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Neville Goddard (1905-1972) offered a compelling explanation of the human condition and an intriguing and empowering path of self-discovery. Join your host Ed to explore from the ground up this most essential mystery: the human imagination.
[edited for clarity]
This is episode 27, The Artist's Instructions
This is really a continuation of the same theme that I've been developing during the past two episodes: the Way of the Poet and the Poet's Protege. And what is the point of all this? The point is to try to approach from any and all angles the principles of Neville Goddard to give us a better chance to apprehend them, to internalize them and to live by them. The funny thing is, by sort of a roundabout way, I've come to land on these artistic, literary sources rather than, let's say, spiritual or religious authorities to try to accomplish this. Actually, it wasn't so accidental, because I started to talk about political issues and used as my source Eustace Mullins, in one case, which led quite naturally to a discussion of his mentor Ezra Pound, and then their combined efforts in exposing truth in the world of Caesar.
We benefit by looking into each man's answer to this query: what is the proper conduct of life? How do we approach life in an intelligent, comprehensive fashion -- given a certain degree of learning and worldly experience, as well as sensitivity to all aspects of the human condition, that is displayed in these two men?
1. Summary of E25 and E26: The poet and his protege.
I encourage you to go back to episodes 25 and 26. But to summarize briefly what we found with Ezra, not so much in trying to interpret his work as just looking at the example of his life, was this: here's a person who had seeming inexhaustible inner resources to draw on, in conditions of incredible adversity and even persecution. And with regard to Eustace Mullins, through the lens of the book that he had written, Conversations with John F. Kennedy, we saw that the core precept is really individual development. It focuses on and celebrates individualism, saying that is the only way that we can come to full development of our potential. Another aspect of that book by Eustace is the admonition to not commit suicide in the form of letting your goals die, letting your aims and dreams just drift away and fade into nothing. That's a form of death. Despite the difficulty and the lack of confirmation received in ordinary life, and to orient yourself differently to life, you have to persist.
2. How do their views align with Neville's precepts?
Do these views really align with what Neville Goddard is talking about? They do, because first of all, they paint a picture of the world as a place that is not really the ideal, in this phase of existence. It's something in the nature of a test, a purgatory, a training ground -- something where there is the necessity for pursuing an objective. What flows from that is that there is a transformation in store for Man.
3. Further indications from Ezra Pound: what did he seek in a writer?
In continuing to explore the artist's instructions, we'll go back to Ezra for a moment and see what else he had to say that is relevant to our theme.
Inner sincerity is something that we've discussed in a few different contexts in past episodes. We find confirmation of that in the works of Ezra Pound. Looking a bit further in his prose works, we normally think that these avant-garde literary types are going to be looking for, first and foremost, originality. But that's not really the message that I get. What I find when I read Ezra Pound's discussion of other authors is a concern primarily for authenticity. He's looking for sincerity. He wants to find a human voice, a writer's voice, that is not tainted by any school of thought, any silly institutional narrative, any sort of regurgitation of other people's emotions and sensibilities. He's looking for someone who can actually reach in and find something genuine within himself.
Of course, you have to start from somewhere, and he acknowledges that there are universal shareable principles. Starting from that point, what he's looking for is some sort of an original discovery. So, for example, of one writer, he said this man was absolutely independent. “He was not tied to any institution. His position was based on his intelligence alone.” And the result is that when you read him, you get, as he says, “a continuing sense of intelligence of a limpid, active intelligence in the mind of the writer”. He contrasts that with the tedium that's coming from most writers who, he says, are defending “a set of fixed, rigid notions, instead of disclosing their thought”.
Now, here's another example. He's talking about French writer Jean Cocteau, around 1933. He says he talked for the better part of two hours “with never a word that wouldn't have been good reading. I mean, never a bit of gossip, never a triviality, nothing but thought about matters of interest.”
I'll give you one more example. It's his obituary for Orage, who was also an editor in the early part of the last century. He said “Orage's impersonality was his greatness and the breadth of his mind was apparent in the speed with which he threw over a cumbrous lot of superstitions.”
So in these examples, you can see a few things coming together in Ezra Pound’s reviews and commentaries of others: authenticity or sincerity on the part of the writer; independence of thought; and the resulting freshness, unique charm and originality in expression.
4. Quotes from Der Blaue Reiter -- wisdom from the world of visual art.
Well, in our continued pursuit of the artist's instructions, let's transition now to some comments from a book that was published, again, in the early part of the 20th century, connected with the abstract school of painting. It was called Der Blaue Reiter which is The Blue Rider, associated with the painter Kandinsky. Now, I found these notes that I had made years ago, and I didn't know what use I had for them. But now that I've rediscovered them, I can see that they're relevant to our discussion here. So the striking thing is that, instead of starting from within, with mind and thought, and then discussing how that manifests in the external world, the artist sees the world of form as the starting place -- perhaps as mind itself. Let me read you some quotes.
“Incomprehensible ideas express themselves in comprehensible forms. Form is a mystery to us, for it is the expression of mysterious powers. Only through it do we sense the secret powers, the invisible god. To behold plants and animals is to perceive their secret. To understand the language of forms is to be closer to the secret to live.”
And then later on, they say:
“Everywhere forms speak in a sublime language. Invisible ideas materialize quietly.
“Man expresses his life in forms. Each form of art is an expression of his inner life. The exterior of the form of art is its interior.”
“Where are such signs and works? How do we recognize the genuine ones? Like everything genuine, its inner life guarantees its truth. All works of art created by truthful minds without regard for the works conventional exterior remain genuine for all times.”
So, shifting our focus, here are some comments by Kandinsky on the Czech artist Eugen von Kahler. He said:
“Death took him tenderly into its arms. We might say that Kahler died biblically. And thus Kahler's death corresponded to his life. His inner voice was so clear, distinct and precise that he could rely on it utterly. He remained true to himself until his last breath.”
There we see a eulogy that's strikingly similar to what Eustace Mullins wrote about Ezra Pound, saying that he had a keenness of mind and a constancy of conscious intent, under all circumstances.
So I hope you found inspiring and useful these various examples from the world of literature, poetry and art!
5. We find in art the very same concern for constancy of purpose and mental presence.
We've been discussing quite a lot in recent episodes the difficulties that we encounter; various techniques and methods; how to try to maintain an assumption; how to use deliberate speech to describe the ideal in a therapeutic exercise... all that sort of thing. It's curious that in the world of literature and art, we find the very same concern with the quality of the inner life: to maintain a singularity of purpose, and a continual, heightened awareness of one's own unique existence.
6. Taking a break from podcasting. Possible book and scripts for meditation forthcoming.
I'm going to take a break now from regular podcasting. I've put a lot of material into a highly concentrated format in the past 26, now 27 episodes. I think my next step will be to gather all this material and edit it, and put it together in the form of a book. I could also create scripts that people could use as long-form affirmations for different themes. I'm hoping that in the meantime you'll find it useful to go back and review prior episodes. Thank you for your time and attention in listening to Neville on Fire.