The Power of Awareness

“‘I AM’ is a feeling of permanent awareness. The very center of consciousness is the feeling of ‘I AM.’ I may forget who I am, where I am, what I am, but I cannot forget that I AM. The awareness of being remains regardless of the degree of forgetfulness of who, where and what I am.

‘I AM’ is that which, amid unnumbered forms, is ever the same. This great discovery of cause reveals that, good or bad, man is actually the arbiter of his own fate, and that it is his concept of himself that determines the world in which he lives. In other words, if you are experiencing ill health, knowing the truth about cause, you cannot attribute the illness to anything other than to the particular arrangement of the basic cause-substance, an arrangement which is defined by your concept ‘I am unwell.’ This is why you are told “Let the weak man say, ‘I am strong’.” Joel 3.10, for by his assumption, the cause-substance—‘I AM’—is rearranged and must, therefore, manifest that which its rearrangement affirms. This principle governs every aspect of your life, be it social, financial, intellectual or spiritual.” 

You are consciousness – the only reality – and the assumptions you persistently hold shape everything you experience.

Of all Neville Goddard’s prolific output – lectures, pamphlets, and fourteen books spanning three decades – The Power of Awareness is widely regarded as the most complete statement of his teaching. Written in 1952, this compact, methodical work moves through biblical passages to explain the mechanics of assumption, attention, desire, and acceptance, showing how a shift in inner state precedes and produces every outer change. Its central teaching is mystical: consciousness is not something you possess – it is the only reality, and you are it. What distinguishes Goddard's work from the self-help and manifesting culture that would come later is the depth of its spiritual foundation. For Goddard, you are not just applying a technique to improve your circumstances; you are God – the ‘I AM’ – awakening to what you have always been.

The wisdom of The Power of Awareness centres on one transformative principle: “Man’s chief delusion is his conviction that there are causes other than his own state of consciousness.” Everything in your life – relationships, health, finances, opportunities – flows from your concept of yourself. Change your self-concept and your world will change accordingly. 

This is not mere positive thinking. Goddard teaches that “you can know a thing spiritually only by becoming it. You must be the thing itself and not merely talk about it or look at it.” The path to transformation is through assumption: you claim the feeling of your wish fulfilled before any outer evidence appears. As he explains: “You must assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled until your assumption has all the sensory vividness of reality.”

Goddard draws his teaching from scripture, which he reads not as history but as instruction. “In my Father’s house are many mansions; If it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you...” he writes, citing John 14:2. The mansions, he explains, are states of consciousness, and the ‘I’ that goes to prepare a place is your own imagination, moving ahead into the feeling of the wish fulfilled. “I go to prepare a place for you” is, for Goddard, a precise description of what happens every time you assume a desired state: you are there first in imagination, and your life follows.

When you understand the difference between doing and being – “It is impossible to do anything. You must be in order to do.” – the practice itself is uncomplicated. Goddard indicates three essential points:

“First… intense burning desire… You must want to be different from what you are.

Second, cultivate physical immobility… a state akin to sleep, but one in which you are still in control of the direction of attention.

Third… experience in your imagination what you would experience in reality had you achieved your goal. Surrender yourself completely to this feeling until your whole being is possessed by it.”

This “is the way to at-one-ment or union with your objective.” The key is naturalness: making the desired state feel so real in imagination that doubt dissolves.

Goddard’s Law of Assumption can raise questions about suffering and tragedy. Sometimes assumptions don’t manifest. He explains this is not because the law is false, but because we haven’t achieved the naturalness required. He states: “The time it takes your assumption to become fact… is directly proportionate to the naturalness of your feeling of already being what you want to be.” He also emphasises that this teaching is for personal application, not for judgement of others. The question it poses is always inward: not ‘why did this happen to them?’ but ‘what am I assuming?’

Ultimately, Goddard invites you to recognise that the ‘I AM’ within you is identical with the infinite ‘I AM’ that creates all things. This is not self-improvement but mystical realisation. “In all creation, in all eternity, in all the realms of your infinite being the most wonderful fact is [this]: You are God. You are the ‘I am that I am.’ You are consciousness. You are the creator.” From this recognition flows both the power to transform your life and the responsibility to use that power wisely. The wisdom he offers is both intensely personal and immediately practical: through conscious assumption, you bridge the gap between your current state and your desired reality, discovering that consciousness has always been the only substance moulding your experience.

“This very day start your new life. Approach every experience in a new frame of mind—with a new state of consciousness. Assume the noblest and the best for yourself in every respect… Make believe—great wonders are possible.”