FEELING IS THE SECRET: A Guide to Success Through Manifestation & Reality Creation - Neville Goddard (1944)

(00:00:00) Foreword
(00:01:05) 1. Law and Its Operation
(00:12:46) 2. Sleep
(00:24:46) 3. Prayer
(00:29:43) 4. Spirit — Feeling

FEELING IS THE SECRET: A Guide to Manifestation and Reality Creation for Achieving Success - Neville Goddard (1944).

Neville Goddard’s *Feeling Is The Secret* (1944) is a concise yet profound metaphysical manual that distills the creative power of human consciousness into one central truth: feeling is the secret of manifestation. At just under 50 pages in most editions, the book is not a collection of theories or testimonials but a practical roadmap for turning desires into tangible reality. Goddard argues that the visible world is nothing more than “man’s conditioned consciousness objectified.” Every circumstance, relationship, and event in our lives is the out-picturing of our inner feelings. By mastering the art of deliberately feeling the wish fulfilled, anyone can reshape their destiny without struggle, force, or external aid. The book’s genius lies in its simplicity and universality: it reveals a single mechanism—feeling—that operates through the interplay of the conscious and subconscious minds. Goddard challenges readers to test the law personally rather than accept it on faith, promising that lived success will prove far more convincing than any argument. This description explores the Forward and each of the four chapters, illuminating their core teachings while preserving the book’s elegant, scripture-infused voice.

Foreword
In the Foreword, Goddard sets the tone with striking humility and confidence. He acknowledges that the book is small but “not slight,” containing a “clearly defined road to the realization of your dreams.” He deliberately omits reasoned arguments, detailed examples, or testimonials, knowing that the skeptical mind can always dismiss them as delusion or dishonesty. Instead, he issues a direct challenge: practice the law of consciousness revealed here, and personal results will convince you. The Forward frames the entire work as an invitation to experiment. Success, Goddard insists, is the only proof required. This brief opening removes intellectual barriers and shifts responsibility squarely onto the reader’s willingness to feel. It establishes the book’s practical, results-oriented spirit—no dogma, only demonstration.

Chapter One: Law and Its Operation
This foundational chapter explains the metaphysical mechanics of creation. Goddard declares that “consciousness is the one and only reality,” both the cause and the substance of the entire world. He likens consciousness to a stream divided into two aspects: the conscious mind (personal, selective, male) and the subconscious mind (impersonal, non-selective, female). The conscious mind generates ideas and impresses them upon the subconscious through feeling; the subconscious then gives those ideas form and expression in the outer world. Feeling is the sole medium of impression. No idea enters the subconscious until it is felt. Once felt—whether positive or negative—it must be expressed.
Goddard emphasizes that control of feeling, not mere restraint, is the key to a happy life. One must discipline the imagination to entertain only feelings that contribute to happiness. He warns against dwelling on limitations, regrets, or the imperfections of self and others, as these impressions become the subconscious’s blueprint for reality. “Sensation precedes manifestation,” he writes; therefore, the body and environment are emotional filters bearing the marks of prevalent feelings. Disease itself arises from suppressed emotional conflict.
The chapter reveals the subconscious as the “womb of creation”—faithful, responsive to persuasion rather than command, and utterly indifferent to the truth or falsity of what it receives. It accepts whatever is felt as true and objectifies it exactly. To impress a desired state, one must assume the feeling that would be yours if the wish were already fulfilled. Difficulties, delays, or obstacles must be ignored; only the end result matters. Goddard draws on biblical imagery to portray the conscious-subconscious relationship as a loving marriage rather than master-servant dynamic: “The husband is head of the wife,” yet the leadership is that of a devoted lover. The chapter closes with the eternal principle: “As within, so without.” Nothing comes from outside; all creation flows from subconscious impressions. Mastery of feeling is therefore the highest achievement, and sleep and prayer are offered as the two gateways for impressing the subconscious.

Chapter Two: Sleep
Sleep occupies roughly one-third of human life and serves as the natural, effortless entrance into the subconscious. Goddard describes it as the time when the conscious mind turns from the senses to unite creatively with its “lover,” the subconscious. Whatever feeling dominates consciousness as you fall asleep becomes the seed planted in the subconscious garden. The subconscious reproduces this feeling in the waking world as events, conditions, and relationships—“your children formed from the molds of your subconscious impressions.”
The instruction is clear and practical: before sleep, assume the feeling of the wish fulfilled. Ask yourself, “How would I feel if my desire were already realized?” and let that exact sensation monopolize your attention as you drift off. Lie flat, relax completely, and enter sleep in the consciousness of success, satisfaction, and possession. Never retire in discouragement or failure; the subconscious will faithfully embody whatever you feel yourself to be. Goddard beautifully illustrates this “romance” with verses from the Song of Solomon, portraying the seeker entering the chamber of the one who conceived him.
Sleep is not passive oblivion but a creative act. The last waking concept of self dictates the drama of the following day. Free will exists only in the choice of mood; once asleep, the subconscious takes over and objectifies that mood. By consciously choosing the feeling of the wish fulfilled night after night, you rehearse your future and compel outer circumstances to match your inner conviction. The chapter ends with a powerful reminder: you are an eternal dreamer dreaming dreams into form. Limitless imagination, freed from past experience, can birth any reality.

Chapter Three: Prayer
Prayer, like sleep, is an entrance into the subconscious, but it is conscious and deliberate. Goddard interprets Jesus’ instruction—“When you pray, enter into your closet, and when you have shut your door, pray to your Father which is in secret”—as a call to withdraw attention from the outer world and enter a passive, receptive state akin to the drowsy moment before sleep. In this relaxed reverie, the mind becomes fertile soil for the feeling of the wish fulfilled.
True prayer is not begging or effortful petition; it is the art of yielding to the wish as an already accomplished fact. “Whatsoever things ye desire, when ye pray believe that you have received them, and ye shall have them.” The only requirement is to feel the reality of the end result now. Effort, doubt, or sensory contradiction must be set aside. Instead, one creates a passive state—perhaps by relaxing in a chair or bed, closing the eyes, and gently affirming drowsiness—then imagines and feels the desire already realized. No concern for “how” is needed; the subconscious handles the means once the end is accepted.
Goddard stresses that the disciplined person never entertains feelings contrary to happiness, knowing that feelings are the true causes of life’s circumstances. Prayer succeeds when it is effortless acceptance rather than forceful striving. Upon emerging from prayer, one carries the calm certainty of the end already defined, indifferent to apparent obstacles. The chapter portrays prayer as the art of assuming the feeling of being and having what you want, transforming desire into living reality.

Chapter Four: Feeling
The final chapter crystallizes the book’s core secret: feeling is the creative spirit of God in man. Quoting Zechariah, Goddard declares, “Not by might, nor by power, but by my spirit.” The spirit is feeling. To capture the feeling associated with the realized wish is to relieve all effort, for the state is already so. Faith itself is feeling—“According to your faith (feeling) be it unto you.”
You never attract what you want; you attract what you are conscious of being. Therefore, assume the feeling that would be yours if you were already the person you wish to become or already possessed the thing you desire. Goddard urges readers to believe they are God or Christ in the same natural way Jesus did: “I and My Father are one.” Live in the feeling of the desired identity, and the outer world must conform. The chapter reaffirms that all objective states were once subjective feelings made visible through assumption. By persistently feeling the wish fulfilled, one changes belief and, consequently, changes expression.

In conclusion, Feeling Is The Secret is a timeless blueprint for conscious creation. Its four chapters form a complete system: understand the law, use sleep as the nightly gateway, employ prayer as deliberate impression, and live by the spirit of feeling. Goddard’s message remains revolutionary yet practical: master your feelings, assume the wish fulfilled, and watch the world rearrange itself in perfect obedience. The book does not ask for belief—it invites experiment. Those who practice its simple technique discover, as Neville promised, that personal success is the only proof needed.

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