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Dharma - In Buddhism

Dharma - In Buddhism: Encyclopedia II - Dharma - In Buddhism

In East Asia, the word for Dharma is 法, pronounced fǎ in Mandarin and hō in Japanese. Dharma - The teachings of the Buddha. For practicing Buddhists, references to "dharma" or dhamma in the singular, particularly as "the" Dharma, is used to mean the teachings of the Buddha, and is sometimes referred to as the Buddha-Dharma. Dharma is the universal law of nature and to call it Buddha-Dhamma suggests that other kinds of Dharma may exist. But this is not so, there is only one Dharma. The term Buddha-Dharma merely refers to the fact that it was discove ...

Dharma: Encyclopedia II - Dharma - In Buddhism

Dharma - In Buddhism

In East Asia, the word for Dharma is 法, pronounced fǎ in Mandarin and hō in Japanese.

Dharma - The teachings of the Buddha

For practicing Buddhists, references to "dharma" or dhamma in the singular, particularly as "the" Dharma, is used to mean the teachings of the Buddha, and is sometimes referred to as the Buddha-Dharma. Dharma is the universal law of nature and to call it Buddha-Dhamma suggests that other kinds of Dharma may exist. But this is not so, there is only one Dharma. The term Buddha-Dharma merely refers to the fact that it was discovered by the Buddha, not created by him.

The status of the Dharma is regarded variably by different traditions. Some regard it as an ultimate and transcendent truth which is utterly beyond worldly things, somewhat like the Christian logos. Others, who regard the Buddha as simply an enlightened human being, see the Dharma more as a useful set of ideas and suggestions for how to live one's life, not requiring any special transmundane status.

"Dharma" usually refers inclusively not just to the sayings of the Buddha but to the later traditions of interpretation and addition that the various schools of Buddhism have developed to help explain and expand upon the Buddha's teachings.

The Dharma is one of the Three Jewels, and Buddhists are said to seek refuge in it as in the Buddha and the Sangha.

Dharma - Qualities of Buddha Dharma

The Teaching of the Buddha also has six supreme qualities:

(1) Svakkhato The Dhamma is not a speculative philosophy, but is the Universal Law found through enlightenment and is preached precisely. Therefore it is excellent in the beginning (Sīla ... Moral principles), Excellent in the middle (Samadhi. . . Concentration) and excellent in the end (Pań ña . . . Wisdom), (2) (Samditthiko) The Dhamma can be tested by practice and therefore he who follows it will see the result by himself through is own experience. (3) (Akāliko) The Dhamma is able to bestow timeless and immediate results here and now, for which there is no need to wait till the future or next existence. (4) (Ehipassiko) The Dhamma welcomes all beings to put it to the test come and see for themselves. (5) (Opāneyiko) The Dhamma is capable of being entered upon and therefore it is worthy to be followed as a part of one's life. (6) (Paccattam veditabbo viññūnhi) The Dhamma can be perfectly realized only by the noble disciples (Ariyas) who have matured and enlightened enough in supreme wisdom.

Knowing these attributes, Buddhists believe that they will attain the greatest peace and happiness through the practice of the Dhamma. Each person is therefore fully responsible for himself to put it in the real practice.

Here the Buddha is compared to a experienced and skilful doctor, and the Dhamma to proper medicine. However efficient the doctor or wonderful the medicine may be, the patients cannot be cured unless they take the medicine properly. So the practice of the Dhamma is the only way to attain the final deliverance of Nibbāna.

Dharma - Dharmas in Buddhist phenomenology

Other uses include, dharma, normally spelled with a small "d" (to differentiate), and refers to "phenomenon" or "constituent factor" of human experience. This was gradually expanded into a classification of constituents of the entire material and mental world. Rejecting the substantial existence of permanent entities which are qualified by possibly changing qualities, Buddhist Abhidharma philosophy, which enumerated seventy-five dharmas, came to propound that these "constituent factors" are the only type of entity that truly exists. This notion is of particular importance for the analysis of human experience: Rather than assuming that mental states inhere in a cognizing subject, or a soul-substance, Buddhist philosophers largely propose that mental states alone exist as "momentary elements of consciousness", and that a subjective perceiver is assumed.

One of the central tenets of Buddhism, is the denial of a separate permanent "I", and is outlined in the Three Signs of Being / Three Seals of Existence. The three signs: 1. Dukkha - Suffering (Pali: Dukkha), 2. Anitya - Change/Impermanence (Pali: Anicca), 3. Anatman - No-I (Pali: Annatta). At the heart of Buddhism, is the denial of an "I" (and hence the delusion) as a separate self-existing entity.

Later, Buddhist philosophers like Nāgārjuna would question whether the dharmas (momentary elements of consciousness) truly have a separate existence of their own. (ie Do they exist apart from anything else?) Rejecting any inherent reality to the dharmas, he asked (rhetorically):

śūnyeṣu sarvadharmeṣu kim anantaṁ kimantavat
kim anantam antavac ca nānantaṁ nāntavacca kiṁ
kiṁ tad eva kim anyat kiṁ śāśvataṁ kim aśāśvataṁ
aśāśvataṁ śāśvataṁ ca kiṁ vā nobhayam apyataḥ 'tha
sarvopalambhpaśamaḥ prapañcopaśamaḥ śivaḥ
na kva cit kasyacit kaścid dharmo buddhena deśitaḥ|

When all dharmas are empty, what is endless? What has an end?
What is endless and with an end? What is not endless and not with an end?
What is it? What is other? What is permanent? What is impermanent?
What is impermanent and permanent? What is neither?

Auspicious is the pacification of phenomenal metastasis, the pacification of all apprehending;
There is no dharma whatsoever taught by the Buddha to whomever, whenever, wherever. --Mūlamadhyamakakārikā, nirvṇānaparīkṣā, 25:22-24

Dharma - Dharma as righteousness

According to S. N. Goenka, teacher of Vipassana Meditation, the original meaning of dhamma is “dhareti ti dhamma’, or “that which is contained”. Dharma in the Buddhist scriptures has a variety of meanings, including “phenomenon”, and "nature" or "characteristic". Dharma also means ‘mental contents’, and is paired with citta, which means heart/mind. The pairing is paralleled with the pairing of kaya (body) and vedana (feelings or sensations, that which arise within the body but experienced through the mind), in major sutras such as the Mahasatipatthana sutra. Dharma is also used to refer to the teachings of the Buddha, not in the context of the words of one man, even an enlightened man, but as a reflection of natural law which was re-discovered by this man and shared with the world. A person who lives their life with an understanding of this natural law, is a “dhammic” person, which is often translated as “righteous”.