When pushed by one of the authors in an interview about how he
defends his rhetoric within Buddhist teachings, U Wirathu responded
that “all of my sermons are consistent with the pitaka (teachings of
the Buddha). I hold tight to the pitaka. The dhamma is very wide, but
I hold tight to the pitaka. And I follow the path of the hpaya-laung
(Maitreya, the future Buddha). The path for national harmony is the
path of the hpaya-laung.”24 He went on to give an example of a Buddhist
teaching that speaks of how a tree standing alone is vulnerable
when the storm comes. “But when trees, even small young ones, stand
together, they will not fall when the storm comes. We must stand together,”
he explained. In this same interview, he also made clear: “But
we do not advocate violence. In fact, we are clear in condemning violence
against other groups. We have a policy that makes clear we are
against violence.” Indeed, 969 pamphlets have listed codes of conduct
that condemn the use of violence, while at the same time they defend
the urgent need to protect the sasana and promote the “race and the
country.”