So, I was listening to this great dharma talk last night, from Bhikku Bodhi about rebirth and karma. The description was how our stream of consciousness is like a candle flame. Every moment is different, but still adds to the overall flow of our personal karma; just like a flame can transfer from candle to candle. Even though it's still one candle, every moment is a different piece of wick, part of wax, molecule of air burning from the flame. Yet, its still the same candle, the same as we have our stream of consciousness transfers from body to body, and we take with us the memory and karma attached to our consciousness.