Death is the inevitable consequence of life itself. Right now I fear death in the sense that I don't want to die yet. I'm only 22, I'd like some more time on here. But that's a fear for the time of your death. Not so much fear for death itself. Death itself is part of the ongoing process of reality, I accept that. I die, my building blocks go on to do different things. The only truly "immortal" thing is energy. And we're all energy. Everything is energy. It's the constant reshaping of energy, the phases of which we view as life and death, creation and destruction.
I do not believe in "higher powers", other than those of existance itself. I do not totally dismiss the idea of some form of higher power, after all I don't know. But I'll believe it when I see it. I suppose that's why they call it faith.
I do reject the idea of a type of God that the three big ones like to put forth. Omnipotent, omnipresent, omniscient AND he loves us all. Fuck off.
For me, accepting the theoretical idea of a higher power is one thing, giving any credit to the stories of organized religion is a big no no, however. As such, I don't believe in any type of conscious afterlife for an individual.