Dharma

a)    The teachings of the Buddhas (generally capitalized in English);

b)    duty, law, doctrine;

c)    things, events, phenomena, everything.

 (See also: Dharma, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

swa-dharma:

swa-dharma (sva-dharma). One's own dharma or duty.

(See also: swa-dharma, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

ashrama dharma: (Sanskrit) "Laws life's orders." Meritorious way of life particular to each of the four stages (ashramas) of life, following which one lives in harmony with nature and life, allowing the body, emotions and mind to develop and undergo their natural cycles in a most positive way. The four stages are as follows.

á      brahmacharya: (Sanskrit) Studentship, from age 12 to 24.

á      grihastha: (Sanskrit) Householder, from 24 to 48.

á      vanaprastha: (Sanskrit) Elder advisor, from 48 to 72.

á      sannyasa: (Sanskrit) Religious solitaire, from 72 onward.

The first two ashramas make up the pravritti marga, (Sanskrit) the way of going toward the world through the force of desire and ambition. The last two are the nivritti marga, (Sanskrit) moving away from the world through introspection and renunciation. See: dharma, grihastha dharma, sannyasa dharma.

(See also: Ashrama dharma, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

sarva-dharma:

sarva-dharma. All feelings of obligations and responsibilities, of rights and duties.

(See also: sarva-dharma, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Sanathana Dharma:

Sanathana Dharma (Sanaathana Dharma). Eternal Universal Religion.

(See also: Sanathana Dharma, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

sadharana dharma:

what is right in terms of the common duties and obligations to one's fellow human beings

(See also: sadharana dharma, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Nitya-dharma - the eternal characteristic function of a thing, or that which relates to its eternal constitutional function.

(See also: Nitya-dharma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Nirvana-dharma (Sanskrit) [from nirvana blown out, superspiritual state + dharma law, duty, justice, conduct]

The path of nirvana, or the law of nirvana.

(See also: Nirvana-dharma, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Cit-dharma - spiritual nature or the characteristic function of a conscious being.

(See also: Cit-dharma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

A Theosophical definition of Dharma :

Dharma

(Sanskrit) A noun derived from the verbal root dhri. The meaning is right religion, right philosophy, right science, and the right union of these three; hence the Law per se. It also means equity, justice, conduct, duty, and similar things. It has also a secondary meaning of an essential or characteristic quality or peculiarity; and here its significance approaches closely to that of svabhava. The duty of a man, for instance, is his dharma, that which is set or prescribed or natural to him to do.

See also: Dharma , Mysticism, Body Mind and Soul

Sva-dharma -

(1) one’s ‘own duty’; the true eternal spiritual function of the self.

(2) in regard to varnasrama-dharma, this refers to the temporary duties prescribed in accordance with one’s social caste. Thus sva-dharma is used in both the absolute and relative sense.

(See also: Sva-dharma, Bhakti, Bhakti Yoga, Bhakti Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Buddha Nature

The following terms refer to the same thing: Self-Nature, True Nature, Original Nature, Dharma Nature, True Mark, True Mind, True Emptiness, True Thusness, Dharma Body, Original Face, Emptiness, Prajna, Nirvana, etc.

According to the Mahayana view, (buddha-nature) is the true, immutable, and eternal nature of all beings. Since all beings possess buddha-nature, it is possible for them to attain enlightenment and become a buddha, regardless of what level of existence they occupy ...

The answer to the question whether buddha-nature is immanent in beings is an essential determining factor for the association of a given school with Theravada or Mahayana, the two great currents within Buddhism.

In Theravada this notion is unknown; here the potential to become a buddha is not ascribed to every being.

By contrast the Mahayana sees the attainment of buddhahood as the highest goal; it can be attained through the inherent buddha-nature of every being through appropriate spiritual practice. (The Shambhala Dictionary of Buddhism and Zen.)

See also "Dharma Nature."

 (See also: Buddha Nature, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Dharma-Ending Age, Degenerate Age, Last Age.

The present spiritually degenerate era, twenty-six centuries after the demise of Shakyamuni Buddha. The concept of decline, dissension and schism within the Dharma after the passing of the Buddha is a general teaching of Buddhism and a corollary to the Truth of Impermanence. See, for example, the Diamond Sutra (sect. 6 in the translation by A.F. Price and Wong Mou-lam).

The time following Buddha Shakyamuni's demise is divided into three periods:

i)               the Perfect Age of the Dharma, lasting 500 years, when the Buddha's teaching (usually meditation) was correctly practiced and Enlightenment often attained;

ii)             the Dharma Semblance Age, lasting about 1,000 years, when a form of the teaching was practiced but Enlightenment seldom attained;

iii)            the Dharma-Ending Age, lasting some ten thousand years, when a diluted form of the teaching exists and Enlightenment is rarely attained.

 (See also: Dharma-Ending Age, Degenerate Age, Last Age., Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Baudhayana Dharma Shastra: (Sanskrit) A book of laws associated with the Krishna Yajur Veda and governing studentship, marriage, household rituals, civil law, etc. It is followed by brahmins of Southwest India. See: Dharma Shastra, Kalpa Vedanga.

(See also: Baudhayana Dharma Shastra, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

One-Vehicle Dharma

The one Yana, the vehicle of Oneness. The one Buddhayana, the One Vehicle, i.e., Mahayana, which contains the final or complete Law of the Buddha and not merely a part, or preliminary stage, as in Hinayana.

 (See also: One-Vehicle Dharma, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Manava-dharma-sastra.

See MANU, LAWS OF

(See also: Manava-dharma-sastra, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary)

Dharma Nature

The intrinsic nature of all things. Used interchangeably with "emptiness," "reality." See also "Buddha Nature."

 (See also: Dharma Nature, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

dharma sastras:

Law Books forming part of the scriptures of hinduism

(See also: dharma sastras, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Dharma Sastras:

Dharma Sastras (Shaasthras). Codes of law and ethics concerning virtuous living.

(See also: Dharma Sastras, Hinduism, Hinduism Dictionary, Sanskrit Dictionary, Body Mind and Soul)

Dharma Talk: A lecture given on the Dharma or any other Buddhist topic. See also teisho.

 (See also: Dharma Talk, Buddhism, Body Mind and Soul)

Dharma-Smriti-Upasthana Dharma-Smrti-Upasthana (Sanskrit) (from dharma law + smriti remembrance + upasthana the act of placing oneself)

In Buddhism, the act of placing oneself in remembrance of the Law. Blavatsky paraphrases the term from another angle: "Remember, the constituents (of human nature) originate according to the Nidanas, and are not originally the Self" (TG 100). The nidanas are the chain of causal concatenation, the 12 causes of existence or manifestation which developed each one by itself, usually in serial and periodic order and strictly in accordance with stored-up karmic seeds of various kinds.

Equally important is the fact that the atmic core of selfhood clothes itself in the various sheaths of consciousness, which therefore actually are the seeds or, in one sense, the very being of these nidanas; so that the nidanas may be referred back to the self as their originators. The idea is the same as that imbodied in the Christian statement: "As a man thinks so is he."

(See also: Dharma-Smriti-Upasthana, Dharma-Smrti-Upasthana, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)

Dharma-savarni (Sanskrit) One of the 14 manus overseeing the earth-chain, the root-manu of the sixth round {SD 2:309}.

(See also: Dharma-savarni, Mysticism, Mysticism Dictionary, Occultism, Occultism Dictionary)