Love Is Stronger Than Death: The Mystical Union of Two Souls [Paperback]

Cynthia Bourgeault (Author), David Steindl-Rast (Afterword)

Book Description

Publication Date: March 1, 2002

A guidebook for all who are called to the path of conscious love. This powerful book, written by an Episcopal priest, tells of her intense relationship with Brother Raphael Robin, a seventy-year-old Trappist monk and hermit. Deeply enriched by Bourgeault's knowledge of the teachings of G.I. Gurdjieff and of Christian mysticism, their vibrant, provocative, beautifully written story adds a profound new dimension to our understanding of human love and the possibility of survival beyond the grave.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Reverend Cynthia Bourgeault was a 50-year-old priest when she met her soul mate, a hermit named Brother Raphael Robin (Rafe). They had only three years on earth together before Rafe died suddenly of a heart attack. Accounts of these earthly days together are as intense and emotionally wrenching as any love affair could be. And yet their relationship was always graced with a higher goal--creating spiritual love over romantic possession. After Rafe died, Bourgeault was content to let him rest in peace as she began her journey of grief. But weeping outdoors on a snowy night, she felt certain that Rafe's spirit was beside her. "Although I was still crying, the emotional sting started to lose its force, and a new and tingling presence began to work its way up in me, literally starting from the tips of my toes," she recalls. "I knew in that moment I was sustained by an invisible and intensely joyous partner." From then on, Bourgeault continued her love affair with Rafe. Building on this unusual, interactive love-after-death experience, Reverend Bourgeault has assembled some exquisitely reassuring thoughts and anecdotes on eternal love and the impermanence of death. This memoir could be inspirational for grieving lovers or anyone who wants to further explore the mysteries of love, death, spirit, and reincarnation. --Gail Hudson --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Bourgeault, an Episcopal priest and professor of theology, met Brother Raphael Robin in 1990 while attending a Colorado training workshop in centering prayer. The elderly monk lived in seclusion in a mountain cabin. The romantic yet platonic relationship that ensued between the 50-year-old Bourgeault and the 70-year-old hermit lasted five years, until his death. Both believed that a relationship can continue beyond this life, and here Bourgeault describes her search for that connection after Robin's death. The unusual love story is told from a girl-meets-boy perspective. Though some readers will be turned off by the emphasis on the after-death relationship, others will enjoy this well-written telling of an unconventional intimacy. Libraries offering titles on mysticism, inner transformation, or dealing with grief will find this a unique and welcome addition.ALeroy Hommerding, Citrus Cty. Lib. Inverness, FL
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 240 pages
• Publisher: Lindisfarne Books (March 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1584200022
• ISBN-13: 978-1584200024
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.7 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,440,825 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

17 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Evolution of Relationship/Beyond Being Comfortable, November 22, 1999

By 

Debbie Marriette (Vancouver Island, BC, Canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Love Is Stronger Than Death: The Mystical Union of Two Souls (Hardcover)

This love story of eternal beauty guides us in the natural evolution of our loving relationships. We are encouraged to consider the boundless possibilities of 'love' and 'relationship'. With that comes the profound responsibility to recognize how vastly important each individual is in the grand scheme of life. The combination of the scholarly and spiritual delving in this story is such a workout that I would suggest reading the book once for the love story, and again and again for an ever-deepening exploration of our relationship to one another, to the earth, and to whatever lies beyond. Of paramount importance we must learn to listen and open our hearts. Cynthia Bourgeault offers a way to follow this simple yet challenging path.

16 of 16 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Must reading for serious contemplatives, September 19, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Love Is Stronger Than Death: The Mystical Union of Two Souls (Hardcover)

The startling story of the mystical marriage between the contemplative Cynthia Bourgeault (hermit, Episcopal priest, scholar) and the contemplative Brother Raphael Robin (hermit, Trappist monk)is must reading for serious contemplatives. Whether or not you are convinced that Rafe and Cynthia's souls are currently one "abler soul", although he has died and she is alive, Bourgeault's thought, study, and prayer on the mystical journey are rich in insights. A practitioner of centering prayer, her scholarship in this book focuses on the esoteric tradition, unfamiliar to most mainstream Christians, and she has done her readers the courtesy of providing helpful notes and an annotated bibliography which you may well be inspired to make use of after reading the remarkable quotations throughout the book. Don't be put off by my mention of her scholarship -- this book is short and written in a lively, engaging fashion. Rare indeed is the person who can do much more than stutter when talking about her/his experiences of contemplative prayer, especially at the higher levels, but Rev. Bourgeault is gifted with a clear mind, lyrical prose, and a heart full of God, all of which she puts at the reader's service. As one who stutters about these matters, I can only urge you to buy this book and see for yourself.

14 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Compelling book to expand our spiritual edges., October 23, 1999

By 

Joseph A. Burkart, Jr. (Maine) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Love Is Stronger Than Death: The Mystical Union of Two Souls (Hardcover)

The poet, Rilke, once said; "The two greatest gifts given in life are love and death, neither often opened"! This is a story about how two people, from a serendipitous and chance meeting, learned to open love and death and to keep both open in the process of spritual transformation and their own eternal connection. This is a beautiful and compelling story, poetically told of not falling in love but being given love for much higher purposes. And it is about a love relationship that embarks on new and uncharted territory in which the two partners muster their considerable spiritual experience and instincts to negotiate life's circumstances as the process involves. The reference points, guideposts, exist in the realm of Esoteric Christianity, long studied by both, independent of each other and before their chance meeting. Jung once commented that there are three kinds of relationships, "those of destruction, those of well being and those of transfomation". This is a story of a marriage of transformation. And although a poignant and life changing story it is not some remote love story set in an esoteric setting familiar to a few and of interest to slightly more. It is a story that may well be the most generic of tales. Unknown lands and lesser known people grow and evolve amdist their courage and shame, advances and regressions to forge a tale that drives like a lasar beam to the deepest fathoms of the yearnings of the collective human heart; To be loved and known unconditionally by another and to return that love. And in the living of this in life and in death, experience the incredible transformation that emerges for higher purposes.