I loved this book. It is one of the few books I read and was able to think hard and relate to. The way he words things and portrays his thoughts is brilliant! I've read this book about 3 times, highlighting sections and talking to my friends and my pastor about certain things. Great read!

This book is the self-proclaimed guide to spiritual transformation sharing the traditional practices of enlightenment through Hinduism but in layman's terms. The ten chapters go into depth about the fundamental light or "frequency" that is in all of us and how different circumstances and mindsets affect this light. It also provides tips for meditation, devotion, and self-acceptance.

One particular section that stood out to me was the one on unconditional love, which this book equates to enlightenment. "Imagine how your world would be if every thought, word, and deed were motivated by love rather than fear or anger." ...and even goes on to say that we should accept everything that happens to us - both good and bad - as a stepping stone in our path. That everything happens for a reason and when we accept these things in that manner, our outlook and therefore our lives will be better for it.

It was a very interesting read. Before picking the book up, I was concerned about how, as a Christian, I could relate to the content in it, but even if you don't subscribe to the idea of "the light" or even becoming the light yourself, you can apply most of the principles shared in the book to your life, no matter what your spiritual background is.

*I received an advance reading copy from the publisher in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own.*

This book by Patrick was so brilliantly written. It was a fresh perspective on a topic that we have all probably read many books about. It brings spirituality and science and blends them into one entity. I love the way He refers to a higher being as "the light". It takes out the judgments about our religions and personal opinions. As he touches on our "True State of Being" as one of Unconditional love, I was enthralled. Then Patrick moves to addressing our "Separation" or as we term it "The Ego". The Ego is something we all struggle with and Patrick brings it into the light and helps us understand how it affects our relationship with a higher being. The book is filled with stories and strategies, life lessons and thoughtful reflections. I literally could not put this book down.

As soon as I started reading this book I knew my husband would love it. He quickly took the book from me and started reading. I then had to buy us each a copy, so we could highlight and keep it as a reference to refer to time and time again. I connected with Patrick on social media because I just had to let him know how his perspective brings our spirituality into a whole new light. I believe I found this book at just the right time in my journey of faith. You will not be disappointed in this book, you will see things in a whole new light, I promise you.

The author explains in simple terms, the deeper issue of awakening or enlightenment in the tradition of Hinduism, experienced by a Westerner. The author tells us about our ego and how the perception of reality and its interplay separates us from our transcendental essence and the true nature of life; and then explains the practices through which he prepared for his transformation. Much of what is said in it is a recurrent theme of many other authors, however what is very valuable is that the author shares his evolution and his personal awakening from having received the blessing of darshan; He describes a process of personal discovery, the similarities he finds in his Western culture, giving us diverse references, including some of Jesus the Christ. In summary it provides a practical guide that may be able to guide others who identify with this path.
The search and spiritual awakening is a unique, individual way, with very personal nuances according to the cosmogony of each person. We must not copy the path of others in detail, but we can accompany ourselves and reflect on the example of others, for the fact that we share a collective human essence, a need for inherent transcendence, we humanize ourselves through our relationships, empower ourselves when we become aware of our interactions with others, and we can simply honor their efforts and achievements.
My gratitude to the Publisher and NetGalley for allowing me to review the book

Do you need a spiritual tuneup? If so I highly recommend Patrick Paul Garlinger’s When Thought Turns to Light. The author gives helpful insights on a number of familiar topics for spiritual seekers, such as the value of meditation, forgiveness, gratitude, prayer, and more.

If you have read my past reviews you know I like books that affirm the unconditional love we receive from God/Spirit/The Universe or whatever your preferred label is for the Divine. When Thought Turns to Light emphasizes unconditional love on every page. “The Light—the energy of unconditional love—flows through all of us,” writes Garlinger. “We are always connected to the Light, and we are all capable of feeling and expressing unconditional love.” As I let those words sink in I wanted to read more.

Why don’t we always feel this unconditional love if love is our very nature? “We’re constantly thinking about the past, projecting onto the future, and completely missing the present based on things that happened to us that we misunderstood in the first place,” says Garlinger. These words reminded me of the teaching in Eckhart Tolle’s The Power of Now. Yet I found Garlinger’s approach to “living in the now” easier to understand than Tolle’s work.

Love is always working for our highest good according to the author. “The ways in which the Light heals are not always clear to us, nor do they unfold in the way we might expect,” the author feels. I liked how each chapter had questions to ponder at the end, such as “Can you think of examples where you thought something was terrible, and later quite fortunate? What changed?” Thus When Thought Turns to Light is a good book for group study, as questions like this are sure to lead people to share experiences from their own lives.

I also liked how the book took a realistic view of positive thinking. I value positive thinking, but there are limits to being positive all the time. “The problem is when (positive thinking) perpetuates a paradigm of materialism over spirituality, or worse still, creates a sense that the Divine is nothing more than a cosmic Amazon.com, ready to ship us what we want as soon as we ask for it with enough positivity,” Garlinger writes. The phrase “cosmic Amazon.com” made me laugh at first, before I realized some of the prosperity philosophy around these days teaches exactly that.

“When you have little practice at responding with love but a lot of practice at responding with fear, it is easy to fall prey to fear. For most of us, it will be the practice of a lifetime,” says Garlinger. When Thought Turns to Light encouraged me to look at the areas in my life where I respond with fear, and motivated me to continue to work on seeing all circumstances and people through the eyes of love.

When Thought Turns to Light: A Practical Guide to Spiritual Transformation by Patrick Paul Garling is a fairly short book on how to overcome the ego and change our beliefs.

Part one of this book gently guides us to awaken to a different reality one of unconditional love. Part two helps us to transform our lives through meditation and other practices. I liked that the author made us stop and think about certain aspects of our lives.

I liked the premise of this book and think that even though it is fairly short it covers the content well. I think this would be a good book for those new to the spiritual and enlightenment area of reading. Much of the content was familiar to me but I think it would be a good book for those unfamiliar with this area of books.
I acknowledge that I received this book free of charge from NetGalley in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion of it.