Acclaimed astrophysicist David Darling comes well-armed with both science and mysticism to provide a theory of consciousness and its final conclusion. His well -researched ideas on psychology, neuro-biology, quantum physics and a host of others meld with Zen mysticism to provide a step by step approach to what consciousness is, and what it is not. The urban myth of ‘who we are’ is peeled back to reveal a terrible-wonderful truth. We are a fragmented assortment of often biased memories held together by a selfish brain whose primary concern is its own immortality. So how does this amalgam of ‘I’ manage to create what is considered the highest life-form on earth? You start at conception, add some biology and evolutionary theory, and what emerges is an organism using its every meager power to construct its own unique reality. Or is it that unique? Are we truly disconnected from all those other ‘unique realities’ of the past, present and future? Darling launches into a frank discussion of consciousness. How each of our stories is pieced together from a constantly changing conglomerate of memories. It is these stories that make us who we are. If the memories are changed - we change. If they are erased then we are erased. Our consciousness lives and dies dependent on our memories. When the physical brain dies with the rest of the body what happens to ‘us’? Do not look here for comforting ideas of lounging in heaven with friends and family. Darling also does not support utter annihilation. Darling instead shows where mysticism may provide some insight for science. A well-grounded theory emerges of what happens when you can no longer observe scientifically those moments beyond our last breath. Darling provides a compelling answer for what lies beyond the end as we know it.