Ashes as Inner Judgment

Neville's Inner Vision

Recall that the story speaks of states of consciousness, not of place in time. The overthrow is the consequence of living in a mentality that denies God as I AM. The cities are the stubborn patterns you entertain—fear, lust, pride—so long as you cling to them, your inner landscape turns to ash. Condemnation, for Neville, is the natural activity of your own mind when it forgets its unity with divine life. This event serves as an ensample, a living model: you can reverse it by turning to the inner I AM and imagining that this is your true self. By imagining God as the one reality, you dissolve the ungodly region from within, and the outer world rearranges to reflect that newly formed consciousness. The inner overthrow precedes outward reform; the psyche's ashes clear the way for a righteous life to emerge. Remember, your thoughts are the builder: alter them, and you alter your cities.