Death is the one certainty shared by every human being. Yet behind that certainty lies one of the greatest mysteries of existence: what happens when life ends?

For thousands of years, humanity has wondered whether death is truly the end, or whether consciousness continues beyond the physical body. Religions have spoken of souls, heavens, spirits and rebirth. Philosophers have questioned the nature of existence and personal identity. In modern times, neuroscience, near-death experiences and the study of consciousness have given the ancient question new dimensions.

But what can we actually know?

Is There an Afterlife? The Journey Beyond Death begins at the boundary between life and death and carefully explores what lies on either side of the mystery. It examines the dying body, the nature of consciousness, the concept of the life force, the possibility of consciousness beyond the brain, the meaning of the soul, humanity's enduring desire for immortality and the difficult question of whether the person we know as "I" could survive physical death.

This is not a book that claims to possess an easy answer.

Instead, it explores the possibilities.

Perhaps consciousness ends when the brain ends. Perhaps something of consciousness survives. Perhaps death represents a transformation into a form of existence we cannot yet understand. Perhaps individuality itself is temporary. Or perhaps humanity has been asking the right question using concepts that are simply too limited to contain the answer.

Along the way, the book considers near-death experiences, spiritual traditions, philosophical arguments and the psychological reasons human beings have continued to believe in life beyond death. Evidence is distinguished from interpretation, possibility from belief, and mystery from certainty.

Because the greatest question may not simply be whether there is an afterlife.

It may be this:

When the final breath leaves the body, what exactly has ended—and what, if anything, has begun?