Yes.

The latter. I am at ease with the monist approach towards consciousness as opposed to Cartesian duality.

Dualism is illustrated at the beginning of the book of Genesis: in the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.....[then] God said let there be light. The mind/spirit/consciousness of god existed before and separate from the physical world.

Monism is illustrated by the concept of the “transporter” in Star Trek. If you could map the location of every atom in a human being then use the data to assemble/reassemble a human being accurately down to the atom, then the thoughts, memories and “soul” would also be recreated. Mind/spirit/consciousness are of the same substance as everything else.

The latter in a way. I'm within the universe, I'm made from the same elements, I am essentially part of the universe.

yes

Yes.