I admire the brilliant way you raise important questions.
The following is my answer.
First, we have to decide whether we believe that there is nothing over and above the empirical mind-sense objects, or do we entertain any scope for the possibility that the ‘subject’ — one that knows the mind-senses and their objects is the progenitor of the mind-senses.
For me, the latter is given. The ‘Subject’ is the awareness itself that sees-knows the deep sleep, dream and waking states and their objects. It is called Self-Atman-Turiya-Brahman— the SUBJECT.
Rest all are objects that appear in three states: The gross (sthula sharira) waking body and the associated world; the subtle (sukshma sharira) mental dream world and the dream body; and the Causal (Karana sharira) deep sleep subjective consciousness of ‘not knowing any object’. The causal deep sleep universe has, unknown to mind-senses, the seeds of the subtle mental and gross waking state (physical) bodies, and their activities.
Although the above three bodies are not the ‘I’, there are mistaken associations with these objects and in 100% of cases, the subject (the seer-knower awareness, the self, the atman) is covered up by these objects.
If the subject is mistaken as the gross waking body, the lifetime is short. But in the background, the subtle body carries on as a 'mental stream' to inhabit newer dresses as long as the causal seeds in forms of desire are not destroyed.
On the other hand, if the wisdom arises "I am not the body and the body is not mine. I am the awareness that is aware of and connects the three planes of waking, dreaming, and sleeping", the birth-death cycle becomes meaningless. The birth-death cycle pertains to the objects and not to 'ME'.
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So. In this view, as awareness I was never non-existent and the seeds of desire and their manifestations (which are not me), have ever been playing on in the awareness.
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