death existed before you were born and it has not impeded your birth.pelican wrote: ↑Thu Oct 08, 2020 10:13 am The first noble truth says that there is dukkha, but what the truths also imply is that we really need to get rid of dukkha. Without rebirth, death does that job for us at some point. So it seems to me, that without rebirth, there is no compelling reason to practice Buddhism.
Problem is not death but birth:
"From birth as a requisite condition, then aging & death, sorrow, lamentation, pain, distress, & despair come into play."
birth includes moment after moment. Not only the biographical birth or the birth for a new day at morning. In that problem there is a common root for what is becoming and birth.
Of course, If one look to the world and oneself without asking about their real nature then no further questions can arise. In such case, the distance with animals will become shorter. And we would talk about a less evolved human, some degeneration. However, all the people will ask themselves about this matter at some time and different degrees.
in fact not need to wait for such thing. Somebody can take opium or whatever until death. However, any person including those ignorant of Buddhism or any other ethical philosophy even they would know there is a deception in that behaviour. Something inherently wrong. Not need to believe in rebirth.50 years is not that much, and we can use things like modern medicine and psychology to reduce suffering to a managable amount.
From that knowledge also the possibility of some existence only devoted to pursue pleasures becomes something wrong. With Dhamma one can learn this is wrong because this is impossible as a way to eradicate dukkha. Rebirth is only another component although there is no need to use that to see the point. The Buddha explained these reason many times with or without rebirth.