The 3D · Neville Goddard, in his own words
What is the 3D in Neville Goddard's teaching?
“The 3D” is readers' shorthand for the physical world: what your senses report and the facts as they stand now. Neville used the full phrase, “the three-dimensional world”, and set it against a fourth-dimensional world in which, he taught, an imagined action happens first. When readers say “ignore the 3D”, they mean what he called denying the evidence of the senses.
The short form comes from readers. The teaching is in Five Lessons and Out of This World, and in the lectures as “the evidence of my senses”.
In Neville's words
Verbatim from the restored lecture transcripts and his books. A lecture link plays only the quoted passage.
“To understand how man molds his future in harmony with his assumption we must know what we mean by a dimensionally larger world, for it is to a dimensionally larger world that we go to alter our future. The observation of an event before it occurs implies that the event is predetermined from the point of view of man in the three-dimensional world. Therefore, to change the conditions here in the three dimensions of space we must first change them in the four dimensions of space.”
“But whether we awaken there or not, we are actually performing the action in the fourth-dimensional world, and we will re-enact it in the future, here in the third-dimensional world.”
“He finds himself barred by the impassable walls of Jericho. He is on the outside, as you are now on the outside. You are functioning three-dimensionally and you cannot seem to reach the fourth-dimensional world where your present desire is already a concrete objective reality. You cannot seem to reach it because your senses bar you from it. Reason tells you it is impossible, all things round about you tell you it is not true.”
“Your three-dimensional reasoning, which is a very limited reasoning indeed should not be brought into this drama. It does not know. What you have just felt to be true is true.”
“Denying the evidence of the senses and appropriating the feeling of the wish fulfilled is the way to the realization of your desire.”
“Can I not block out what my reason and my senses are dictating and be elsewhere? Can I not imagine myself to be elsewhere and view the world from there?”
How he describes doing it
From Five Lessons, At Your Command, Feeling Is the Secret and the lectures.
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Close the door of the senses: set aside what they report and assume that you are what they deny.
“I close the door. What door? The door of my senses. I simply shut out completely all that my senses reveal. I deny the evidence of my senses. I suspend the limited reason of the natural man and walk in this bold assertion that I am what my senses deny.”
Five Lessons 1948, ch. 3, Thinking Fourth-Dimensionally
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Do not look for confirmation, and do not ask others whether it is possible.
“With the door of my senses closed, what do I take into that disciplined state? I take no one into that state but the parents of the child and my disciples. I close the door against the mocking, laughing crowd. I no longer look for confirmation. I completely deny the evidence of my senses, which mock my assumption and do not discuss with others whether my assumption is possible or not.”
Five Lessons 1948, ch. 3, Thinking Fourth-Dimensionally
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Take your attention off the problem, however real it seems, and feel yourself to be the solution.
“To dissolve a problem that now seems so real to you, all that you do is remove your attention from it. In spite of its seeming reality, turn from it in consciousness. Become indifferent, and begin to feel yourself to be that which would be the solution of the problem.”
At Your Command 1939, ch. 4, Chapter 3
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Until you can feel what you want in spite of appearances, use sleep and prayer to help.
“However, until perfect self-control is attained, so that in spite of appearances you feel all that you want to feel, use sleep and prayer to aid you in realizing your desired states.”
Feeling Is the Secret 1944, ch. 2, Law and Its Operation
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The next day, wait in the assumption though your senses deny it, and prepare to receive it.
“Sleep in that assumption as though it were true; wait in that assumption tomorrow as though it's denied you by your senses; as though it's true, and prepare to receive it in your world, and may I tell you no power in the world can stop it, because there is no other power but God, and God is your own wonderful human imagination.”
Eighth of John lecture, at 44:22 Play 24 s
Common questions
Did Neville say “3D”?
Not the short form. He said “three-dimensional”, as here in Five Lessons.
“You are functioning three-dimensionally and you cannot seem to reach the fourth-dimensional world where your present desire is already a concrete objective reality.”
Five Lessons 1948, ch. 2, Assumptions Harden Into Fact
What does “ignore the 3D” mean?
Readers use it for what he called denying the evidence of the senses.
“Denying the evidence of the senses and appropriating the feeling of the wish fulfilled is the way to the realization of your desire.”
Feeling Is the Secret 1944, ch. 2, Law and Its Operation
What if the 3D shows the opposite of what I want?
He said an assumption the senses deny, if persisted in, hardens into fact.
“I know from my own experience that an assumption, though denied by my senses and therefore called by the world false, if persisted in, will harden into fact.”
Immortal Man lecture, at 28:12 Play 10 s
Why does the 3D look the way it does?
He said the world reflects your consciousness, the way a mirror reflects you.
“Man’s world in its every detail is his consciousness out-pictured. You can no more change your environment or world by destroying things than you can your reflection by destroying the mirror. Your environment and all within it reflects that which you are in consciousness.”
At Your Command 1939, ch. 3, Chapter 2
Should I tell others about my assumption?
No. He said to close the door against the mocking crowd and not to discuss whether it is possible.
“With the door of my senses closed, what do I take into that disciplined state? I take no one into that state but the parents of the child and my disciples. I close the door against the mocking, laughing crowd. I no longer look for confirmation. I completely deny the evidence of my senses, which mock my assumption and do not discuss with others whether my assumption is possible or not.”
Five Lessons 1948, ch. 3, Thinking Fourth-Dimensionally
All 6 lectures on the 3D
Eighth of John
Running time 45:48Neville discusses a friend’s vision of being chained to the earth and then rising free, linking it to the eighth chapter of John. He explains the sayings as condensed personal experiences, not historical events, and shows how the chapter reveals that one’s own consciousness is the light of the world and the source of all change.
Feel Chosen
Running time 43:49Neville Goddard discusses the concept that God has placed eternity into the mind of man, making each person the chosen one. He interprets scriptural passages about the word "Olam" and shares letters from listeners describing experiences of unity with the divine. He encourages feeling wanted and known by the creator.
Hope Deferred
Running time 43:00Neville Goddard explains that hope deferred makes the heart sick, while a desire fulfilled is a tree of life. He identifies God as one's own imagination, the sole creative power. The lecture describes how to assume a desired state, view the world from it, and let it ripen into reality, emphasizing that every imaginal act has an appointed hour to flower.
Immortal Man
Running time 45:53Neville Goddard distinguishes between eternal spiritual states and the immortal self. He explains how to use imagination to create temporary states for oneself or others. He shares his personal experiences of being called to apostleship and the awakening of scripture within him.
Rearrange the Mind
Running time 41:41Neville Goddard explains the practical method of rearranging the structure of the mind through assumption. He draws on the Epistle of James and his own military experience to illustrate how assuming a desired state and persisting in that assumption leads to its externalization.
The Law: You Are the Operant Power of the Law of Assumption
Running time 46:07Neville Goddard teaches that your own imagination is the God of Scripture, the sole creative power behind all phenomena. He explains the law of assumption: if you assume a state and persist in it, that assumption will harden into fact. The lecture covers the distinction between the law and the promise, and includes examples of assumption in action.
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We owe the practice to Neville Goddard (1905–1972). Feelingfield is independent and is not affiliated with or endorsed by his estate.