The Law of Identical Harvest

In one of Neville Goddard’s most moving lectures, “The Law of Identical Harvest,” we encounter a profound teaching that challenges our understanding of reality, loss, and the true nature of imagination. Through two remarkable stories, Neville demonstrates how imagination transcends our conventional understanding, revealing itself not as mere fantasy, but as the very essence of divine reality.

A Journey Beyond Rational Thinking

The lecture begins with the story of Sarah, a young model who approached Neville with a seemingly simple question: should she spend her modest savings on a week-long trip to Paris? By conventional wisdom, it seemed imprudical – she was paying off her parents’ mortgage and could only afford the most basic accommodations for a brief stay. But Neville’s response revealed a deeper truth: “I am not speaking of anything rational of this world.

I’m speaking of a power that isn’t rational.” Sarah took the leap, and what followed was extraordinary. On her second day in Paris, she met a man 23 years her senior on a blind date. Despite him having been married five times before, they fell in love. He was wealthy, with international businesses spanning multiple countries. They married, and their union was blessed with a child who was the spitting image of his father. This story alone would be remarkable, but it serves as a prelude to a far more profound demonstration of imagination’s power.

Understanding the Law of Identical Harvest Through Loss

Years later, Sarah faced an unimaginable tragedy. Her eldest son Larry, then 18 and studying in London, was killed in a car accident. The news shattered her world. For two months, she existed in a state of complete shock. As she later described it, “My religion failed me. My philosophies failed me.

I couldn’t open a book. Nothing could in any way encourage me or support me.” But Sarah possessed what Neville described as “a determination like steel.” She had one goal: to prove that Larry still existed, that he survived beyond physical death. She held onto one truth she had learned from Neville – that all things exist in the human imagination.

The Reality Beyond the Shadow World

What happened next challenges our understanding of reality itself. One morning, after two months of grief, Sarah felt something stirring within her. Suddenly, Larry appeared, seated on the arm of a chair in her bedroom. This wasn’t a dream or a mere memory – she experienced him as completely present and real. She could see him, communicate with him without words, and feel his presence. The experience transformed her understanding of reality.

When she went out afterward, she saw the physical world and its inhabitants as mere “talking shadows” for 24 hours. Her husband, reading the morning paper, appeared as “a shadow that talked.” This profound shift in perception revealed what Neville had always taught – that the physical world is but a shadow of the true reality that exists in imagination.

The Divine Nature of Imagination

Through Sarah’s experience, Neville emphasizes a crucial point: imagination is not some vague essence or mere mental faculty. It is, as he describes it, “a being, a majestic being, a being of infinite love.” This understanding challenges our conventional view of imagination as something less real than physical reality.

The story demonstrates how imagination can create not just physical circumstances (as with Sarah’s Paris journey) but can transcend even death itself. This isn’t about denial or escape from reality – it’s about accessing a deeper level of reality that exists beyond physical appearance.

The Practical Implications

This teaching has profound implications for how we view both success and loss in our lives. Sarah’s story shows two aspects of imagination’s power:

1. In the material world, as demonstrated by her ability to manifest specific desires (like finding a new building for their business on exact terms)
2. In transcending physical limitations, as shown through her experience with Larry

The key lies in what Neville calls “intensity” – not force or strain, but complete absorption in the reality you wish to experience. Sarah demonstrated this quality in both spheres, achieving remarkable results in business matters and ultimately finding healing through direct experience of a truth beyond physical appearance.

Beyond Mere Manifestation

While many modern interpretations of Neville’s teachings focus on manifestation of material desires, “The Law of Identical Harvest” points to something far more profound. It suggests that imagination isn’t just a tool for achieving worldly success – it is the very essence of our being, our connection to the divine.

The lecture challenges us to consider: What if everything we consider “real” is actually a shadow of a deeper reality? What if our imagination, rather than being fantasy, is actually our truest connection to what is real and eternal?

The Universal Message

Perhaps the most powerful aspect of this teaching is its universality. While Sarah’s specific experiences were unique to her, the principle they demonstrate is available to everyone. Neville emphasizes that this isn’t about having special powers or abilities – it’s about recognizing and claiming our true nature.

The “Law of Identical Harvest” suggests that whatever we plant in imagination will bear identical fruit in experience. But this goes beyond simple cause and effect. It points to the fundamental nature of reality itself – that what we consider “real” is actually a reflection or shadow of what exists in imagination.

A New Understanding of Reality

This teaching invites us to question our basic assumptions about reality, consciousness, and the nature of existence itself. It suggests that:

• What we call “real” is actually a shadow of a deeper reality
• Imagination is not separate from us but is our very essence
• The physical world is a reflection of imaginative acts
• Nothing is truly lost because everything exists in imagination
• Our true nature is eternal and divine

Conclusion

The Law of Identical Harvest” offers more than a technique for manifestation or a method of coping with loss. It presents a revolutionary understanding of reality itself. Through Sarah’s remarkable experiences, we see how imagination transcends our conventional understanding of what’s possible, revealing itself as the true substance of reality.

This teaching challenges us to move beyond seeing imagination as merely a tool for achieving desires, and instead recognize it as our essential nature – the very being that religious traditions have called God or Christ. In doing so, it offers not just comfort in times of loss or a method for achieving success, but a complete transformation in how we understand ourselves and reality itself.

The message is both profound and practical: everything we seek, everything we have lost, and everything we hope to become already exists within our own wonderful human imagination. This isn’t just philosophical theory – it’s a truth that can be proven through direct experience, just as Sarah proved it in both triumph and tragedy.