Buddhism and the Year 2017

About a month ago, I was reading the Buddhist prophecy section on the website and came across this part:

The exact date of when the Kali age ends and the Krita age begins is unknown. However, it has been estimated that the Kali age ended at noon on the first of August 1943 A.D. Assuming then that this date is correct, the Buddhist equivalent year (which pertains to the Dispensation of the perfect Buddha lasting 5,000 years) would be approximately the year 2,486 in the Buddhist era.

It goes on to say that Buddhists are expecting Maitreya to come shortly after 2,500 years have passed, or around 1957 AD. It was such a powerful prophecy that I became curious about where this 2,500 years began, and decided to research further.

According to Wikipedia, the "Buddhist era" began at the time of the Buddha's death. However, there is confusion about when exactly the Buddha died. Wikipedia specifically gives two possible dates: 544 BC and 483 BC. If you count 2,500 years from 544 BC, you reach 1957 AD, or the date used on the website. If, however, you count 2,500 years from 483 BC, you reach 2017 AD. In THOTH (Essays I, Tablet 13:1), Maitreya writes:

The beginning of this human generation started 12,000 years ago (12,000 years will end in the year 2017), after the flood of Noah.

Maitreya has also explained in many Satsangs that it is after 2017 (after 12,000 years) that the Golden Age will begin (of course, it will take some time before the Golden Age is fully manifested). Maitreya chose this date as the end of the 12,000 years of history of present man on Nov. 22, 1978 (at the bottom of the same page in THOTH), long before He knew of the prophecy that Maitreya was to appear 2,500 years after the Buddha's death. This gives us another amazing way to interpret this prophecy as referring directly to Maitreya and the Mission!

It is truly incredible how God works, and I am positive we will never stop finding things that point so clearly to this time, this Revelation, and this Messenger. ATTG.

Noor