In France, the orgasm is sometimes referred to as "le petit mort," "the little death." Like death, orgasm extinguishes the ego, if only for an instant, exposing our innermost self to the mysterious ground of being: God in the West, the Clear Light in the East. In Tibetan Buddhism, as the Dalai Lama has said, it is believed that a "very gross form" of the Clear Light arises during orgasm.
— Tracy Cochran, Jeff Zaleski, Transformations