Consciousness Researcher Brendan D. Murphy Releases Reverse Engineering the Afterlife—the First Structured, Evidence-Based Map of Post-Mortem Consciousness States

Consciousness researcher and author Brendan D. Murphy has opened pre-orders for Reverse Engineering the Afterlife, the second volume in The Grand Illusion series and the first book to present a structured, cross-tradition model of how consciousness moves through post-mortem states—built from evidence, not belief.

Where The Grand Illusion (Book 1) established the scientific and philosophical case that consciousness is not produced by the brain, Reverse Engineering the Afterlife maps what follows from that conclusion: what actually happens when biological death occurs, and why neither religious tradition nor materialist science has given a complete account of it. What emerges instead is a set of recurring transition dynamics that appear independent of belief, culture, or expectation.

The book introduces the Consciousness Transition Model (CTM)—a framework Murphy has developed over 23 years of research into near-death experience studies, esoteric cross-tradition literature, and depth psychology. The CTM is not a cosmology or a belief system. It identifies the structural mechanics that recur across traditions, languages, and research streams once surface symbolism is stripped away.

Fellow consciousness researcher Nick Sambrook, who reviewed the manuscript prior to publication, calls it "an important, groundbreaking understanding that everyone will want to read."

What the research shows—and what it doesn't

The strongest evidence for consciousness surviving physical death now spans four independent research streams: near-death experience studies documenting veridical perception under conditions of minimal or absent brain activity (Pim van Lommel, Bruce Greyson, Sam Parnia), terminal lucidity research demonstrating the return of coherent cognition prior to death, reincarnation case studies with verified past-life memories in children (Ian Stevenson, Jim Tucker), and related anomalous cognition data, including out-of-body experiences and veridical perception cases.

No single study settles the question conclusively. The cumulative evidential weight, Murphy argues, warrants serious structural engagement—not dismissal, and not uncritical acceptance of any tradition's symbolic account.

About the Consciousness Transition Model

The CTM is the first systematic attempt to build a cross-tradition map of post-mortem consciousness states from the evidence up rather than from doctrine down—challenging both materialist dismissals of survival and overly simplistic spiritual narratives about what happens after death. It identifies recurring structural patterns reported across otherwise incompatible traditions and modern case data—suggesting a shared underlying process rather than culturally constructed interpretation.

Key propositions the CTM addresses:

• What the consistent structural features of near-death experiences reveal about early post-mortem states—and why they are best understood as transition mechanics rather than final destination
• Why post-mortem environments appear to be consciousness-responsive rather than fixed—and what the cross-tradition evidence for this actually consists of
• What identity, memory, and continuity of self mean in contexts where the biological substrate (the human body) has been removed
• Why the "soul trap" theory, and similar conspiratorial readings of post-mortem experience, represent a consistent category error—what Murphy terms Archontic Misattribution

About the author

Brendan D. Murphy is a consciousness researcher and author based in Mexico. He has spent more than 23 years investigating the intersection of consciousness science, esoteric tradition, and post-mortem research. His first book, The Grand Illusion: A Synthesis of Science and Spirituality, has been praised as "the best synthesis book on this sort of material I have ever read" (Mark Jeffrey) and "a masterpiece" by Sol Luckman (Get Out of Here Alive). Author of Is There Life After Death? Anthony Peake writes: "I cannot stress enough how much I enjoyed your book. A hugely well researched piece of work."

Murphy has conducted in-depth research conversations with Raymond Moody (author of Life After Life, co-founder of IANDS) and Paul Perry. His work is distinguished by its cross-disciplinary scope, integrating empirical research, esoteric traditions, and systems-level analysis into a single structural framework.

Murphy has been published extensively in New Dawn Magazine and Nexus Magazine, and has presented at international conferences, including Afterlife Explorers and the Nexus Conference.

His work has been endorsed by Alan Glassman of New Dawn Magazine, who described Murphy as "genius quality."

Pre-order details

Reverse Engineering the Afterlife is available for pre-order now.

Pre-order page: brendandmurphy.com/pre-order/reverse-engineering-the-afterlife

Campaign closes: April 21, 2026

Pre-order tiers include digital and physical editions, with higher tiers including access to six months of live monthly book club sessions with Brendan post-delivery.

Review copies and interview requests

Brendan is available for interview ahead of the book's release. A curated excerpt package—representing the book's core arguments, including material on the Consciousness Transition Model and the evidential case for post-mortem consciousness—is available on request.

Full review copies will be available before final delivery. Journalists, researchers, and podcast hosts wishing to be notified when they become available are invited to register their interest at press@brendandmurphy.com.

Brendan is available for podcast interviews, written Q&A, and—for US-based appearances—in-person interviews and events. He travels to the United States quarterly and is available for conference appearances, institutional talks, and media engagements.

All media enquiries: press@brendandmurphy.com

Selected praise for The Grand Illusion (Book 1)

"He does a brilliant job of throwing back the rug—the depth and breadth of his bibliography is mind-boggling—and explaining how and why it all hangs together."

— Eileen McKusick, Author of Tuning the Human Biofield and Electric Health

"One of the best synthesis books on this sort of material I have ever read. Actually, no—it WAS the best."

— Mark Jeffrey

"A masterpiece. Murphy's fascinating, inspiring, and seminal work also opens the door to a world of new creative possibilities…mind-blowing."

— Sol Luckman, Bestselling author of Conscious Healing and Get Out of Here Alive

"This young man is genius quality. No doubt about it. Skimming was impossible."

— Alan Glassman, New Dawn Magazine

"Brendan's ability to clearly articulate and integrate a wide range of esoteric and scientific concepts is like nothing I have ever seen or read before. I HIGHLY recommend this book."

— Lisa Schwartz, Founder of the Comprehensive Resource Model®, M.Ed

About the research

Reverse Engineering the Afterlife draws on a wide range of cross-disciplinary sources, integrating empirical research, clinical data, and philosophical analysis rather than relying on any single evidential stream.

Core empirical foundations include near-death experience research (Pim van Lommel, Bruce Greyson, Sam Parnia, Kenneth Ring, Raymond Moody), reincarnation studies (Ian Stevenson, Jim Tucker), alongside documented cases of terminal lucidity and anomalous cognition—including out-of-body experiences, veridical perception, and mediumship.

These are placed in dialogue with a much broader comparative framework, including Tibetan Buddhist bardo literature, Advaita Vedanta, Neoplatonism, Gnosticism, and Theosophical models of post-mortem states; contemporary depth psychology and models of mind (including dissociation, ego structure, and symbolic cognition); altered-state research (psychedelic, hypnagogic, and out-of-body experience literature); systems theory approaches to consciousness and information; cybernetics and feedback dynamics; phenomenological analyses of subjective experience.

Rather than privileging any single tradition or dataset, Murphy's method identifies structural correspondences across domains—isolating recurring features of post-mortem transition that appear independent of culture, belief, or interpretive overlay.

The result is not a reinterpretation of existing theories, but a structural model derived from their points of convergence—one that reframes post-mortem experience as a lawful process rather than a matter of belief.