Consider a candle. Think of the wax as the material world, the flame as life, and the light as consciousness. A lit candle is a chain reaction where matter is turned into energy. Our lives are also a kind of burning where matter becomes life and life becomes thought.
Our true lives are revealed in that process of combustion. The temptation is for us is to try to hold on to life, and to be terrified as we empty into the process, but if we try to hold onto our lives we will lose them. A candle that blew itself out to live longer would give no light. True religion is giving ourselves fully to the process of life. It’s statement of faith is that we are are not the candle, we are what is released in the burning.