I have been reading a lot of books lately about consciousness (and survival of consciousness). I read an interesting one that explains that your consciousness is not in  your brain at all; your brain simply receives and transmits to and from a "hard drive" outside your physical body. He points out how brain cells die and are replaced just like any other body cell. Therefore, if your memories are truly contained within any of the brain cells, you would forget who you are after every few years. He says that your experiences, your unique talents and traits ....all the things that make you who you are is a consciousness existing outside the physical body. When you die, your body just no longer can receive the signal of that consciousness, but your consciousness lives on. What are your thoughts?

That is all true. The brain is the engine that keeps your car (body) running. The driver is your consciousness..... If you step out of the car you are still aware of everything around you, you just are no longer in control of the car.