Working with the Law!

Foreword...

I first met him in 1973 at a conference where he was a keynote speaker at the Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta, Canada. I was twenty-three years old. The first thing I noticed were his hands. As he spoke, at first I was mesmerized more by his hands than his words. These were hands not only large in size but they literally seemed to have rays of light pouring forth into the room as he shared his message. As I began to turn my attention to what he was saying, I felt myself lifted, inspired and wanting for myself whatever this man knew. He clearly possessed a deep confidence of knowing and an aura of power and well-being. His life demonstrated such a mastery of liberation and abundance, that when he finished speaking, I dashed to be the first in line to speak to him. In this one conversation, I learned that he was president of a seminary where one could study the laws of life and be instructed in their application. Four months later, I was living six blocks from the seminary and was registered for the fall semester.
Raymond Holliwell was a student and master of the Laws of Living. He was informed by years of study and research in all the great religions and philosophies as well as modern psychology and the new science. He authored many books, the cornerstone of which is his classic offering, “Working With The Law.” While his writing was done at a time before we had politically correct gender balancing in the words chosen, I had first hand experience to know that Raymond Holliwell was deeply honoring of women as well as men. When he used the word “Man” in his writing, he was speaking to every one of us.
During the two years I studied, lived and breathed the teachings of this man, I knew I was in the rarefied air of greatness. He not only spoke the words, he lived and demonstrated the mastery that comes only with an incorporation of the liberating Truths of Life that he had discovered and taught. When I graduated from the seminary two years later and moved back to Northwest to begin my own teaching, I felt saddened to leave. I wondered if, ever again, I would have the privilege of such closeness to one who not only knew, but was a living example.
Ray Holliwell was so in harmony with the Law of Life, that his life radiated mastery and abundance in all that matters. Just to be around him or have the honor of receiving his message was to be offered Keys to the Kingdom of one’s deepest hopes and desires. He died in the early 1980’s. A few years following his death, his seminary would close and the church he built became another denomination. I grieved at what I thought of as a loss.
In 1995, I answered the phone. A woman I knew casually asked if I would be willing to join her and a man she knew, who was visiting my home city, for breakfast. I told her how very busy my week was and suggested maybe next time he came to town we could work it out. She asked again with a new insistence in her voice and wanting to help her out, I reluctantly agreed. I would later find out that the man, with whom the breakfast was planned, had agreed to breakfast with the same reluctance, only wanting to help out the woman making the invitation.

Part 3 (End of Preface)

A line of distinction, however, should be drawn between mere surface thought, that is, ordinary, trivial and commonplace thinking, and real thought, which is associated with the understanding of Truth. The latter is deep thinking which arouses dormant powers, quickens the perceptions, and leads to the enlargement of the understanding. The former is but a passing phase of mental activity, while the latter governs the life of man. The shallow, surface thought that we give to the ordinary duties and small things of daily life is not the thought that reforms our character, develops our mind or changes our destiny. It is the positive, deep, and penetrating thought that comes from profound and strong conviction born of a higher perception and a clearer realization of the Truth.
The surface idea is not the real thought.
The inner convictions which control one’s aims, desires, and motives, constitute the real thought of the individual and wholly determine the course of his life and personal destiny.
Psychologists tell us that every individual is controlled by his convictions, whether he is aware of it or not. Such convictions largely determine the nature of his thinking; the inner thought coming from the heart represents the real motives and desires. These are the causes of action. If his ideas or convictions are wholesome and true to his higher nature all will be well, and he will reflect something of the harmony and beauty and utility of his constructive and superior views in his personal life. If his convictions or ideas are not wholesome and true, he will reflect something that is discordant, inharmonious, and evil.
Always make it a point of moving forward in your mind, ever seeking to unfold your power of thought and to develop hidden possibilities.

Learn to train the mind to clear and exact thinking. Your ability to do so will grow rapidly by regular exercise and discipline. No normal person wants to decrease in power and ability. Therefore, strive to cultivate your intelligence and to express better, bigger, and superior thought on all matters about which you may think. There is so much good in the world that it can out balance the evil; therefore, you can go on thinking more
constructive and good thoughts every day, about yourself, your fellowman, life, and all natural things, to the constant enrichment of your mind and the improvement of your whole being.
You cannot get the most out of these lessons by reading them once or twice. They should be read often and studied with scrutiny. You will find with each reading something clearer than before.

Raymond Holliwell