number of militant that did not previously existIslamist groups in the region have issued statements warning of attacks on their home governments and the Myanmar government in defense of the Rohingya and Muslims generally (Agence France Presse 2012). Likely to that end, in February 2014, two men on a motorcycle shot at Rakhine politicians visiting Malaysia (Mahtani and Fernandez 2014).
In the Cakavatti Sutta, the Buddha himself predicted that the sasa would disappear five thousand years after his death (making the current moment the halfway point), preceded by a period of moral degeneration and societal collapse, and leading to the arrival of the next Buddha (named Maitreya) who will revitalize the teachings. Reminders of this prediction can put into perspective any anxiety about Buddhism’s suposed imminent extinction; one might find solace in reminders that the Buddha himself predicted this as part of the nature of impermanence.
To try to struggle against the inevitable extinction of things that are inherently impermanent will only increase suffering and anxiety. Indeed, the increased threat of violence against the Buddhist community from outside Muslim groups, the increase in suffering among both Muslims