Last night during my philosophy show, I was talking with 
Everything is energy in some form or another. Consciousness and self are simply parts of the entire energetic makeup of all that exists. From this perspective comes the concept of 'oneness' or 'we are all one,' which isn't just about human beings or consciousness, but everything that is. At this point, if you're still reading and haven't checked out, I'll do my best to explain and substantiate my beliefs and perspective of existence.
In trying to explain the nature of light, many scientist, including Einstein, collectively formed what is referred to as the concept of wave-particle duality. This ties in with earlier studies of Thomas Young and the double-slit experiment. Essentially Thomas Young discovered that the very nature of observing light changes it. If we can understand these two things and the correlation they have with one another, we can see that energy can be both a wave and a particle and simply by observing it, we alter it in some way.
I think of it like this, the closer we view something or focus on it, the less we can focus on everything else that is going on. If we focus on another person, we formulate assumptions and expectations that dictate what we see and how we perceive them. If we zoom out and watch a group of people, our thoughts, assumptions, and expectations are much more generalized, but they are still forming our perspective and perception of what is. This isn't limited to humans or living things, the same principal can apply with looking at different blades of grass or grains of wood. We take in as much as we project and collectively these projections and observations create the reality that we see, feel, and experience.
We can also tie in the Theory of Relativity here. Essentially if space and time exist, they are correlated and do not exist without the other. Just like we do not exist without either of these things as we do not exist in a vacuum. We are always interacting in some way with everything else that exists that we are aware of, even if it's simply by the nature of observation. As discussed previously, simply observing is enough to alter how something exists. Essentially, I wouldn't be the way I am if you weren't exactly how you are and the rest of existence wasn't exactly how it is. In this way we can view each other as 'particles' and existence as the wave. The wave doesn't exist without the particles and the particles don't exist without the wave.
If we can agree on these points, then it leads to the concept of energetic existence and then that is where most of my discussions on things like consciousness, death, fear, and love come from. Energy never ceases to exist, it just changes states, so non-existence, or death, cannot be an experience. Fear and love are essentially opposite energetic charges and how we balance them changes our frequency and alters our reality. Reality is subjective and even if we as particles or individual things can coexist and interact with each other, we can be in different realities, as some can live in a reality based on fear and scarcity or others can live in a reality on the other end of the spectrum.
Collectively we form a wave that is always shifting and changing, but we are all still individual particles that are made up of smaller particles and so on. Some energy exists in a kinetic state and other energy exists in a potential state. Together all of the energy makes up all that is and we can call it the universe or god or even God in the grandiose sense if we want to personify it, but it all just is what it is. I don't fancy myself a scientist and this is definitely outside of my usual types of posts, but perhaps it will help to understand my perspective. Feel free to share your thoughts on existence below. Namaste.