bergman.”
This lady made every physical effort to get a seat, but not one was available. Yet when she assumed she was there, three thousand miles away a friend decided to come west and take her. Now, people will tell you that tickets are available out of town, or that certain seats are kept aside for special people, for people are forever justifying everything. But my friend didn’t ask for justification, she simply assumed she was seated in the theater and a friend three thousand miles away fulfilled her imaginal act.
You can be anything you want to be, for you are going to be what you are imagining anyway. As man imagines, he lives! Morning, noon, and night you can’t stop imagining, because the candle has been lit. Job tells us that the spirit of the Lord is the candle on his head. Your candle is now lit and you are moving through a world of darkness towards the fulfillment of all that you have imagined; so imagine the best, for everything is yours for the taking. Fulfill every desire while you are here, and when you come to the end you will discover that you are God. You began as God and you end as God, for “I am the beginning, and the end, the first and the last, the alpha and the omega.” God can’t bring out another, so out of himself comes all that goes to make God, for he is the elohim, a compound unity. In the beginning God (elohim) is one made up of others. You and I came out of the elohim and in the end we go back as the elohim, but this time we are aware of being the Father. As common sons (princes) we return as the king. That is the journey for everyone in this world.
I am telling you from experience, the story is true. God is light. In the Book of 1 John, he speaks as though he had only heard and not yet experienced, saying: “We will tell what we have heard from him and proclaim to you that God is light and in him there is no darkness at all.” But in the Gospel of John, he speaks from experience and puts these words in the mouth of the central character, saying: “I am the light of the world. He who follows me will not be in darkness, for I am the light of life.” Here we see light identified with life. There is something within you which is all light, the light of life by which you animate and start things moving, just as the lady saw the statue. It was dead, made of marble; but as everyone was perfectly formed, the madonna became animated and began to dance. You animate everything, for you are God, buried in your mortal body, which is an eternal part of the universe. The bodies you see here are sepulchers. They appear to be alive while you wear them, but they are dead. You animate them, for you are the princes who – dwelling as one man – became fragmented into all these little parts. The one who fell was the king. Now a prince, you are gathering yourself together into the one being called the Lord God Jehovah, who is Jesus Christ.
I know it doesn’t make sense on this level. It is not expected to, but I tell you it is true. Night after night I go to bed and move beyond the world of dreams into the world of spirit making, and from there I shoot my fiery arrows, knowing they never miss. Then someone will bring me a message, telling me she saw circles after circles after circles in the air and an arrow penetrate the smallest circle and swivel. She brought back an image, for that is exactly what happens. The arrow never misses its target. The message always penetrates and sets aflame that which is already there. So I tell you: your imaginings, your dreams, your visions, are fiery arrows shot by a being who is all light!
Now let us go into the silence.
In 'God is Light,' Neville Goddard challenges conventional metaphysical interpretations by insisting that scriptural declarations—'God is light,' 'God is love,' and 'God is spirit'—must be understood as literal truths rather than figures of speech. He foregrounds the idea that the divine source is an active, animating light within each individual, dispelling the concept of darkness as merely the absence of that light. By framing God as an experiential reality, he invites seekers to shift from intellectual analysis to personal revelation, emphasizing that knowing God comes through inner awakening rather than external doctrine.
Goddard reinforces his thesis with a compelling personal narrative in which he enters a profound trance and perceives himself as an infinite sea of vibrant, liquid, living light. This mystical experience serves as empirical proof of the divine light that animates all reality and validates his assertion that each person is a literal embodiment of God. By recounting dreams of healing and animated statues, he illustrates how spiritual truths manifest in the psyche and ripple outward into physical phenomena, bridging the gap between the unseen realms and the tangible world.
A central element of his methodology is the deliberate, literal reinterpretation of key biblical passages. Phrases such as 'I am the light of the world' and assurances that 'he who follows me will not walk in darkness' are presented not as allegories but as declarations of inner divine identity. This hermeneutic approach aligns with the 'law of assumption,' which posits that imagination is the creative force shaping reality. By assuming the feeling of the wish fulfilled, practitioners can engage the same creative power that underlies God's light.
Practically, Goddard's teaching functions as a guide to conscious manifestation. He urges listeners to cultivate noble and loving assumptions through nightly imaginal acts that shoot 'fiery darts' into the subconscious, thereby harmonizing the inner world with desired outcomes. This process of mental alchemy requires persistence in assumption and a willingness to accept one's divine sovereignty even before external evidence appears, fostering a profound sense of empowerment and spiritual autonomy.
Ultimately, 'God is Light' offers a comprehensive framework that unites the mystical, scriptural, and practical dimensions of spirituality. By recognizing the innate divinity in every individual, practitioners participate in a collective awakening where each person's inner light contributes to a unified, living tapestry of consciousness. Goddard's synthesis of personal experience, biblical literalism, and imaginative creativity establishes a path for seekers to realize their full potential as co-creators with the divine.
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