Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

There are few books to compare with this one. The nature of death and the power of love are explored from so many directions that, in the end, we are given a spiritual guide through life and beyond. Ms. Bourgeault shows us that we do not need to be limited by the generally accepted truths of the major spiritual traditions, nor by those of various esoteric teachings. Her personal experience speaks in every word so that, instead of an abstract treatise on inner work, we are shown a road map marked out by someone who has been there. This is the perfect book for anyone who has recently lost a life partner. It is also the perfect book for anyone who has just found a life partner.

Who could resist reading this book after seeing that awesome subtitle of "The Mystical Union of Two Souls?" Especially when it is told from a perspective of such compelling Theology as this intimacy of love between two persons! From the beginning of the "Preface to the Second Edition" by Cynthia Bourgeault and the Introduction by David Steindl-Rast, OSB, I became aware of her depth of this "Mystical Union of Two Souls!"

Nothing said by friends who recommended and loaned me their book even slightly prepared me for the powerful building blocks of this book! It kept me leaping from one level to another, almost as thrilling as shooting the rapids or going from low altitudes in a Jet Fighter Plane up to 35,000 feet level, without getting the bends! I ran through several examples of descriptions:

Chapter 3 on the "Mystical Completion of Souls": "These building blocks come mostly from the Christian esoteric (inner) tradition-- The Fourth Way of G.I. Gurdjieff--plus Christian hermeticism coming further from Jacob Boehme. The four building blocks are: 1) The union of souls 2) The idea of second body 3) The vow, or promise 4) "The wonders."

Later in the same chapter she describes "the time of bodily life the soul has earnestly pledged itself [to another] but has not forsworn that promise." During the last few weeks of Rafe's life before his death, he began "his crash course in enhancing his second body-- primarily through practice of "true resignation!" Although she describes theirs as a Physical Love story, it is totally without maudlin, syrupy-sweet, love scenes or the usual sexuality.

My understanding was a bit illuminated from reading from both Jacob Boehme and G.I.Gurdjieff. It came again from, "the laying down of one's personal will, in order to be unconditionally present to the will of God. [Not all-together new!]

After three short chapters in "Wrestling with an Angel" she uses a profound quote from a distinguished Psychaitrist, Helen Luke, saying, "Wholeness is born of the acceptance of the conflict of human and divine in the individual psyche." Immediately, she quotes Dylan Thomas: If the principal office of "love in this life is to unbolt the dark," to release its prisoners of shame, it seems that our wedding garments in eternity are spun... Here I glimpsed her hazy picture of that second body as a spiritual body close to the description of St Paul in I Corinthians!

Cynthia stretches us into her own understanding of "The Mystical Union of Two Souls," from her deepening spiritual love for her Hermit Monk, Raphael Robin. Joyfully, Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood

To journey through Cynthia Bourgeault's book is to embrace a world of sacred and mysterious possibility. A story of love, yes, yet the love expressed in the union of these two highly evolved souls is not one of sentimentality and dependence, but of shared freedom and continued growth. This poignant sharing is a rich source for gaining insight into the human condition, for glimpsing the rigorous challenge of a monastic calling, for understanding relationships - both human and Divine. Indeed, it is a roadmap that might be used by others on a similar path. Much of her writing appeals to me, from its accessible and easy flowing style to her ability to imbed it within that traditions of her faith. She emerges as a vulnerable yet resilient person whose deep grounding in her spiritual commitment lends substantial credibility to her experience. I would be grateful if she would continue to share this journey of creativity and love as it unfolds with Rafe.

My mind was opened, to the spirtual world I've just started to explore. As a young (18) reader I found "Love is stronger than death" to be both eductional, and a warming story. The concepts she presented , would normally confuse and turn me away from such a book. I was sucessful , thanks to detail in explanations, in understanding. Combined with the story of a journey not many of us will take, I enjoyed her writing very much.

The text of this book is consequential, even critical; love survives death in a paradigmatic form: personal, vital, affecting all our relationships in time and beyond it. The subtext of this book is even more crucial; esoteric Christianity possesses a force capable of transforming the universe and each individual in it. The power of spiritual life expressed in these pages takes us beyond the mere surface of conventional religion and plunges us into an understanding and a practice that will revolutionize life itself, if we will but let it. This book, understood and lived, has the potential to transform not only the individual,but the creation as well. Cynthia Bourgeault's book is an adventure into possibilities and dimensions that have remained closed and unknown to most religious literature. Here new worlds are explored thematically and autobiographically.

Having been a long-time devotee of Cynthia Bourgeault's writing, I am now in my second "read" of "Love is Stronger than Death". My introduction to her writing was through centering prayer, when I read her excellent discussion of this practice, "Centering Prayer and Inner Awakening". Although I've read virtually all of Fr. Keating's writing on this subject, I found Bourgeault's discussion especially helpful in that it comes from a uniquely feminine perspective.

I attended a retreat led by Cynthia at the Trappist Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers, GA, and it was at that time I was introduced to much of her other writing. I was especially moved by this book at that time, so much so that I gave my personal copy to a dear friend who lives in another city. Thus, when I decided I needed to re-read it, I needed to purchase a new copy, which I recently obtained via Amazon.

There is one thing that is extremely valuable to me about this book. It reinforces a strong conviction I have that we MUST rediscover the divine dimension of erotic love. A number of other books that I've reviewed for Amazon, including Kittredge Cherry's "Jesus in Love" and "At the Cross" novels and John McNeill's "Sex as God Intended", are also powerful testimonies to the vital concept that not only does God not consider eroticism evil, but that humans are intended to respond to the creative forces of the universe at all levels, including -- perhaps most especially -- through the power of erotic love.

Essentially a powerfully moving love story of two aging individuals, Love Is Stronger Than Death: The Mystical Union Of Two Souls by resident teacher for the Contemplative Society and spiritual retreat authority Rev. Cynthia Bourgeault, is drawn from the life and experiences of Brother Raphael (Rafe) Robin, an Episcopalian priest, author and a Trappist hermit. The ability of human and spiritual love to transcend death and open the way to joyous bliss is superbly presented in this highly recommended and heartwarming tale of building an emotional, personal, and loving relationship for the future that transcends all earthly limitations.