Dhamma

Meaning

In Buddhism, Dhamma is the universal law of reality, discovered and expounded by the Buddha. It is the second of the so-called “Three Jewels” - the most important and precious things for a practitioner in the Buddhist tradition (the other two being the Buddha and the Sangha).

Multiple meanings

Like many Pali terms, Dhamma is polysemous. Depending on context it may refer to:

• The Buddha’s teaching and the content of the texts - all discourses, suttas, and instructions
• The law of existence - knowledge of the nature of reality as it is, including the fundamental principles of impermanence, universal suffering, and the absence of a permanent self
• The path to the cessation of suffering - practical methods (such as meditation and ethical conduct) leading to enlightenment
• Morality, virtue, rightness - in the suttas, dhamma often means “right quality of mind” or “virtue,” as opposed to adhamma - the unwholesome, the lawless
• Phenomena, mental objects - in the third basket of the Pali Canon (Abhidhamma), dhamma (lowercase) is used to describe the basic units of mental experience

Practical significance

Most commonly, Dhamma is the Buddha’s teaching and a practical guide to understanding the mind and life: tools for working with habits, investigating the nature of suffering, and practicing mindfulness.