Has it occurred to anyone that we are all part of the same Consiousness? Not just we Humans. Plants, Animals, Single Celled Creatures, Rocks, Water, Air? If you buy that idea, the rest of the universe, and everything in it doesn't require much of a stretch to include on one's list.
If that's the case, when we "die" it is possible that our consciousness unites with the whole. If we don't travel to other places, perhaps we become a part of all the consciousness that has come before, adding our experience of the universe to the Universal Consiousness, and increasing it's awareness of it's self.
I've always felt, to one degree or another, that the reason we are gifted with consciousness is to witness the beauty of the universe, and to add to it if we can.
When we change states of consciousness by "dying" maybe we bring our experience of existence with us back to the source, adding to the universal consciousness awareness of it's self.
I strongly suggest reading Eckhart Tolle
Eckhart Tolle. His books The Power of Now, A New Earth, and others make the notion of Consiousness quite accessible, and have the power to change the way you look at life.
