42 Matthew J. Walton and Susan Hayward examine the end action to see if there are any negative side effects (Dharmasiri 1989, 36). One Burmese monk also explained that if one carries out an action without the intention to cause suffering, but suffering does occur as a result, there can be no (karmic) blame. Yet, once someone realizes the potential connection, doing the same action again, even without an intention to harm, would absolutely be a blameworthy act.47 Appeals to this teaching of the Buddha might compel closer investigation of not only the intention with which one speaks, but also of the chain of cause and effect between speech and violence. Nonattachment. The virtue of equanimity, one of the byama-so taya, cultivates an attitude of “nonattachment.” According to Buddhist teaching, as noted above, attempting to cling to what is impermanent drives one’s suffering. When asked by one of his disciples why conflict happens between religious practitioners, the Buddha responded: “Ascetics fight with each other because of attachment to views” (Anguttara Nikaya). The encouragement to practice nonattachment can apply to material things. This is one of the reasons monastics own very few things and must depend on the generosity of laypeople each day for their meals. Consequently, giving is encouraged by the Buddha, who said to his followers: “If people knew as I know the results of sharing, they would offer up everything they had” (Itivuttaka). But this attitude is also meant to extend toward immaterial things. Reality, as taught by the Buddha, is fundamentally empty and impermanent. Things are constantly in flux, and our lack of control over our reality is the source of much of our anxiety and suffering. As noted at the outset, the situation in Myanmar right now is one of overwhelming social, political, and economic change. The changes are clearly driving excitement, as well as anxiety and fear. Some of the manifestations are constructive, as people seek to entrench democracy and exercise new freedoms, but others are harmful, as conflict and contestation break out concerning who will benefit from the changes and who will be left behind. This is a moment that requires investment in the creation of a better future for Myanmar. However, attempts to cling to or own aspects of the reality in Myanmar, including national identity, are driving some of the current intergroup conflict. By drawing attention to the ways in which dramatic change heightens