"... There is a reason to suppose that consciousness (I prefer not to use the term "self") survives the death of the body."

What is required to make this supposition? I don't suppose any such thing. Statements such as that comprise some of the real conceptual difficulties that we face in the whole discussion.

(as one who usually gets deeply into these discussions, I find this one very hard to get a handle on, and I have been too busy to sort out my many reactions and opinions well enough to do justice to the detailed claims & counter-claims)