This is a review of how clinging to the five aggregates is a summary of suffering and, in particular, why consciousness can be a key as to whether we are hooked in the system or not. Using examples from neuroscience Ayya Sobhana explains how before knowing the Dhamma we are much more reactive to 'the slings and arrow of outrageous fortune', but through practice we can become more equanimous and calm and can receive the experience of life without being disturbed by it.