For starters, mind is brain. Exactly as software is at all times just the state of underlying hardware. That's why I say that absolute nature of reality (or God if you will) is not a mind construct. That is, it's neither intellectual thinking nor experience, not even raw perception. But you are correct that theists equate God with mind and therefore they twist themselves into pretzels and invent all those crazy theories from reincarnation to resurrection (and beyond), only to find a way for mind to survive. Won't happen -- brain dies, mind stops. There's no way around it.

Now, no matter whether consciousness is fundamental or emergent -- first, it obviously exists. Thus, if nothing else, it is a very distinct possibility in this universe, no matter how improbable. Second, it is verifiably uniform because it is without attributes. All attributes are without exception what is observed by consciousness. And that applies universally. Thus consciousness is technically always the same.

Furthermore, we derive our "I" and subsequently our whole personhood from consciousness. It follows that the same uniform identical "I" (or person) resides in every human (let's forgo other beings for now). I understand that that may imply some further bizarre conjectures such as personal souls etc., but once you verify for yourself that consciousness is attributeless you also see that there are no personal souls (or many consciousnesses). It all appears as one consciousness as if running a perfect multithreading -- one thread that runs all the minds there are yet still keeping them separated. However, at this point it's really just a mental image which you may call a story or description, and I must admit that it does not capture the essence of said knowledge in its entirety. But frankly, that's more than enough for me.

The bonus is then existence. More than decade and counting, and I didn't find a way to negate it. If you consider the obvious possibility of this universe with everything that it entails (that is presence of consciousness), you can certainly imagine all the implications.

And just as a personal anecdote -- before I came to these conclusions I was more or less in your boat. I laughed at people who invent or subscribe to silly consoling bed time stories in the face of death. The change (and surprises) simply came when I pursued my self-knowledge to its logical conclusion. Not that I would agree with those stories now. I just know that they are misinterpretations of much deeper and stranger truths.