We will consider the widely reported "Near-Death Experience" (vividly described in Plato's "Republic", two and a half thousand years ago). Such experiences - sometimes brought about by mountain falls, car crashes or hospital operations - can have certain features in common: the "tunnel", the dazzling light, the divine figure, the re-experience of one's past, the welcoming by deceased relations, the unwished-for return. Such an experience can profoundly change the individual's life, and confer a vital sense of purpose and meaning, and often give him or her a vivid sense of connection with others. We will read together "Death and its mystery: Volume 3, After death" by Camille Flammarion and "After" by Bruce Greyson. (Carol Zalenski's comparison of medieval and modern accounts, "Otherworld Journeys", and Scott Sparrow's "I am with you always" may be found helpful, too.) Relevant personal experiences may be shared, as one part of the class.