Love Is Stronger Than Death

232 Pages·2008·24.46 MB·English

by  Cynthia Bourgeault

The Mystical Union of Two Souls
Love
STRONGER
IS
THAN DEATH
CYNTHIA BOURGE
Foreword 6yn&rother David Steindl-Rast, QSB
$21.00
(Canada: $32.00)
This is a love story like no other. It
describes the incandescent relationship
—
between two hermits a seventy-year-old
monk and a fifty-year-old woman Episcopal priest
—
and medieval scholar who met at a Trappist
monastery in Snowmass, Colorado. Both had
studied Westernesoteric traditions and believed it
was possible for two souls to work and grow
together "from here to eternity."
Brother Raphael Robin and Cynthia Bour-
geault had three tempestuous and intense years
togetherlearningwhatitmeanstotrulylove some-
one, and then Rafe had a heart attack and died.
Cynthia was urged to let him rest in peace (as we
all areonthedeath ofalovedone)butshe trusted
the invincible certainty of her heart. Several
years later, Cynthia remains fully in touch with
Rafe, believing that whatever he may be doing in
thebeyondaffectsher,andthatwhatshedoeshere
affects him.
Cynthia Bourgeault's writing is robust and
clear-eyed, and it shines. Her book is the story of
what happened both before and afterRafe's death,
aswellasaguidebookforotherscalledtothepath
ofconscious love.
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LOVE STRONGER THAN DEATH
IS
Alsoby CynthiaBourgeault
Herod the Great (play)
TheWakefield Resurrection Play
Singingthe Psalms (audiotapes)
>5Vl o v e is -^
stronger
THAN
DEATH
The Mystical Union of Two Souls
CYNTHIA BOURGEAULT
BELL TOWER A NEW YORK
JT-
Some ofthe material in this bookfirst appeared in slightlydifferentform
in Gnosismagazine,winter1997, andin CommonBoundary, summer1999.
A
complete listing ofpermissions to reprint previouslypublished material
appearsonpage 223.
©
Copyright 1997, 1999byCynthiaBourgeault
Allrightsreserved. Nopartofthisbookmaybereproducedortransmitted
in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photo-
copying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,
withoutpermissioninwritingfrom thepublisher.
Published by Bell Tower, 201 East 50th Street, New York, New York
10022. Memberofthe Crown PublishingGroup.
Random House, Inc. NewYork,Toronto, London, Sydney,Auckland
www.randomhouse.com
BellTowerandcolophonareregisteredtrademarksofRandomHouse,Inc.
PrintedintheUnited States ofAmerica
DesignbyBarbaraBalch
LibraryofCongress Cataloging-in-PublicationData
Bourgeault, Cynthia.
Love is strongerth—andeath : the mysticalunionoftwo souls/
CynthiaBourgeault. 1sted.
p. cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
—
1. Bou—rgeault, Cynthia. —2. Futurelife Christianity.
3. Love Religious aspects Christianity. I. Title.
BT902.B67 1999
—
283'.092 dc2i
[B] 98-56526
CIP
ISBN 0-609-60473-2
10 987654321
FirstEdition
FOR LOUIS NUMA ROBIN
JR.
Hereandtheredoes notmatter.
We mustbestillandstillmoving
Into anotherintensity
Forafurtherunion, adeepercommunion.
t. s. eliot,FourQuartets