In the late 1800s Swiss geologist Albert Heim was enjoying a climb in the Alps when a powerful gust of wind lifted him from the mountain and sent him plummeting to almost certain death. But a peculiar thing happened during his fall: instead of terror Heim experienced an overriding sense of love, joy, peace. “I saw my whole life take place in many images, as though on a stage some distance from me. Everything was transfigured as though by a…