There is a big difference between being consciously dead and unconsciously dead. If you faint at the sight of a mouse or a snake, do you think you will be awake to observe your own death? Is it not better to be a Karma master than a Karma slave?

"ALL RELIGIONS SPEAK ABOUT DEATH DURING THIS LIFE ON EARTH. Death must come before rebirth. But what must die? False confidence in one’s own knowledge, self-love and egoism. Our egoism must be broken. We must realize that we are very complicated machines, and so this process of breaking is bound to be a long and difficult task. Before real growth becomes possible, our personality must die."
G.I. Gurdjieff