Neville Goddard on Ecclesiastes 2:1-11 - Mystical Bible Interpretation

Read Ecclesiastes 2 in context

Scripture Focus

1I said in mine heart, Go to now, I will prove thee with mirth, therefore enjoy pleasure: and, behold, this also is vanity.

2I said of laughter, It is mad: and of mirth, What doeth it?

3I sought in mine heart to give myself unto wine, yet acquainting mine heart with wisdom; and to lay hold on folly, till I might see what was that good for the sons of men, which they should do under the heaven all the days of their life.

4I made me great works; I builded me houses; I planted me vineyards:

5I made me gardens and orchards, and I planted trees in them of all kind of fruits:

6I made me pools of water, to water therewith the wood that bringeth forth trees:

7I got me servants and maidens, and had servants born in my house; also I had great possessions of great and small cattle above all that were in Jerusalem before me:

8I gathered me also silver and gold, and the peculiar treasure of kings and of the provinces: I gat me men singers and women singers, and the delights of the sons of men, as musical instruments, and that of all sorts.

9So I was great, and increased more than all that were before me in Jerusalem: also my wisdom remained with me.

10And whatsoever mine eyes desired I kept not from them, I withheld not my heart from any joy; for my heart rejoiced in all my labour: and this was my portion of all my labour.

11Then I looked on all the works that my hands had wrought, and on the labour that I had laboured to do: and, behold, all was vanity and vexation of spirit, and there was no profit under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 2:1-11

Biblical Context

The speaker experiments with pleasure, wisdom, and wealth. He finds that outward gains prove vanity, offering no true profit.

Neville's Inner Vision

Ecclesiastes presents a soul running lap after delights—mirth, wine, houses, pools, orchards, gold—only to discover that these things, though real in experience, do not bring lasting profit. In Neville's psychology, this is not a confession of doom but a map: the world is a sign, a page turned by your inner state. The 'I' who seeks joy in sunlit ventures is the same 'I' that must awaken as the I AM, the awareness that stands behind all acts. To make this true, you must stop chasing the sun and begin to claim the sun is within you, always. The abundance of Solomon's gardens is the outward reflection of a mind already rich in imagination. Therefore, change the condition by assuming you are already the man or woman who possesses unlimited joy and provision in your inner state, not in your wallet. When you dwell there, the outer scene shifts to mirror that inner wealth. The vanity vanishes as the inner light asserts: I am the I AM; I live by the eternal law of being.

Practice This Now

Close your eyes and assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled: you are already living in abundant joy, independent of outward pleasures. Rest in that I AM awareness for a few minutes and revise any past memory of lack into proof of inner wealth.