“What makes a present sense impression so objectively real is the individual’s imagination functioning in it and thinking from it; whereas, in a memory image or a wish, the individual’s imagination is not functioning in it and thinking from it but is functioning out of it and thinking of it.” The Law & The Promise, Neville Goddard

Let’s talk about thinking from. This is another way of saying that we have to live in the end. The way I like to look at this is from the perspective of the states: we start from the state of desiring something. As always, I will be explaining what I mean by this through an example. Mary is desiring to manifest a reconciliation with Francis. The first state she finds herself in is the state of wanting this reconciliation. Thoughts that naturally come to her while she is in that state are thoughts like:

“I really want this but I don’t know if he wants it.”

“I don’t know if this can work out.”

“I am not sure but he may already be involved with somebody else.”

“What if he just doesn’t want to come back?”

Mary comes up with an imaginal act in which she is already with Francis. By repeating this imaginal act, she shifts into the state of having. Now her thoughts change into this:

“I am so grateful that we are back together.”

“It’s so nice knowing that I am loved and appreciated.”

“l am glad I persisted!”

“I am so happy that I am in this relationship already.”

See how the thoughts changed automatically? She is thinking from a certain state. Her thinking is coming from the consequences of this imaginal act, not the state in which she was before. She imagined a reconciliation and the consequence of reconciliation is being in a relationship with Francis. So now, she is thinking from that state. She did what Neville describes as:

“But unless you, yourself, enter the image and think from it, it is incapable of birth.” The Law & The Promise, Neville Goddard

She entered the image in her imagination and while she was in that image, she was thinking thoughts that would come from her being in the state of the wish fulfilled. Now, her imaginal act is definitely going to come to pass.

This is a summary of how the manifesting process works. But let’s explore the concept of living in the end a bit deeper.

“If a man does not always create in the full sense of the word, it is because he is not faithful to his vision, or else thinks of what he wants rather than from his wish fulfilled.” The Law & The Promise, Neville Goddard

Mary must continue thinking from the state of the wish fulfilled after her imaginal act. What I mean by that is that she cannot think from that state only when she is doing her imaginal act. She must think from that state throughout the day as well. This is where the mental diet comes in: flipping your thoughts around so that they fit in with your desired end. If Mary goes throughout her day thinking negatively about the thing that she desires, thinking from the state of desiring and not accepting that her imagination creates reality and that what she experienced in the imaginal act is as real as what she experiences in the “real world”, she is creating the opposite of it. She is persisting in the feeling of not having this wish yet. She is not faithful to her vision. If this is what she is doing the rest of the time, she is likely to create a very big time delay or even come to the point where she simply gives up on her desire because her current thinking is keeping her in the state of desiring it.

“We have to abandon ourselves to the state, in our love for the state, and in so doing live the life of the state and no more our present state.” The Law & The Promise, Neville Goddard

Mary is abandoning the state of desiring and entering into the state of the wish fulfilled. She is suspending her judgment in the sense that she is no longer thinking that her current circumstances have any bearing on her “future”. Her “future” is going to be built from her imaginal acts. (The word “future” is only a theoretical construct. There is no “future” because we can experience the thing only in the “now”, therefore making it a present fact.) Living in the state of the wish fulfilled means that Mary is also thinking from the end.

“We must BE the state to experience the state.” The Law & The Promise, Neville Goddard

Mary decided to be the state that she wishes to experience in her 3D world. This decision is what will bring the manifestations that come with that state into her reality. What she is doing is described by Neville right here, in the same book:

“Seeing what we want to see demands voluntary and conscious imaginative efforts.” The Law & The Promise, Neville Goddard

She is consciously using her imagination to create new circumstances in her life. This also means that she is ignoring her current circumstances, knowing that they are nothing but her old imaginal acts that came to pass.

So, to conclude, thinking from the end comes with living in the end. We cannot live in the end while our thoughts are still stuck in our old state. You cannot claim to be living in the end if your thoughts are still bound to your present circumstances which do not serve you at all. Living in the end means that you are also thinking from the end. All that is asked of us is to enter the image of our wish fulfilled and accept it as a done deal. Entering the image does not mean you have to visualize something. It simply means you accept your new reality as your current reality and do not let anything distract you from that. Your desire is a done deal, if only you accept it as such.

“Thinking of it is a confession they are not in it; thinking from it is proof that they are in it. Entering into the image would give substance to the image.” The Law & The Promise, Neville Goddard