during sexual climax, the mind experiences a blissful moment of oblivion in which the entire corporeal world evaporates. Climax is considered in every culture to be the most intensely pleasurable experience a person could have, a blank-slate detachment from oneself, a momentary abandonment of all concern, pain, and fear. Do you know what the French call it?” “Oui,” he said. “La petite mort.” “Yes—the little death. That’s because the self-detachment felt at orgasm is precisely the same feeling described by people who have had near-death experiences.”
