Feeling Is the Secret

What Is "Feeling Is the Secret"?

"Feeling Is the Secret" is both a book by Neville Goddard published in 1944 and the foundational principle of his entire teaching. The core idea is deceptively simple: your subconscious mind is impressed not by your thoughts, words, or visual images alone, but by the feeling that accompanies them. It is feeling that bridges the gap between imagination and physical reality.

Neville wrote: "The world is a mirror, forever reflecting what you are feeling within. Feeling is the secret of successful prayer."

This principle explains why some people can affirm and visualize for months with no results, while others manifest quickly. The difference is not technique but feeling. When your imagination is accompanied by the genuine feeling of the experience being real, the subconscious accepts it as fact and begins to express it outwardly.

Understanding "Feeling" in Neville's Teaching

It is crucial to understand what Neville meant by feeling, because it is often misunderstood. He did not mean emotion in the conventional sense, the excited, giddy feeling of wanting something. He meant something closer to a sense of reality, naturalness, or knowingness.

Consider the difference between these two experiences:

Emotional wanting: You imagine owning a beautiful home and feel excited, eager, and desperate. There is an energy of "I want this so badly." This is emotion, but it is the feeling of not having, which reinforces lack.

Feeling of fulfillment: You imagine sitting in your home and feel a quiet satisfaction, a settled peace, a sense of "this is mine, this is normal." There is no excitement about getting it because, in your imagination, you already have it. This is the feeling Neville described.

The feeling of the wish fulfilled is characterized by its naturalness. Think about something you already have, your phone, your bed, your morning coffee. You do not feel excited about having these things. You feel a quiet certainty that they are yours. That is the quality of feeling you bring to your imaginal scenes.

How to Apply This Principle

During SATS

When you practice the State Akin to Sleep technique, the feeling component is what makes it work. You do not merely see pictures in your mind. You feel the reality of what you are imagining. The texture of the fabric, the warmth of a hug, the satisfaction of an accomplishment. When the scene feels as real as any waking experience, the impression is made.

During Your Day

Feeling is not only for your nighttime practice. Throughout the day, your emotional state is constantly impressing your subconscious. If you feel anxious about money all day, no amount of nighttime visualization will overcome that dominant impression. This is why mental diet is so important: it helps you maintain a feeling state during waking hours that matches your desired reality.

In Your Self-Concept

Your self-concept is essentially how you feel about yourself at the deepest level. Do you feel worthy? Loved? Capable? These are not just thoughts but settled feelings that have become habitual. Changing your self-concept means changing these habitual feelings, and that is what transforms your entire reality.

The Two Phases of Consciousness

In his book, Neville described two phases of consciousness that relate to feeling:

The conscious mind is the phase of choosing and directing. It selects the desire and creates the imaginal scene.

The subconscious mind is the phase of creation and expression. It receives the impression and brings it into physical form.

Feeling is the bridge between them. Your conscious mind chooses what you want. Feeling transfers that choice to the subconscious. The subconscious then creates the circumstances to fulfill it. Without feeling, the transfer does not happen. Your desire stays in the realm of conscious thought and never reaches the creative subconscious.

Why Feeling Trumps Everything Else

Feeling beats words. You can repeat "I am rich" a thousand times, but if you feel poor, the feeling wins. Affirmations work when they are accompanied by genuine feeling, not as a substitute for it.

Feeling beats visualization. A vivid mental image without feeling is entertainment. A feeling without a detailed image still creates. If you had to choose between a clear picture and a strong feeling, choose the feeling.

Feeling beats action. You can take all the right actions, but if your dominant feeling is one of lack, fear, or unworthiness, your actions will be undermined. When you feel from the end, inspired action flows naturally.

Common Questions

What if I cannot generate the feeling?

Start with memories. Recall a time you felt the emotion you want: joy, love, security, pride. Notice where that feeling lives in your body. Once you can access it through memory, you can transfer it to your imaginal scene. The feeling is already within you. You are not creating it from nothing but redirecting it.

Is feeling the same as believing?

Feeling is deeper than belief. Beliefs are often intellectual. You can believe something without feeling it. But when you truly feel something, belief follows naturally. Neville aimed for the feeling level because it automatically includes and surpasses mental belief.

How do I maintain the feeling when reality contradicts it?

You do not need to feel it constantly. Your subconscious is impressed by your dominant feeling state, the one you return to most often. When the 3D contradicts your assumption, acknowledge it without emotional reaction and gently return to your desired feeling. Over time, the new feeling becomes dominant and the outer world shifts.