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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 25, The Way of the Poet.
In this episode, I'll start out with a talk that I recorded taking a walk outside, and then I'll come back into the office to finish it off.
1. Essential assumption: “I am the creative source”. Doubt: Do I really believe this?
Let us go back to the central assumption that subsumes all of our goals, all of our wishes, and that is that “I am the creative source”. The first question that always comes back around to me when I have to relocate myself: “do you believe that you are the creative source?” But who are we addressing? Who is the “you”? It's a certain state. That's where we get caught up.
2. Negative state surruptitiously engenders doubt, indecision, worry.
A certain state will precipitate doubt, indecision, worry. And yet all of this slipped into our minds, undetected, and captured us. And so we took it to be ourselves. Then we're faced directly with the question, well, do you actually believe that you are the creative source? Enveloped in this negative state, it's very difficult to assert that you are. You cannot. You simply go around in circles.
3. Poet’s vision: I know who I am . Inspiration derived from example of Ezra Pound.
That's when the poet's vision, poet's way of being enters in, which says uncompromisingly, “I know who I am”. Does anyone know what poetry is all about? I'm reading a biography of American poet Ezra Pound.
4. Pound: background, history.
He had, first of all, a great talent for editing others work and preparing them actually to reach notoriety and even win Nobel Prizes. So he accomplished that for Hemingway, Yeats, TS Elliott, and James Joyce. His artistic eye, his editing talent, consisted in doing away with flowery, Victorian words and getting right to the heart of the matter, and in that way improve the force, the directness of the text.
Also, he had an unusual interest. He would advocate for unknown authors. He would try to get them grants, positions, and try to get them published. He also edited many periodicals, many papers, many reviews, most of the time without salary, but just in an effort to promote art. His own expertise in poetry was fueled by an early desire. He had determined to know more about poetry than any man alive by the time he was 30 years old. He learned several languages and secured an early professorship, but he soon gave that up, and moved to Europe.
5. His adopted mission to look into political/economic roots of war.
Apart from his own literary production, and editing and promoting others, when a lot of his contemporaries were killed, senselessly, he decided to look into the political and economic roots of war. He continued from that point on to protest against the war interests -- those who perpetuate war in our world.
So there you have a general sketch of someone who, in the literary world, in the world of poetry, was highly competent, learned, selfless in his promotion of others and successful in doing so, as well, concerned with practical, worldly matters.
6. His major work “Cantos”, and parallel example of modern art: direct experience.
Now, in trying to understand his own work, I've read descriptions, at least, of his major work, which is called Cantos (songs). It was a lifelong work, consisting of many volumes, many chapters -- a monumental accomplishment.
The question then becomes, how do you understand the work of someone who was evidently so well rounded, intelligent, well prepared, and so observant?
Well, the work itself was a huge amalgam of all kinds of different expression. Because of its length and because of the various subjects and approaches that it takes, it is varied and multi-faceted. It's not poetry in the traditional or conventional sense of the word. It's not a depiction of something, but it is simply an expression that is complete unto itself. But the central point, if I understand it correctly: the work affects you directly the way it stands. It's not “about” something. It's simply the way it hits your psyche when you encounter it. And that is the instructive thing. That's the engagement with the poem.
7. How can we take this artistic expression as instruction in the conduct of life?
All right, so what is my purpose in this foray into the world of poetry in the context of a podcast on Neville Goddard? It's simply to try to understand what an intelligent, articulate, competent person will say with respect to the proper conduct of life.
So I'll give a parallel example, also from the world of art, this time visual art -- paintings. In this book of artistic criticism, this particular painting was not a depiction of something. The periphery of the frame itself did not form a border of the subject. It was simply a portal looking onto something that was much bigger. Apparently, in the world of abstract modern art, that was a first.
The parallel is that it's not a painting “of something”. It's simply the experience of the painting directly as it makes an impact upon the brain. That's the parallel that I'm drawing with the poetry of Ezra Pound.
So let's get back to the question. What is the point of this mode of expression?
8. Do not be mesmerized by the narratives of popular culture and institutions.
The artist's answer is that they don't want to see people mesmerized by popular culture and by all the various narratives that are given to us by institutions, as we've been discussing over several episodes. They want people to be fully human and vitally alive, and experiencing the fullness of life from moment to moment. It's the sort of experience or interaction with art where everything in the human psyche is going to be touched on, whether it's positive or negative, wanted or unwanted, beautiful or ugly.
9. Is it nonsense? There is a consistent ethical position in the example of Ezra Pound.
Now, does that mean they don't have a principled position with respect to how society should be constituted? Does this mean that the whole thing is nonsensical? Is this way of life, this artistic expression, a continual series of nonsense? No -- there is an ethos or an ethical position that is discernible in this man's (Pound’s) work. I don't think Pound himself was ever confused or at a loss to know what he was doing. He was clear from the very beginning. That's the distinct impression I get, and that seems to be the judgment of his biographer also.
10. Neville’s similar message: Put aside all other processes; live by intent and imagination.
So is it possible that Neville's worldview is this very same approach to life, putting aside all other processes and living by intent and imagination?
All right, so at this point, let me try to recap and make sense out of the trajectory of my little talk today. I started out with talking about a wrong state, falling into a negative state, where you're actually experiencing doubt, worry and uncertainty. And this whole thing was brought about in a very surreptitious or sneaky way by the subconscious. It just enveloped you and it recaptured your understanding, your very identity, in a moment, when you left yourself unguarded.
So this is what happens, even after so much study, so much intention in remaining conscious and to be the captains of our souls. We're given, it seems, ever more difficult tests, and more evidence from the subconscious that there's something yet again to be understood, to be penetrated and overcome.
And then I proposed the way of the poet as an answer to this conundrum. Now, when I say the poet, I mean, in particular, Ezra Pound. Now, the poet's answer to this I gave by first explaining Ezra Pound's background, his competence, his expertise. And then I explained, without going into the depths of interpretation of his work, at least the aspect of his work that showed an authentic and honest presentation.
11. Did Pound live by this ethos? Displayed unwavering presence of mind and courage.
Now, does that give us an answer on how to be in the world? And did he actually live that answer? Did he express it in his being? I think the answer is yes.
If you read this biography, you'll see, of course, that Ezra Pound's life was ensconced in a huge controversy. And if you read the Wikipedia bio on him, you won't get a balanced view. It will be prejudiced and really quite unfair.
The biography that I'm referring to does give a balanced picture, even though the author was one of his students and is predisposed to give him a good review. Nevertheless, he presents the evidence from all sides. The reason that I find Ezra Pound so particularly inspiring is that he went through an extraordinary amount of difficulty: persecution, physical torture and incarceration. And he also suffered incredible injustice, especially in view of the fact that he never harmed anyone, and actually protected and assisted people all through his life, and advocated only for the most noble sorts of goals with respect to his homeland, its constitution, and his desire to keep his country out of the Second World War -- which he saw as so unnecessary.
And yet he bore up under all of these circumstances, and displayed an extraordinary strength of character.
Well, one of the many bitter ironies in his life story is that he was accused, indicted for treason, and never tried, and yet sentenced to an insane asylum in St. Elizabeth's Institution in Washington, DC -- very reminiscent of the Soviet practice of relegating to a mental institution political dissidents. The irony that I was referring to is that he was accused by the president's assistant, Alger Hiss, who was the real traitor in the picture. He was working in the US. Administration, and yet was a spy for Soviet Russia.
So my purpose in bringing that up is to point out, from some excerpts from the text which I'm about to read, how this person held up and maintained his presence of mind. He was a model in maintaining his consciousness, his purpose in face of extraordinary adversity.
So the author, who used to hold meetings with Ezra Pound at this mental institution on a regular basis to discuss literary projects, correspondence with various peers, and so on... he says:
“I never heard Ezra make an irrational statement, nor, to my knowledge, did any of his other visitors.”
The author then goes on to describe meetings with Ezra Pound, and his wife, who was always in attendance every day at the mental institution. He says,
“The most striking thing about the Pounds at St. Elizabeths was that their manner bore no recognizable relationship to their grim surroundings.”
Ezra Pound, he says, “often strode about the grounds of the hospital much more alert, keen and vigorous than the shambling dejected members of the staff.” And then, the author goes on:
“He [Pound] resolutely refused to be overcome by the atmosphere that turned most men into shells and robots within a matter of days... What other modern writer say, for instance, the prophet of the swamps, William Faulkner, could continue to produce under the pressures that were forced upon Ezra Pound for 13 years? Calling upon the seemingly inexhaustible resources of his character, he carried on his work, his teaching and his philosophy without being visibly affected... What psychological crutch could Ezra's contemporaries lean upon to sustain themselves in such trials? Many of them became dope, addicts, alcoholics, manic depressives and suicides, even though they won greater fame and the financial rewards that were never his.”
Let me repeat that one sentence: “Calling upon the seemingly inexhaustible resources of his character, he carried on his work, his teaching and his philosophy without being visibly affected.”
I think this relates directly to Neville's advice. He characterizes the central figure of the Gospels as the human imagination. And it brings to my mind the quote when Jesus was at the well with the Samaritan woman, he says, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst”; in other words, an ever present consciousness.
12. This is the example we need: “’inexhaustible resources of character” to meet adversity.
I believe it is precisely the poet’s example that we should aspire to when we're struggling with trying to maintain the essential assumption about our own creative nature, and yet we find that at odd moments, we're overcome, we're disillusioned, and we might even seem to lose hope. But with practice, we can emulate the singular confidence and sense of mission that Ezra Pound displayed.
The quotes are from Eustace Mullins (see Resources).
So I hope you enjoyed this foray into the world of art and poetry as an inspiration to continue our study of the worldview of Neville Goddard.