Dharma / Dhamma

(धर्म)

Literal Meaning

The teaching; the way things are

Etymology & Sanskrit Root

From Sanskrit 'dhr' (to uphold); in Buddhism it means both the Buddha's teaching and the underlying truth of reality that teaching points to.

Spiritual Insight & Context

Taking refuge in the Dharma means trusting the path the Buddha laid out as a reliable map to freedom from suffering.

Where Dharma / Dhamma Comes Up

Ahimsa Paramo Dharma

The Path of Universal Compassion

The Four Noble Truths

Suffering and Its End

Guruwar Vrat

Thursday Fast for Brihaspati

Kartik Purnima

Meaning, Significance, and Sacred Observances

Losar, the Tibetan New Year

The three-day Tibetan New Year of purification, renewal, and monastery ceremony, rooted in pre-Buddhist Bon tradition and reshaped over centuries into a central festival of Himalayan Buddhism.

Om

The Primordial Sound and the Mandukya Upanishad