Birth and Death

Everything is made of Brahm, which is present everywhere. Forming (or birth) of something is the process of Brahm taking that form*. When we are born, there is no creation, just the change in apparent form. Similarly at death, there is no destruction, but just the change in form. Like a bangle being carved from huge gold stack and melted back into it after some time. Things are carved out of Brahm at birth and merge back into Brahm at death.

My understanding is that there is no residual form of life after death (unlike other people who think that a soul exists that can migrate into other bodies!). I think the term soul used in Vedanta is just another term for Brahm, which is what all bodies are made of, of course. So in some sense, we can say there is a connection between the bodies, but I don't think a one-to-one identity can be established between a dead person and a new born, saying that the soul migrated from one to another. The perceived identity of an individual ends at death.

Since there is no identity left after death, there is nothing left to go to heaven or hell. So there cannot be heaven and hell beyond this earth. Also there cannot be a rebirth in the commonly understood sense of the word.

* Advaita further says that Brahm does not even change. It is only our perception that we see things changing. More on this later, but it does not change the inference above.