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 has several meanings. 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.