pali

AN 4.34 notice 8aam and virage-dhamma hold “dhamma” slot in triple gem

(1. Buddha)

(2. Noble eight-fold path)

(3. Dispassion and Dhamma)

(4. Sangha)


♦ “yāvatā, bhikkhave,	As-far-as, *********,
dhammā saṅkhatā vā a-saṅkhatā vā,	things (that are) fabricated or un-fabricated **,
vi-rāgo tesaṃ aggamakkhāyati,	dis-passion (is) declared-supreme.
yadidaṃ madanimmadano	That is, pride-subduing,
pipāsa-vinayo	thirst-removal,
ālaya-samugghāto	attachment-uprooting,
vaṭṭ-upacchedo	cycle-of-rebirth's -- stoppage,
taṇhāk-khayo	craving's-destruction,
vi-rāgo nirodho nibbānaṃ.	dis-passion, cessation, Nirvana.
ye, bhikkhave,	Those-who, *********,
virāge dhamme pasannā,	(in) Dis-passion (and) The-Dhamma, (have) confidence,
agge te pasannā.	(in the) supreme, (they have) confidence.
agge kho pana pasannānaṃ	(in the) supreme * **, (for) those-confident (in that),
aggo vipāko hoti.	supreme (the) fruit is.

AN 5.26 7sb into samadh

(also the different ways of absorbing dhamma teachings in this sutta makes it clear dhamma-vicaya in 7sb is “teachings”, not “phenomena”)

pīti-manassa kāyo passambhati.

(with) rapturous-mind, (the) body (becomes) tranquil.

passaddha-kāyo sukhaṃ vedeti.

(with) tranquil-body, pleasure (he) feels.

sukhino cittaṃ samādhiyati.

(For one feeling) pleasure, (the) mind (becomes) concentrated.

idaṃ, bhikkhave, paṭhamaṃ vimutt-āyatanaṃ

This, monks, (is the) first liberation-basis,

AN 6.10 6 recollections (buddha, dhamma, sangha…) leads to Dhamma stream entry, not phenomenal entry


AN 6, 1. paṭhamapaṇṇāsakaṃ, 1. āhuneyyavaggo, 10. mahānāmasuttaṃ (AN 6.10), para. 2 ⇒
“yo so, mahānāma, ariyasāvako āgataphalo viññātasāsano, so iminā vihārena bahulaṃ viharati. idha, mahānāma, ariyasāvako tathāgataṃ anussarati — ‘itipi so bhagavā arahaṃ sammāsambuddho vijjācaraṇasampanno sugato lokavidū anuttaro purisadammasārathi satthā devamanussānaṃ buddho bhagavā’ti. yasmiṃ, mahānāma, samaye ariyasāvako tathāgataṃ anussarati nevassa tasmiṃ samaye rāgapariyuṭṭhitaṃ cittaṃ hoti, na dosapariyuṭṭhitaṃ cittaṃ hoti, na mohapariyuṭṭhitaṃ cittaṃ hoti; ujugatamevassa tasmiṃ samaye cittaṃ hoti tathāgataṃ ārabbha. ujugatacitto kho pana, mahānāma, ariyasāvako labhati atthavedaṃ, labhati dhammavedaṃ, labhati dhammūpasaṃhitaṃ pāmojjaṃ. pamuditassa pīti jāyati, pītimanassa kāyo passambhati, passaddhakāyo sukhaṃ vediyati, sukhino cittaṃ samādhiyati. ayaṃ vuccati, mahānāma — ‘ariyasāvako visamagatāya pajāya samappatto viharati, sabyāpajjāya pajāya abyāpajjo viharati, dhammasotaṃ samāpanno buddhānussatiṃ bhāveti”’.	“Mahānāma, when a noble disciple has reached the fruit and understood the instructions they frequently practice this kind of meditation. Firstly, a noble disciple recollects the Realized One: ‘That Blessed One is perfected, a fully awakened Buddha, accomplished in knowledge and conduct, holy, knower of the world, supreme guide for those who wish to train, teacher of gods and humans, awakened, blessed.’ When a noble disciple recollects the Realized One their mind is not full of greed, hate, and delusion. At that time their mind is unswerving, based on the Realized One. A noble disciple whose mind is unswerving finds joy in the meaning and the teaching, and finds joy connected with the teaching. When they’re joyful, rapture springs up. When the mind is full of rapture, the body becomes tranquil. When the body is tranquil, they feel bliss. And when they’re blissful, the mind becomes immersed in samādhi. This is called a noble disciple who lives in balance among people who are unbalanced, and lives untroubled among people who are troubled. They’ve entered the stream of the teaching and develop the recollection of the Buddha.

AN 7.83 How to verify dhamma-vinaya is Buddha’s word

ye ca kho tvaṃ, upāli,	“Upali,
dhamme jāneyyāsi —	“As for the qualities of which you may know,
‘ime dhammā	‘These qualities {lead}
ekanta-nibbidāya	to utter disenchantment,
virāgāya	to dispassion,
nirodhāya	to cessation,
upasamāya	to calm,
abhiññāya	to direct knowledge,
sambodhāya	to self-awakening,
nibbānāya	nor to Nirvana’:
saṃvattantī’ti;	(they) lead (to that)’;
ekaṃsena, upāli, dhāreyyāsi —	You may categorically hold,
‘eso dhammo	‘This is the Dhamma,
eso vinayo	this is the Vinaya,
etaṃ satthu-sāsanan’”ti.	this is the Teacher’s-instruction.’”

AN 8.53 similar to AN 7.83 (what is dhamma & vinaya)

♦ “ye ca kho tvaṃ, gotami,	But, Gotamī,
dhamme jāneyyāsi —	those things of which you might know:
‘ime dhammā virāgāya saṃvattanti,	‘These things lead (1) to dispassion,
no sarāgāya;	not to passion;
visaṃyogāya saṃvattanti,	(2) detachment (they) lead-to,
no saṃyogāya;	not to bondage;
apacayāya saṃvattanti,	(3) dismantling (they) lead-to,
no ācayāya;	not to building up;
appicchatāya saṃvattanti,	(4) fewness of desires (they) lead-to,
no mahicchatāya;	not to strong desires;
santuṭṭhiyā saṃvattanti,	(5) contentment (they) lead-to,
no asantuṭṭhiyā;	not to non-contentment;
pavivekāya saṃvattanti,	(6) solitude (they) lead-to,
no saṅgaṇikāya;	not to company;
vīriyārambhāya saṃvattanti,	(7) the arousing of energy (they) lead-to,
no kosajjāya;	not to laziness;
Su-bharatāya saṃvattanti,	(8) being easy to support (they) lead-to,
no dub-bharatāyā’ti,	not to being difficult to support,’
ekaṃsena, gotami, dhāreyyāsi —	you should definitely recognize:
‘eso dhammo,	‘This is the Dhamma;
eso vinayo,	this is the discipline;
etaṃ satthu-sāsanan’”ti.	this is the teaching of the Teacher.’”

MN 10 satipatthana, its parallels and earlier incarnations

In the evolution of MN 10, earlier versions have 5niv and 7sb as the only 2 topics under this category. Both of those topics are very much directly tied into viraga… nirvana.

SN 56.31 handful of rosewood leaves

(‘Dhamma’ not specified here, but 4nt is the handful of leaves that leads to nibbida, viraga, … nirvana is the same as definition of ‘Dharma’).


“Taṃ kiṃ maññatha, bhikkhave,	“What do you think, monks?
katamaṃ nu kho bahutaraṃ—	Which is more:
yāni vā mayā parittāni sīsapāpaṇṇāni pāṇinā gahitāni yadidaṃ upari sīsapāvane”ti?	the few leaves in my hand, or those in the forest above me?”
“Appamattakāni, bhante, bhagavatā parittāni sīsapāpaṇṇāni pāṇinā gahitāni;	“Sir, the few leaves in your hand are a tiny amount.
atha kho etāneva bahutarāni yadidaṃ upari sīsapāvane”ti.	There are far more leaves in the forest above.”
“Evameva kho, bhikkhave, etadeva bahutaraṃ yaṃ vo mayā abhiññāya anakkhātaṃ.	“In the same way, there is much more that I have directly known but have not explained to you. What I have explained is a tiny amount.
Kasmā cetaṃ, bhikkhave, mayā anakkhātaṃ?	And why haven’t I explained it?
Na hetaṃ, bhikkhave, atthasaṃhitaṃ nādibrahmacariyakaṃ na nibbidāya na virāgāya na nirodhāya na upasamāya na abhiññāya na sambodhāya na nibbānāya saṃvattati;	Because it’s not beneficial or relevant to the fundamentals of the spiritual life. It doesn’t lead to disenchantment, dispassion, cessation, peace, insight, awakening, and nirvana.
tasmā taṃ mayā anakkhātaṃ.	That’s why I haven’t explained it.


Kiñca, bhikkhave, mayā akkhātaṃ?	And what have I explained?
‘Idaṃ dukkhan’ti, bhikkhave, mayā akkhātaṃ, ‘ayaṃ dukkhasamudayo’ti mayā akkhātaṃ, ‘ayaṃ dukkhanirodho’ti mayā akkhātaṃ, ‘ayaṃ dukkhanirodhagāminī paṭipadā’ti mayā akkhātaṃ.	I have explained: ‘This is suffering’ … ‘This is the origin of suffering’ … ‘This is the cessation of suffering’ … ‘This is the practice that leads to the cessation of suffering’.

Duty of Right Speech in revealing Counterfeit of True Dharma

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Alphabetized sutta citations from essay

AN 1.130: Teaching distorted Dharma harms world.

AN 1.140: exposing fraud is an important part of spiritual life. We have to stand up against untruth.

AN 2.23: All of this reminds us of our duty of right speech, our duty of care to the Dhamma.

AN 2.47: In a community where such counterfeits prevail, people forget the training in intelligent and critical inquiry.

AN 4.180: How to check if it's genuine Dharma.

AN 5.79: And that is how corrupt training comes from corrupt teachings, and corrupt teachings come from corrupt training.

AN 6.61: group of monks discussing the interpretation of a verse in Metteya’s Questions. (KN Snp 5.3)

DN 16: same as AN 4.180

DN 29: When someone in the Saṅgha appears to get the text wrong, there’s an obligation to check and correct them.

MN 26: But if it did turn out that someone was presenting a serious distortion of the Dhamma, [Buddha] didn’t hold back [in criticism].

MN 103: In the case where there is a disagreement over the text, there is an obligation to try to resolve it by identifying the cause of the problem and the nature of the disagreement.

SN 16.13: Mahākassapa asks why there are now more training rules but fewer enlightened beings.

SN 20.7: Dharma will disappear when people revere poetic derivatives over suttas

The Counterfeit of the True Teaching

Essays by B. Sujato‍

https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/the-counterfeit-of-the-true-teaching/18622

The revelation of how Matty Weingast’s original poetry has been published and marketed by Shambhala as a translation of the Therigatha 17 begs the question: well, what’s the problem? Is this actually an issue? After all, lots of people publish lots of things all the time and no-one really cares.

Let’s hear what the Buddha had to say on the matter.

In SN 16.13, Mahākassapa asks why there are now more training rules but fewer enlightened beings.

The true teaching doesn’t disappear as long the counterfeit of the true teaching hasn’t appeared in the world. But when the counterfeit of the true teaching appears in the world then the true teaching disappears. It’s like true gold, which doesn’t disappear as long as counterfeit gold hasn’t appeared in the world. But when counterfeit gold appears in the world then real gold disappears.

It’s a theme the Buddha returned to on multiple occasions. (AN 1.130)

Mendicants, those mendicants who explain what is not the teaching as the teaching are acting for the hurt and unhappiness of the people, for the harm, hurt, and suffering of gods and humans. They make much bad karma and make the true teaching disappear.

Consequently, exposing fraud is an important part of spiritual life. We have to stand up against untruth. (AN 1.140)

Mendicants, those mendicants who explain what is not the teaching as not the teaching are acting for the welfare and happiness of the people, for the benefit, welfare, and happiness of gods and humans. They make much merit and make the true teaching continue.

The Buddha was not woolly-minded or unclear in how he wanted us to proceed. On the contrary, he left clear instructions. (AN 4.180 DN 16

Take a mendicant who says: ‘Reverend, I have heard and learned this in the presence of the Buddha: this is the teaching, this is the training, this is the Teacher’s instruction.’ You should neither approve nor dismiss that mendicant’s statement. Instead, you should carefully memorize those words and phrases, then check if they’re included in the discourses and found in the texts on monastic training. If they’re not included in the discourses and found in the texts on monastic training, you should draw the conclusion: ‘Clearly this is not the word of the Blessed One, the perfected one, the fully awakened Buddha. It has been incorrectly memorized by that mendicant.’ And so you should reject it.

The teaching will disappear when people stop studying the teachings of the Buddha, but rather pay attention to later disciples who write appealingly poetic texts that dispense with the deeper teachings. (SN 20.7

Once upon a time, mendicants, the Dasārahas had a clay drum called the Commander. Each time the Commander split they repaired it by inserting another peg. But there came a time when the clay drum Commander’s original wooden rim disappeared and only a mass of pegs remained.

In the same way, in a future time there will be mendicants who won’t want to listen when discourses spoken by the Realized One—deep, profound, transcendent, dealing with emptiness—are being recited. They won’t pay attention or apply their minds to understand them, nor will they think those teachings are worth learning and memorizing.

But when discourses composed by poets—poetry, with fancy words and phrases, composed by outsiders or spoken by disciples—are being recited they will want to listen. They’ll pay attention and apply their minds to understand them, and they’ll think those teachings are worth learning and memorizing. And that is how the discourses spoken by the Realized One—deep, profound, transcendent, dealing with emptiness—will disappear.

If this happens, it will imperil the Dhamma in the future. (AN 5.79

And that is how corrupt training comes from corrupt teachings, and corrupt teachings come from corrupt training.

In a community where such counterfeits prevail, people forget the training in intelligent and critical inquiry. (AN 2.47

But when they’ve learned those teachings they don’t question or examine each other, saying: ‘Why does it say this? What does that mean?’ So they don’t clarify what is unclear, or reveal what is obscure, or dispel doubt regarding the many doubtful matters. This is called an assembly educated in fancy talk, not in questioning.

When the discourses are presented falsely, people take them for the real thing. It’s not just a matter of “different opinions” but of closing off the possibility of learning the Dhamma.

Mendicants, by memorizing the discourses incorrectly, taking only a semblance of the phrasing, some mendicants shut out the meaning and the teaching. They act for the hurt and unhappiness of the people, for the harm, hurt, and suffering of many people, of gods and humans.

When someone in the Saṅgha appears to get the text wrong, there’s an obligation to check and correct them. (DN 29

Now, you might think, ‘This venerable misconstrues the meaning and mistakes the phrasing.’ You should neither approve nor dismiss them, but say, ‘Reverend, if this is the meaning, the phrasing may either be this or that: which is more fitting? And if this is the phrasing, the meaning may be either this or that: which is more fitting?’ Suppose they reply, ‘This phrasing fits the meaning better than that. And this meaning fits the phrasing better than that.’ Without flattering or rebuking them, you should carefully convince them by examining that meaning and that phrasing.

Monastics still follow this in our fortnightly recitation of the monastic code. Usually, one monastic recites from memory, while another expert carefully checks it against the text. If the reciting monk gets even a syllable wrong, they will be corrected. Of course, this depends on the assumption that people are acting in good faith, that they want to preserve the Dhamma.

In the case where there is a disagreement over the text, there is an obligation to try to resolve it by identifying the cause of the problem and the nature of the disagreement. (MN 103

As you do so, it may happen that two mendicants disagree about the teaching. Now, you might think, ‘These two venerables disagree on both the meaning and the phrasing.’ So you should approach whichever mendicant you think is most amenable and say to them: ‘The venerables disagree on the meaning and the phrasing. But the venerables should know that this is how such disagreement on the meaning and the phrasing comes to be. Please don’t get into a fight about this.’

As always, the Buddha wanted to look into the causes of things. Often a disagreement simply comes from something misremembered or taken out of context. In such a case, it should be simply corrected and move on. If those making the mistake refuse to see it or correct it, it is not easy to resolve.

The Buddha was not a fundamentalist. He recognized that, while we should strive to retain the Dhamma as precisely as possible, minor variations in the letter were of lesser importance.

The phrasing is a minor matter. Please don’t get into a fight about something so minor.

Nor was he opposed to differences of opinion when it comes to matters of interpretation. No text fully defines its meaning, and there is always room for different readings. For example, in AN 6.61 we encounter a group of monks discussing the interpretation of a verse in Metteya’s Questions. (KN Snp 5.3) The verse alludes to someone who has known both ends and is not stuck in the middle. Each of the monks gives a different interpretation of these, then go to the Buddha for clarification.

“Sir, who has spoken well?”

“Mendicants, you’ve all spoken well in a way. However, this is what I was referring to in ‘The Way to the Beyond’, in ‘The Questions of Metteyya’ when I said: ‘The sage has known both ends, and is not stuck in the middle. He is a great man, I declare, he has escaped the seamstress here.’ Listen and pay close attention, I will speak.”

“Yes, sir,” they replied. The Buddha said this:

“Contact, mendicants, is one end. The origin of contact is the second end. The cessation of contact is the middle. And craving is the seamstress, for craving weaves one to being reborn in one state of existence or another. That’s how a mendicant directly knows what should be directly known and completely understands what should be completely understood. Knowing and understanding thus they make an end of suffering in this very life.”

But that does not mean that just any interpretation is valid. Interpretations have meaning, and the context for that meaning is supplied by the Dhamma, not just by personal whims. There is not necessarily just one right answer, but there are plenty of wrong answers.

Throughout the suttas there is a great concern to not misrepresent the Buddha by falsely attributing sayings to him, or by misreading the things he did say. Students would approach him to clarify that they did not make a mistake. Even Venerable Sāriputta, with his great humility, checks with his teacher to ensure he has not got a single detail wrong.

“And I have also heard and learned this in the presence of the Buddha: ‘It’s impossible for two perfected ones, fully awakened Buddhas to arise in the same solar system at the same time.’ Answering this way, I trust that I repeated what the Buddha has said, and didn’t misrepresent him with an untruth. I trust my explanation was in line with the teaching, and that there are no legitimate grounds for rebuke or criticism.”

“Indeed, Sāriputta, in answering this way you repeat what I’ve said, and don’t misrepresent me with an untruth. Your explanation is in line with the teaching, and there are no legitimate grounds for rebuke or criticism.”

The Buddha was mild and reasonable. He would never take anything on rumor, but always ask and inquire of the person concerned about the facts. Often such things are merely hearsay. But if it did turn out that someone was presenting a serious distortion of the Dhamma, he didn’t hold back. (MN 26

“Is it really true, Ariṭṭha, that you have such a harmful misconception: ‘As I understand the Buddha’s teachings, the acts that he says are obstructions are not really obstructions for the one who performs them’?”

“Absolutely, sir. As I understand the Buddha’s teachings, the acts that he says are obstructions are not really obstructions for the one who performs them.”

“Silly man, who on earth have you ever known me to teach in that way? Haven’t I said in many ways that obstructive acts are obstructive, and that they really do obstruct the one who performs them?”

All of this reminds us of our duty of right speech, our duty of care to the Dhamma. (AN 2.23

Mendicants, these two don’t misrepresent the Realized One. What two? One who explains what was spoken by the Realized One as spoken by him. And one who explains what was not spoken by the Realized One as not spoken by him.

(analogy with Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity)

Imagine that this was to happen in any other field of study. Say someone wanted to publish a translation of Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity, but in doing so removed 90% of the content, replacing it with things that they had simply imagined that Einstein might say. Or imagine that someone was translating a medical textbook into Italian for a university course, and decided to leave out 90% of the content and just make up all the details of anatomy and physiology and treatment. None of us would want to be treated by a graduate of that university!

Surely in spiritual circles we should be at least as careful with our sacred scriptures. For us, the truth is not just incidental, it is fundamental to the path. Our Sangha and traditional communities know this well, and they have treasured these words for 2,500 years, passing them down from hand to hand with immeasurable care and effort. Without this, none of us would have access to the Dhamma at all.

There’s nothing wrong with the Dhamma, and it doesn’t need fixing. As a musician, I know that true creativity begins with the basic discipline of learning scales, fingerings, and arpeggios. Only then can one have the freedom to express oneself. Likewise, a truly creative and meaningful response to the Dhamma starts with a careful understanding of what the Dhamma is and what it isn’t. When we discard our critical faculties and our commitment to the basic factuality of what is real and what is not, we have taken the first step down the broad and well-traveled path of delusion. There’s enough of that in the world already. Don’t let it take over the Dhamma.

Translation notes B.Sujato & B.Bodhi

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There is a handy comparison of terminology here:

https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/pa ... jato/12008

dhamma

Bhikkhu Bodhi:

(1) untranslated: the Buddha’s teaching;

(2) things, phenomena;

(3) mental phenomena, (mental) states, mind-objects;

(4) qualities;

(5) principle, law;

(6) having the nature of, subject to (as suffix)

Bhikhhu Sujato:

(1) teaching

(2) thing;

(3) phenomena;

(4) thoughts; [part of (3) in the BB list]

(5) qualities; [4 in BB]

(6) principle, law; [5 in BB]

(7) liable to [as suffix] [6 in BB]

#N/A!

Bhikku Bodhi, MN Introduction

https://www.wisdompubs.org/book/middle- ... troduction

Dhamma

In his later translations Ven. Ñāṇamoli appears to have set himself two goals: to render virtually every Pali word into English (arahant and bodhisatta are rare exceptions); and to do so in obedience to a very rigorous standard of consistency. In effect the principle that guided his work was: one Pali word, one corresponding English word. This principle he also applied to his treatment of the multiplex word dhamma, of which he wrote elsewhere that “the need for unity in the rendering is so great as to be almost desperate” (Minor Readings and Illustrator, p. 331). He chose as his root rendering the word “idea,” which he attempted to deploy for the Pali word in all its diverse occurrences. Even when dhamma is used in the suttas to signify the Buddha’s teaching, he still remained faithful to his choice by translating it “the True Idea.”

Needless to say, this experiment was not successful. Recognising this, Ven. Khantipālo, in his edition of the ninety suttas, opted instead to retain the Pali word in most of its occurrences. This decision, however, seems to have been unnecessary when the relinquishment of the demand for strict consistency allows for smooth and reliable translation without loss of meaning. While the many different uses of the Pali word dhamma may originally have had some underlying connection of meaning, by the time of the Pali Canon such connection had already receded so far into the background as to be virtually irrelevant to the understanding of the texts. The commentaries ascribe at least ten different contextual meanings to the word as it occurs in the Canon and they do not try to read any philosophical significance into this variability of application. The goal of lucid translation therefore seems to require that the word be rendered differently according to its context, which generally makes the intended meaning clear.

In revising Ven. Ñāṇamoli’s translation I have retained the Pali word Dhamma only when it refers to the Buddha’s teaching, or in several cases to a rival teaching with which the Buddha’s is contrasted (as at MN 11.13 https://suttacentral.net/mn11 and MN 104.2 https://suttacentral.net/mn104). In its other uses the context has been allowed to decide the rendering. Thus when dhamma occurs in the plural as a general ontological reference term it has been rendered “things” (as at MN 1.2 https://suttacentral.net/mn1 and MN 2.5 https://suttacentral.net/mn2). When it acquires a more technical nuance, in the sense either of the phenomena of existence or of mental constituents, it has been rendered “states” (as at MN 64.9 https://suttacentral.net/mn64 and MN 111.4 https://suttacentral.net/mn111). This term, however, must be divested of its overtone of staticity, dhammas being events within a dynamic process, and it must also not be taken to refer to some persisting entity that undergoes the states, entities themselves being nothing but connected series of dhammas. The last two meanings of dhamma are not always separable in the texts and sometimes naturalness of English diction had to be used as the factor for deciding which should be selected.

As the fourth foundation of mindfulness and as the sixth external sense base (āyatana), dhamma has been rendered “mind-objects” (even here “ideas” is too narrow). In still other contexts it has been rendered as qualities (MN 15.3 https://suttacentral.net/mn15, MN 48.6 https://suttacentral.net/mn48) and teachings (MN 46.2 https://suttacentral.net/mn46, MN 47.3 https://suttacentral.net/mn47). When used as a suffix it acquires the idiomatic sense of “to be subject to” and so it has been translated, e.g., vipariṇāmadhamma as “subject to change.”

#N/A!

Bhikkhu Bodhi, SN Introduction:

https://www.wisdompubs.org/book/connect ... troduction

Dhamma

Rather than embark on the quest for a single English rendering that can capture all the meanings of this polyvalent Pāli word, I have settled for the more pragmatic approach of using different renderings intended to match its different applications. When the word denotes the Buddha’s teaching, I have retained the Pāli “Dhamma,” for even “teaching” fails to convey the idea that what the Buddha teaches as the Dhamma is not a system of thought original to himself but the fundamental principles of truth, virtue, and liberation discovered and taught by all Buddhas throughout beginningless time. This is the Dhamma venerated by the Buddhas of the past, present, and future, which they look upon as their own standard and guide (see 6:2 https://suttacentral.net/sn6.2). From an internal “emic” point of view, the Dhamma is thus more than a particular religious teaching that has appeared at a particular epoch of human history. It is the timeless law in which reality, truth, and righteousness are merged in a seamless unity, and also the conceptual expression of this law in a body of spiritual and ethical teachings leading to the highest goal, Nibbāna, which is likewise comprised by the Dhamma. The word “Dhamma,” however, can also signify teachings that deviate from the truth, including the erroneous doctrines of the “outside” teachers. Thus the Jain teacher Nigaṇṭha Nātaputta is said to “teach the Dhamma to his disciples” (IV 317,25 https://suttacentral.net/sn42.8)—certainly not the Buddha’s teaching.

In one passage I render Dhamma as “righteousness” (at the Se counterpart of IV 303,21 https://suttacentral.net/sn41.10). This is in the epithet dhammarājā used for a universal monarch, where “king of righteousness” fits better than “king of the Dhamma,” the significance the epithet has relative to the Buddha. The corresponding adjective, dhammika, is “righteous.”

When dhamma occurs as a general term of reference, often in the plural, I usually render it “things.” As such, the word does not bear the narrow sense of concrete material objects but includes literally every-thing, such as qualities, practices, acts, and relationships. Thus the four factors of stream-entry are, as dhammas, things; so too are the twelve factors of dependent origination, the five aggregates, the six pairs of sense bases, and the diverse practices leading to enlightenment. Used in the plural, dhammā can also mean teachings, and so I render it at III 225,9 foll. https://suttacentral.net/sn25.1, though the exact sense there is ambiguous and the word might also mean the things that are taught rather than the teachings about them. One expression occurring in two suttas (II 58,3–4 https://suttacentral.net/sn12.33; IV 328,21–22 https://suttacentral.net/sn42.11), iminā dhammena, can be most satisfactorily rendered “by this principle,” though here dhamma points to the Dhamma as the essential teaching. Again, at I 167,9 https://suttacentral.net/sn3.5 (= I 168,25, 173,10), we have dhamme sati, “when this principle exists,” a rule of conduct followed by the Buddha.

When plural dhammā acquires a more technical nuance, in contexts with ontological overtones, I render it “phenomena.” For instance, paṭicca-samuppannā dhammā are “dependently arisen phenomena” (II 26,7 https://suttacentral.net/sn12.20), and each of the five aggregates is loke lokadhamma, “a world-phenomenon in the world” that the Buddha has penetrated and taught (III 139,22 foll. https://suttacentral.net/sn22.94). When the word takes on a more psychological hue, I render it “states.” The most common example of this is in the familiar pair kusalā dhammā, wholesome states, and akusalā dhammā, unwholesome states (found, for example, in the formula for right effort; V 9,17–27 https://suttacentral.net/sn45.8). The enlightenment factor dhammavicaya-sambojjhaṅga is said to be nurtured by giving careful attention to pairs of contrasting mental states (among them wholesome and unwholesome states; V 66,18 https://suttacentral.net/sn46.2), and thus I render it “the enlightenment factor of discrimination of states.” But since the dhammas investigated can also be the four objective supports of mindfulness (V 331–32 https://suttacentral.net/sn54.13), dhammavicaya might have been translated “discrimination of phenomena.” Sometimes dhammā signifies traits of character more persistent than transient mental states; in this context I render it “qualities,” e.g., Mahākassapa complains that the bhikkhus “have qualities which make them difficult to admonish” (II 204,3–4 https://suttacentral.net/sn16.6).

As a sense base and element, the dhammāyatana and dhammadhātu are the counterparts of the manāyatana, the mind base, and the manoviññāṇadhātu, the mind-consciousness element. The appropriate sense here would seem to be that of ideas and mental images, but the commentaries understand dhammas in these contexts to include not only the objects of consciousness but its concomitants as well. Thus I translate it “mental phenomena,” which is wide enough to encompass both these aspects of experience. As the fourth satipaṭṭhāna, objective base of mindfulness, dhammā is often translated “mind-objects.” So I rendered it in MLDB, but in retrospect this seems to me unsatisfactory. Of course, any existent can become an object of mind, and thus all dhammas in the fourth satipaṭṭhāna are necessarily mind-objects; but the latter term puts the focus in the wrong place. I now understand dhammas to be phenomena in general, but phenomena arranged in accordance with the categories of the Dhamma, the teaching, in such a way as to lead to a realization of the essential Dhamma embodied in the Four Noble Truths.

Finally, -dhamma as a suffix has the meaning “is subject to” or “has the nature of.” Thus all dependently arisen phenomena are “subject to destruction, vanishing, fading away, and cessation” (khayadhamma, vayadhamma, virāgadhamma, nirodhadhamma; II 26,9 foll. https://suttacentral.net/sn12.20). The five aggregates are “of impermanent nature, of painful nature, of selfless nature” (aniccadhamma, dukkhadhamma, anattadhamma; III 195–96 https://suttacentral.net/sn23.11).

#N/A!

https://discourse.suttacentral.net/t/dhamma-in-4sps-dhamma-anupassana-and-dhamma-vicaya-sambojjhanga-is-principle-teaching-not-phenomena/9209/1

frankk

Ven. Bodhi translates dhamma as “phenomena”.

B.Sujato has “principles”:

They meditate observing an aspect of principles—keen, aware, and mindful, rid of desire and aversion for the world.

from standard sammā sati formula:

(derived from ven. thanissaro’s)

dhammā-(a)nupassī

dhammesu dhammā-(a)nupassī viharati

Mental-qualities-as mental-qualities he abides-in,

ātāpī sampajāno satimā,

(refrain:) ardent, aware, mindful,

vineyya loke abhijjhā-domanassaṃ;

Putting-away worldly greed-(and)-distress.

evaṃ kho, bhikkhave, bhikkhu sato hoti.

Thus indeed, monks, (a) monk {is} mindful ****.

Ven. thanissaro uses “mental qualities” for dhamma. I think Thanissaro and Bodhi’s translation has been unduly influenced by late Theravada. The more comprehensively I’ve scanned the EBT’s, the more I’m convinced the primary meaning of “dhamma anupassana”, is closer to B. Sujato’s “principles”, by which I assume he means Principles according the truth of reality discovered by the Buddha.

But I’d go even farther and say, “dhamma”, in the context of 4sp (satipatthana, i.e. right remembering/sati), is not just any principle, but specifically, the dhamma principles that directly lead to viraga, nirodha, patinissago, nirvana. What that exact dhamma is in any given moment, will vary according to the skill level and stage of the practitioner.

dhamma as “phenomena” is too general and misses the point.

sati means “remembering”, or recalling to mind frequently what one has memorized by heart. establishing the 4th of the 4 rememberings (dhamma anupassana), means that we are frequently to remember, to bear in mind in this very moment, the particular dhamma/teaching/principle that will right now be the most pertinent to leading to viraga and nirvana.

In the last 4 steps of 16 APS (anapanasati), are explicitly stated to correspond with 4sp’s dhamma-anupassana.

13. anicca

14. viraga

15. nirodha

16. patinissaga

And several passages in the EBT, we see those exact 4 words, in that exact sequence, as the final steps leading to the moment of realizing nirvana/arahantship. (SN 54.8, AN 7.61).

There are also some sutta passages where the Buddha defines “dhamma” as those teachings that lead to dispassion/viraga.

Conclusion: Even though “dhamma” has such broad meaning like the english word “thing”, I’m almost 100% convinced now that dhamma in dhamma-anupassana is not phenomena or mental qualities. dhamma contemplation in 4sp means employing a specific teaching that is most relevant and necessary in the moment to bring one to realization of nirvana.

I don’t know the most concise way to express that, but I think “principle” or “teaching” is still too general.

maybe “contemplation of dispassion-principles”.

Discuss & Discover

Dhamma in 4sp’s dhamma-anupassana, and dhamma-vicaya-sambojjhanga, is principle/teaching, not “phenomena”

Discussion

Dhamma in 4sp’s dhamma-anupassana, and dhamma-vicaya-sambojjhanga, is principle/teaching, not “phenomena”

Discussion

Senryu

dhamma as “phenomena” is too general and misses the point.

How about ‘mental phenomena’, as the sense object of mano.

I don’t know the most concise way to express that, but I think “principle” or “teaching” is still too general.

Maybe ‘Teachings’ (with a capital T), or ‘dhamma teachings’ could fit? If you mean it is the cognitive function of the mind, deliberately ‘bringing to mind’ (sati) a specific teaching, to contemplate, let it work through your mind, suffice it and wriggle out any parts of the ‘world-view’ that sit in contradiction to the teaching - such as for example contemplating impermanence, but then contemplating the implication that reality has on many of the views one has which one takes for granted, but are based on the false implicit assumption of permanence.

Anālayo has this to say about it:

Most translators take the term dhammas in the Satipatthāna Sutta to mean “mental objects”, in the sense of whatever can become an object of the mind, in contradistinction to the objects of the other five senses. In regard to satipatthāna, however, this rendering appears strange. If the term dhammas were to refer to “objects of the mind”, then the other three satipatthānas should also be included here, since they too can become objects of the mind. Moreover, one of the exercises listed under the fourth satipatthāna is contemplation of the six senses together with their respective objects, so this contemplation of dhammas is not confined to the objects of the mind as the sixth sense only. In fact, the dhammas listed in the fourth satipatthāna, such as the hindrances and the aggregates, etc., do not naturally evoke the classification “mental objects”.1

[Note 1: Thaņissaro 1996: p.73. Patis II 234 simply suggests that whatever is not included in the previous three satipatthānas is to be understood as dhammas in this context. Sīiananda 1990: p.95, rejects a translation as “mental objects” and suggests leaving dhammas untranslated, a suggestion which I have followed. Alternative translations could be: “facts in general” (in Kalupahana 1992: p.74); “phenomena” (in Bodhi 2000: p.44, and in Jayasuriya 1988: p.161); “patterns of events” (in Harvey 1997: p.354); “conditions” (in Vajiranāņa 1975: p.59); or “principles” (in Watanabe 1983: p.16).]

What this satipatthāna is actually concerned with are specific mental qualities (such as the five hindrances and the seven awakening factors), and analyses of experience into specific categories (such as the five aggregates, the six sense-spheres, and the four noble truths). These mental factors and categories constitute central aspects of the Buddha’s way of teaching, the Dhamma.2 These classificatory schemes are not in themselves the objects of meditation, but constitute frameworks or points of reference to be applied during contemplation. During actual practice one is to look at whatever is experienced in terms of these dhammas.3Thus the dhammas mentioned in this satipatthāna are not “mental objects”, but are applied to whatever becomes an object of the mind or of any other sense door during contemplation.

The expression “contemplation of dhammas” occurs also in the Ānāpānasati Sutta in relation to the last four of the sixteen steps for developing mindfulness of breathing, which are concerned with contemplating “impermanence”, “fading away”, “cessation”, and “letting go”.4At first sight, the four steps described here appear to be quite different from the mental factors and categories listed under contemplation of dhammas in the Satipatthāna Sutta. The Buddha’s reason for classifying these final four steps of mindfulness of breathing as contemplation of dhammas was that at this more advanced point of practice a meditator will have overcome desires and discontent, thereby becoming established in equanimity.5The commentaries indicate that this is a reference to the removal of the hindrances.

[Note 2:

Nāņamoli 1995: p.1193 1.157 explains: “in this context dhamma can be understood as comprising all phenomena classified by way of the categories of the Dhamma, the Buddha’s teaching”. Gyori 1996: p.24, in regard to contemplation of dhammas suggests that “the exercises… in this section are specifically intended to invest the mind with a soteriological orientation”.

3 In this context it is noticeable that the instruction for contemplation of dhammas employs the locative case twice, once for dhammas and again for the five hindrances, the five aggregates, etc. Thus one is to “contemplate dhammas in regard to dhammas in regard to the five hindrances, (etc.)”, that is, one contemplates phenomena “in terms of" the categories listed as dhammas. This way of introducing each contemplation differs from the earlier three satipatthānas. Cf. also S V 184, according to which the dhammas contemplated in this satipatthāna are conditionally related to attention, while body is related to nutriment, feelings to contact, and mind to name-and-form. This suggests that contemplation of dhammas requires the deliberate act of directing attention to its objects, in terms of the dhammas listed, to a stronger degree than the other satipatthānas. Carrithers 1983: p.229, explains that “the propositions of doctrine are transmuted into immediate perception, here and now”. Similarly Gombrich 1996: p.36, speaks of learning " to see the world through Buddhist spectacles”; while Gyatso 1992: p.8, suggests: “previously learned categories and skills inform present experience without being recollected as such”. Cf. also Collins 1994: p.78.

4 M III83.

5 M III84.]

7 6 Ps IV 142.

And so on. Interesting stuff.

SCMatt

I think this is an opinion that is pretty common with non-vipassanavādin scholars.

Personally, I’ve thought in my own reflections that there could still be some ambiguity or word-play in the terminology though. Something like seeing the Principles/Teachings in the investigation of phenomena.

frankk

Maybe ‘Teachings’ (with a capital T), or ‘dhamma teachings’ could fit? I

that’s a good idea. Or maybe just Dhamma with a capital D. Do you remember off hand what Ven. Analayo translated in 4sp for dhamma? I have the books and can look it up if you don’t.

Another idea less subtle than Dhamma:

[Buddha’s]-Dhamma (as) [Buddha’s]-Dhamma (he) continuously-sees; (like that he) dwells. Ardent, alert, remembering{what-the-heck-he-should-be-doing-in-this-very-moment-instead-of-living-in-a-fantasy-world}…

dhammesu dhamma anu-passi viharati

aataapii sampajaano satima…

frankk

I think this is an opinion that is pretty common with non-vipassanavādin scholars.

Is it? Why not B.Bodhi and Ven. Thanissaro then?

My guess is that they (Ven. B. and T.) translate Dhamma in the sense “qualities” to be logically consistent with the first 3 of the 4sp, the specific details of how it operates. Teachings as “dhamma” in the 4th is somewhat incoherent if you apply it exactly in the way the first 3 4sp work.

But what I’ve found in the EBT is that in the service of making short, repetitive, easy to memorize formulas, sometimes complete logical coherence is violated. Another example, the standard 7sb (awakening factor) formula:

sati-sambojjhanga bhaveti: viveka nissitam viraga nissitam nirodha nissitam vossaggaparinamim.

(the remaining 6 of 7sb use the same exact refrain).

nissitam is usually translated as “dependent on”. but if you think about it, which direction is the dependency? It’s not clear.

So I’ve come to realize sometimes a repetitive formula is going to have some parts that aren’t perfectly logical and consistent, but in the service of the oral tradition in making an easy to memorize formula, the Buddha composed it in that way.

So in the repetitive 4sp formula, I see the 4th sp as breaking the logical consistency of the first 3.

frankk

SN 46 is the bodhi-anga awakening factor samyutta, so you can bet the first few suttas in there are probably going to be very important.

in the 3rd sutta, here’s the explanation of sati and dhammavicaya. Based on this sutta, Dhamma is not “phenomena” or “qualities”, but is Dhamma-which-leads-to-viraga-and-nibbana. Notice sati “remembers” that teaching, that Dhamma.

sati-sam-bojjhanga is equivalent to 4sp, and

dhamma in dhamma-vicaya-sambojjhanga is the same Dhamma-teaching in 4sp’s dhamma-anupassana

edit:

To be more precise, what I assert is “Dhamma” in Dhamma-vicaya and Dhamma-anupassana PRIMARILY means Dhamma-liberative-teaching. Maybe the Buddha intended it to have a secondary meaning of “phenomena/mental qualities”, I’m open to that possibility and would like to see people present some EBT excerpts that support it.

(1. Sati)

(the beginning of the sutta a monk is inspired listening to a dhamma talk by a senior)

So tathā vūpakaṭṭho viharanto

He, thus withdrawn, dwelling,

taṃ dhammaṃ anus-sarati anu-vitakketi.

that Dhamma (he) recollects (and) thinks-over,

Yasmiṃ samaye, bhikkhave, bhikkhu

on-the occasion, monks, a-monk

tathā vūpakaṭṭho viharanto

thus withdrawn, dwelling,

taṃ dhammaṃ anus-sarati anu-vitakketi,

that Dhamma (he) recollects (and) thinks-over,

sati-sam-bojjh-aṅgo tasmiṃ samaye

mindfulness-awakening-factor on-that occasion

bhikkhuno āraddho hoti;

(the) monk has-aroused;

sati-sam-bojjh-aṅgaṃ tasmiṃ samaye

mindfulness-awakening-factor on-that occasion

bhikkhu bhāveti;

(the) monk develops;

sati-sam-bojjh-aṅgo tasmiṃ samaye

mindfulness-awakening-factor on-that occasion

bhikkhuno bhāvanā-pāripūriṃ gacchati.

(the) monk has-developed-(and)-fulfilled *******.

(2. Dhamma-vicaya)

So tathā sato viharanto

He, thus mindfully dwelling,

taṃ dhammaṃ paññāya

that Dhamma (with) discernment,

pa-vicinati pa-vicarati

(he) discriminates, (he) evaluates,

pari-vīmaṃsam-āpajjati.

circumspect-investigation-(he)-enters-upon.

Yasmiṃ samaye, bhikkhave, bhikkhu

on-the occasion, monks, a-monk

tathā sato viharanto

thus mindfully dwelling,

taṃ dhammaṃ paññāya

that Dhamma (with) discernment,

pa-vicinati pa-vicarati

(he) discriminates, (he) evaluates,

pari-vīmaṃsam-āpajjati.

circumspect-investigation-(he)-enters-upon.

Dhamma-vicaya-sam-bojjh-aṅgo tasmiṃ samaye

Dhamma-investigation-awakening-factor on-that occasion

bhikkhuno āraddho hoti;

(the) monk has-aroused;

Dhamma-vicaya-sam-bojjh-aṅgaṃ tasmiṃ samaye

Dhamma-investigation-awakening-factor on-that occasion

bhikkhu bhāveti;

(the) monk develops;

Dhamma-vicaya-sam-bojjh-aṅgo tasmiṃ samaye

Dhamma-investigation-awakening-factor on-that occasion

bhikkhuno bhāvanā-pāripūriṃ gacchati.

(the) monk has-developed-(and)-fulfilled *******.

Senryu

that’s a good idea. Or maybe just Dhamma with a capital D. Do you remember off hand what Ven. Analayo translated in 4sp for dhamma? I have the books and can look it up if you don’t.

I just looked it up. For the 4 SP he gives:

Body

Feelings

Mind

Dhammas

He then splits dhammas into subcategories (you can see all this from the contents page):

Dhammas: THE HINDRANCES

Dhammas: THE AGGREGATES

Dhammas: THE SENSE-SPHERES

Dhammas: THE AWAKENING FACTORS

Dhammas: THE FOUR NOBLE TRUTHS

Leaving it untranslated can be good sometimes, but it is also passing the buck onto the reader. We could just leave it all translated! Sometimes what I like to do for a translation is give both, for example if I were to chose ‘Teachings’ I could put ‘Teachings (dhammā)’ or something like that. And I like the above also, giving the Pāli and then the English for subcategories.

Jhāna is a term I much prefer to be left untranslated. Some words are far better to learn in the original, otherwise you get thrown of by translations like ‘meditation’, not knowing which technical term is actually being referred to in the original. But dhamma, I think is often unfair to do that with, since the reader is usually not in a position to understand what it means, due to the many varied meanings of the word dhamma. So I think the translator has a responsibility to find exactly what it does mean in this context, and then convey that to the reader. And if they include the Pāli in brackets or footnotes, all the better!

Alternatively leave dhamma in Pāli and put the explanation in brackets or a footnote (hopefully not an endnote, those are so annoying!)

[Buddha’s]-Dhamma

Still has issues I think. It is Buddha’s phenomena? Or a particular phenomena he discovered (such as the deathless element), so we say it’s his? Or do you mean his teachings? So we are left with confusion.

If it is his teachings, then maybe better to simply translate it!

frankk

exactly. and I totally agree the problem with leaving “Dhamma” untranslated, as Ven. Analayo did. But probably somewhere he defines Dhamma with capital “D” means Teaching.

I think most people would figure out Buddha’s Dhamma (Buddha means enlightened or awakened) is a “teachings that lead to liberation”, but I appreciate your well thought out analysis. There is no perfect translation because we’re all biased and imperfect receivers.

“principles” makes me think Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple treat contemplating gravity is doing Dhamma anupassana.

I want to convey it’s not just principles, not just any true teachings, not even the whole handful of leaves, it’s just one leaf that’s the most important leaf at the moment directly impacting you and your urgent need to realize viraga…nirvana.

Yasoj

Jhāna is a term I much prefer to be left untranslated.

I thought about this recently. What I noticed is that the more I advanced in the knowledge of the texts, the more my list of words I would prefer to be untranslated increase, and I suppose that an expert in Pali would prefer to have most of the text left untraslated because he is well aware of all the shortcomings associated with any choosen translations… So now I’m quite ok with translations that translate every words, even the usual culprits (dhamma, Thathagata etc).

Senryu

exactly. and I totally agree the problem with leaving “Dhamma” untranslated, as Ven. Analayo did. But probably somewhere he defines Dhamma with capital “D” means Teaching.

He has a whole chapter on it. So in that context I think it’s fine to leave it untranslated. I think when it comes to just the root text translation, that’s when we need either a translation or a concise explanation in brackets or footnotes.

It also depends on 1) what you’re looking for and why you are looking at the text (which in this case would be the translated text), - such as, are you doing research into ‘dhamma’ meaning ‘phenomena’, or ‘mental phenomena’, or a particular state, for example? If so, leaving it untranslated won’t help this person.

And 2) yes, our biases, such as how we usually read the term ‘dhamma’. The translator here has an opportunity to help with both cases.

“principles” makes me think Sir Isaac Newton sitting under an apple treat contemplating gravity is doing Dhamma anupassana.

Yes I don’t like that. In a different context, Ajahn Sujato uses that for dhammaṭṭhitatā and ‘dhammaniyāmatā’, though qualified as ‘natural principles’: ‘the regularity of natural principles’ and ‘the invariance of natural principles’.

I think that’s better than Bodhi’s ‘the stableness of the Dhamma’ and ‘the fixed course of the Dhamma’ which I find thoroughly confusing and potentially very misleading.

But I am leaning more to something like ‘the state of things’ and ‘the fixed nature of things’. Or perhaps ‘phenomena’ rather than ‘things’. And maybe ‘natural order’ rather than ‘state’. Such as one of these:

‘the state of the phenomenal’

‘the natural order of the phenomenal’

‘the state of phenomena’

‘the natural order of phenomena’

How about ‘appropriate teaching’, or ‘appropriate skilful teaching’ or something like that? And could make that [appropriate skilful] teaching. Maybe not those exact words if you don’t feel they fit, but there might be a couple you think would.

What I noticed is that the more I advanced in the knowledge of the texts, the more my list of words I would prefer to be untranslated increase

Ha ha ha, yeah I noticed that happening too :joy:

But now that we have this website, I just go to Ajahn Sujato’s parallel translation with the Pāli to locate the sentence I want to know what really says, even if I am working from a different English translation. Very handy!

Senryu

Bodhi’s

Sorry guys I made a mistake in quoting the second of Bodhi’s translations. It’s edited now but in case you read it before I corrected it…

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Dictionary defn.

.	.

dhamma

2 3 n c

dhamma: doctrine;

nature;

truth;

the Norm;

morality;

good conduct. (m.)

Dhamma1 (m. & rarely nt.) [Ved. dharma & dharman, the latter a formation like karman (see kamma for expl;n of subj. & obj. meanings);

dhṛ; (see dhāreti) to hold support: that which forms a foundation and upholds constitution. Cp. Gr. qro/nos, Lat. firmus & fretus Lith. derme (treaty), cp. also Sk. dhariman form, constitution perhaps=Lat. forma, E. form] constitution etc.

A. Definitions by Commentators:

Bdhgh gives a fourfold meaning of the word dhamma (at DA i.99 DhA i.22), viz.

(1) guṇe (saddo), applied to good conduct

(2) desanāyaŋ, to preaching & moral instruction

(3) pariyattiyaŋ, to the 9 fold collection of the Buddh Scriptures (see navanga);

(4) nissatte ( -- nijjīvate), to cosmic (non -- animistic) law.

-- No. 1 is referred to freq in expls of the term, e. g. dhammiko ti ñāyena samena pavattatī ti DA i.249;

dhamman ti kāraṇaŋ ñāyaŋ PvA 211;

as paṭipatti -- dhamma at VvA 84;

No. 3 e. g also at PvA 2.

Another and more adequate fourfold definition by Bdhgh is given in DhsA 38, viz.

(1) pariyatti or doctrine as formulated,

(2) hetu, or condition causal antecedent,

(3) guṇa, or moral quality or action

(4) nissatta -- nijīvatā, or "the phenomenal" as opposed to "the substantial," "the noumenal," "animistic entity."

Here (2) is illustrated by hetumhi ñāṇaṃ dhammapaṭisambhidā:

"analytic knowledge in dhamma's means insight into condition, causal antecedent Vibh 293, and see Niyama (dhamma˚). Since, in the former fourfold definition (2) and (3) really constitute but one main implication considered under the two aspects of Doctrine as taught and Doctrine as formulated we may interpret Dhamma by the fourfold connotation: -- doctrine, right, or righteousness, condition phenomenon. -- For other exegetic definitions see the Coms & the Niddesa, e. g. Nd;1 94;

for modern expls & analyses see e. g. Rhys Davids, ;Buddh. India pp. 292 -- 4;

Mrs. Rh. Davids, Buddhism (1912) pp. 32 sq. 107 sq., 235 sq.;

Dhs. trsl. xxxiii. sq.;

and most recently the exhaustive monograph by M. & W. Geiger, ;Pāli Dhamma. Abhandlungen der Bayer. Akademie xxxi. 1;

München 1920;

which reached the editors too late to be made use of for the Dictionary.

B. Applications and Meaning.

1. Psychologically; "mentality" as the constitutive element of cognition & of its substratum, the world of phenomena. It is that which is presented as "object" to the imagination & as such has an effect of its own:

-- a presentation ;(Vorstellung), or idea, idea, or purely mental phenomenon as distinguished from a psycho -- physical phenomenon or sensation (re -- action of sense -- organ to sensestimulus). The mind deals with ideas as the eye deals with forms: it is the abstraction formed by mano, or mind proper, from the objects of sense presented by the sense -- organ when reacting to external objects Thus cakkhu "faculty of sight" corresponds to rūpa "relation of form" & mano "faculty of thought (citta & ceto its organ or instrument or localisation corresponds to dhamma "mentalized" object or "idea" (Mrs. Rh. D. "mental object in general," also "state of mind")

-- (a) subjective: mental attitude thought, idea, philosophy, truth, & its recognition (anubodhi) by the Buddha, i. e. the Dhamma or worldwisdom=philosophy of the Buddha as contained expounded in the Dialogues of the 5 Nikāyas (see below C.) -- ;Note. The idea of dhamma as the interpreted Order of the World is carried further in the poetical quasi -- personification of the Dh. with the phrase "dhammaja dh -- nimmita dh -- dāyāda" (born of the Norm, created by the Norm, heir of the Norm;

see under cpds. and Dhammatā;

also s. v. Niyama).

That which the Buddha preached, the Dhamma kat) e)coxh/n was the order of law of the universe, immanent, eternal uncreated, not as interpreted by him only, much less invented or decreed by him, but intelligible to a mind of his range, and by him made so to mankind as bodhi revelation, awakening. The Buddha (like every great philosopher & other Buddhas preceding Gotama: ye pi te ahesuŋ atītaŋ addhānaŋ Arahanto Sammāsambuddhā te pi dhammaŋ yeva sakkatvā S ;i.140) is a discoverer of this order of the Dhamma, this universal logic, philosophy or righteousness ("Norm"), in which the rational & the ethical elements are fused into one. Thus by recognition of the truth the knower becomes the incorporation of the knowable (or the sense of the universe=Dhamma) & therefore a perfect man one who is "truly enlightened" (sammā -- sambuddha) so Bhagavā jānaŋ jānāti passaŋ passati cakkhu -- bhūto ñāṇa -- bhūto dhamma˚ brahma˚ & in this possession of the truth he is not ;like Brahmā, but Brahmā himself & the lord of the world as the "master of the Truth" vattā pavattā atthassa ninnetā Amatassa dātā dhammassāmī S iv.94; & similarly "yo kho Dhammaŋ passati so mam passati;

yo mam passati so Dhammaŋ passati =he who sees the Buddha sees the Truth S iii.120. Cp with this also the dhamma -- cakka idea (see cpds.). On equation Dhamma=Brahman see esp. Geiger, Dhamma pp. 76 -- 80, where is also discussed the formula Bhagavato putto etc. (with dhammaja for the brahmanic brahmaja). -- In later (Abhidhamma) literature the (dogmatic) personification of Dhamma occurs. See e. g Tikp A 366.

As 6th sense -- object "dhamma" is the counterpart of "mano": manasā dhammaŋ viññāya "apperceiving presentations with the mind" S iv.185 etc. (see formula under rūpa);

mano -- viññeyyā dhammā S iv.73 cp. S iii.46;

iv.3 sq.;

v.74;

D iii.226, 245, 269. Ranged in the same category under the anupassanā -- formula (q. v.) "dhammesu dhamm -- ânupassin" realising the mentality of mental objects or ideas, e. g. D ii.95, 100 299;

A i.39, 296;

ii.256;

iii.450;

iv.301. Also as one of the 6 taṇhās "desire for ideas" D iii.244, 280. -- As spirituality opposed to materiality in contrast of dh. āmisa: It 98 (˚dāna: a mat. & a spir. gift). -- (b) ;objective: substratum (of cognition), piece, constituent (=khandha), constitution;

phenomenon, thing "world," cosmic order (as the expression of cosmic sense, as under a & 2). Thus applied to the khandhas vedanādayo tayo kh. DhA ;i.35 (see Khandha B 3);

to rūpa vedanā saññā sankhārā viññāna S iii.39;=sankhārā D iii.58, 77, 141. Freq. in formula sabbe dhammā aniccā (+dukkhā anattā: see nicca) "the whole of the visible world, all phenomena are evanescent etc." S iii.132 sq. & passim. ;diṭṭhe [va] dhamme in the phenomenal world (opp. samparāyika dh. the world beyond): see under diṭṭha (S iv.175, 205 etc.). -- ye dhammā hetuppabhavā tesaŋ hetuŋ Tathāgato āha "of all phenomena sprung from a cause the Buddha the cause hath told" Vin i.40 (cp. Isā Upanishad 14). <-> lokadhammā things of this world (viz. gain, fame happiness etc., see under lābha) D iii.260;

Nd2 55. <-> uttari -- manussa -- dh˚ā transcendental, supernormal phenomena D i.211, cp. D iii.4;

abbhuta -- dh˚ā wonderful signs, portents Miln 8 (tayo acchariyā a. dh. pāturahesuŋ);

PvA 2: hassa -- khiḍḍhā -- rati -- dh. -- samāpanna endowed with the qualities or things of mirth, play enjoyment D ;i.19;

iii.31;

gāma˚ things or doings of the village D i.4 (cp. DA i.72).

2. Ratio -- ethically -- (a) objective: "rationality," anything that is as it should be according to its reason & logicality (as expressed under No. 1 a), i. e. right property, sound condition, norm, propriety, constitution as conforming to No. 1 in universal application i. e ;Natural or Cosmic Law: yattha nāmañ ca rūpaŋ ca asesam uparujjhati, taŋ te dhammaŋ idhâññāya acchiduŋ bhavabandhanaŋ (recognising this law) S i.35 cittacetasikā dh˚ ā a term for the four mental khandhas, and gradually superseding them Dhs 1022 (cf. Compendium of Philosophy, 1);

dasadhamma -- vidū Vin i.38 (see dasa);

with attha, nirutti and paṭibhāna one of the 4 Paṭisambhidās (branches of analytic knowledge A ii.160;

Pṭs i.84, 88 etc.;

Vibh. 293 f., Points of Controversy, p. 380. In this sense freq. -- ˚ as adj.: being constituted, having the inherent quality (as based on Natural Law or the rational constitution of the Universe), destined to be . . ., of the (natural) property of . . ., like (cp. Gr. -- eidh/s or E. -- able, as in change -- able=liable to change, also E. -- hood, -- ly & P -- gata, -- ṭhita), e. g. ;khaya -- dhamma liable to decay (+vaya˚, virāga˚, nirodha˚), with ref. to the Sankhāras S iv.216 sq.;

in the Paṭiccasamuppāda S ii.60;

akkhaya imperishable Pv iv.152 (dānaŋ a -- dh. atthu). cavana˚ destined to shift to another state of existence D i.18 iii.31;

It 76;

VvA 54. jāti -- jarā -- maraṇa˚ under the law of birth, age, & death D ;iii.57;

A i.147;

iii.54;

PvA 41 (sabbe sattā . . .);

bhedana˚;

fragile (of kāya) D i.76 S i.71;

PvA 41 (bhijjana˚ of sankhārā). vipariṇāma changeable A i.258;

iv.157;

PvA 60 (+anicca). a˚ unchanging D iii.31 sq. samudaya˚ & nirodha˚;, in formula yaŋ kiñci s -- dh˚ŋ sabban tan n -- dh˚ŋ "anything that is destined to come into existence must also cease to exist" D i.110, 180;

S iv.47 & passim. Cp. further anāvatti˚ avinipāta˚ D ;i.156;

iii.107, 132;

A i.232 ii.89, 238;

iv.12;

anuppāda˚ D iii.270. -- (b) subjective: "morality," right behaviour, righteousness practice, duty;

maxim (cp. ṭhāna), constitution of character as conforming to No. 1 in social application i. e. Moral Law. -- Often in pl.: tenets, convictions moral habits; & as ;adj. that which is proper, that which forms the right idea;

good, righteous, true;

opp. adhamma false, unjust etc.;

evil practice -- (a) Righteousness etc.: S i.86 (eko dh. one principle of conduct ii.280 (dh. isinaŋ dhajo: righteousness is the banner of the Wise);

kusala dh. D i.224;

dhamme ṭhita righteous Vv 168;

ñāti˚ duty against relatives PvA 30;

deyya˚ dāna PvA 9, 70;

sad˚ faith (q. v.) -- opp. adhamma unrighteousness, sin A ii.19;

v.73 sq.;

D iii.70 (˚rāga visama -- lobha & micchā -- dhamma);

Pv iii.96 (˚ŋ anuvattisaŋ I practised wrong conduct). -- In the same sense: dh. asuddho Vin i.5=S i.137 (pāturahosi Magadhesu pubbe dh. a.);

pāpa˚ (adj.) of evil conduct Vin i.3;

aṭṭhita˚ unrighteous D iii.133;

lobha˚ greedy quality D i.224, 230;

methuna dh. fornication D iii.133 -- (b) (pl.) Tenets, practices etc. -- (aa) good: kusalā dh. D ii.223, 228;

iii.49, 56, 82, 102 etc.;

S ii.206 sappurisa˚ A v.245, 279;

PvA 114;

samaṇa˚ Wanderer's practice or observances DhA ii.55. brāhmaṇakaraṇā D i.244;

yesaŋ dh˚ānaŋ Gotamo vaṇṇavādin D i.206 cp. sīlaŋ samādhi paññā ca vimutti ca anuttarā: anubuddhā ime dhammā Gotamena yasassinā D ii.123 dhammānaŋ sukusalo perfect in all (these) qualities D i.180;

samāhite citte dhammā pātubhavanti "with composed mind appear true views" S iv.78;

dhammesu patiṭṭhito S i.185;

ananussutesu dh˚esu cakkhuŋ udapādi "he visualized undiscovered ideas" S ii.9. <-> (bb) evil: āvaraṇīyā S iv.104;

pāpakā Vin i.8;

D i.70 A i.202;

akusalā D iii.56, 57, 73, 91 etc.;

lobha˚, dosa˚ moha˚ S i.70=It 45=Nd2 420;

S i.43;

M iii.40;

dukkhavipākā vodanīyā saŋkilesikā ponobbhavikā D i.195 iii.57. -- (cc) various: gambhīrā duddasā etc. Vin i.4 D i.12;

S i.136; -- Cp. S ii.15, 26;

Nd2 320;

It 22, 24 Ps i.5, 22, 28;

Vbh 105, 228, 293 sq. etc. etc. -- (g) (adj. good, pious, virtuous etc.: adhammo nirayaŋ neti dhammo pāpeti suggatiŋ "the sinners go to niraya, the good to heaven" Th 1, 304=DA i.99=DhsA 38 DhA i.22. kalyāṇa˚ virtuous A i.74, 108;

ii.81, 91 224 sq.;

PvA 13. Opp. pāpa˚ Vin iii.90;

cp. above a. -- (d) (phrases). Very freq. used as adv. is the instr dhammena with justice, justly, rightly, fitly, properly Vin i.3;

D i.122;

S iv.331;

Vv 3419 (=kāraṇena ñāyena vā VvA);

Pv ii.930 (=yutten' eva kāraṇena PvA 125 as just punishment);

iv.169 (=anurūpakāraṇena PvA 286). Esp. in phrase of the cakkavattin, who rules the world according to justice: adaṇḍena asatthena dhammena anusāsati (or ajjhāvasati) D i.89;

ii.16 S i.236=Sn 1002;

cp. Sn 554 (dhammena cakkaŋ vattemi, of the Buddha). Opp. adhammena unjustly unfitly, against the rule Vin iv.37;

S i.57;

iv.331 DA i.236. -- dhamme (loc.) honourably J ii.159. <-> dhammaŋ carati to live righteously Pv ii.334;

see also below C 3 & dh. -- cariyā.;

C. The Dhamma, i. e. moral philosophy, wisdom truth as propounded by Gotama Buddha in his discourses & conversations, collected by the compilers of the 5 Nikāyas (dhamma -- vinayaŋ sangāyantehi dhammasangāhakehi ekato katvā VvA 3;

cp. mayaŋ dh.˚ŋ ca vinayañ ca sangāyāma Vin ii.285), resting on the deeper meaning of dhamma as expld under B 1 a, & being in short the "doctrinal" portions of the Buddhist Tipiṭaka in contradiction to the Vinaya, the portion expounding the rules of the Order (see piṭaka). Dhamma as doctrine is also opposed to Abhidhamma "what follows on the Dhamma." -- (1) Dhamma and Vinaya, "wisdom & discipline," as now found in the 2 great Piṭakas of the B. Scriptures, the Vinaya and SuttantaPiṭaka (but the expression "Piṭako" is later. See Piṭaka). Thus bhikkhū suttantikā vinaya -- dharā dhamma kathikā, i. e. "the bhikkhus who know the Suttantas, remember the Vinaya & preach the Word of the Buddha" Vin ii.75 (≈i.169), cp. iv.67. Dhamma & Vinaya comb;d: yo 'haŋ evaŋ svâkkhāte Dh -- vinaye pabbajito S i.119;

bhikkhu na evarūpiŋ kathaŋ kattā hoti: na tvaŋ imaŋ Dh -- v˚ŋ ājānāsi, ahaŋ imaŋ Dh -- v˚ŋ ājānāmi etc. S iii.12;

imaŋ Dh -- v˚ŋ na sakkomi vitthārena ācikkhituŋ S i.9;

samaṇā . . . imasmiŋ Dh -- v˚e gādhanti S iii.59. -- Thus in var. cpds. (see below), as Dh -- dhara (+V -- dh.) one who knows both by heart Dh -- vādin (+V -- v.) one who can recite both, etc. -- See e. g. the foll. passages: Vin ii.285 (dh. ca v. ca pariyatta), 304;

iii.19, 90;

D i.8, 176, 229;

ii.124 (ayaŋ Dh. ayaŋ V. idaŋ Satthu -- sāsanaŋ);

iii.9, 12, 28, 118 sq. S i.9, 119, 157;

ii.21, 50, (dh -- vinaye assāsa);

A iii.297 (id.);

S ii.120;

iii.91;

iv.43 sq., 260;

A i.34, 121, 185 266;

ii.2, 26, 117, 168;

iii.8, 168 sq.;

iv.36, 200 sq. v.144, 163, 192;

It 112;

Sn p. 102;

Ud 50. <-> 2. Dhamma, Buddha, Sangha. On the principle expld in Note on B 1 a rests the separation of the personality of the teacher from that which he taught (the "Doctrine," the "Word," the Wisdom or Truth, cp Dhamma -- kāyo Tathāgatassa adhivacanaŋ D iii.84) A person becoming a follower of the B. would conform to his teaching (Dh.) & to the community ("Church" Sangha) by whom his teaching was handed down. The formula of Initiation or membership is therefore threefold, viz. Buddhaŋ saraṇaŋ upemi (gacchāmi), Dh ˚ŋ . . ., Sanghaŋ . . . i. e. I put myself into the shelter of the B., the Dh. & the S. (see further ref. under Sangha) S ;i.34 (Buddhe pasannā Dhamme ca Sanghe tibbagāravā: ete sagge pakāsenti yattha te upapajjare i. e. those who adore the B. & his Church will shine in Heaven);

D ii.152 sq., 202 sq., 352;

S iv.270 sq (˚saraṇagamana);

DhA i.206;

PvA 1 (vande taŋ uttamaŋ Dh ˚ŋ, B ˚ŋ, S ˚ŋ). Cp. Satthari, Dhamme Sanghe kankhati, as 3 of the ceto -- khilā A iii.248≈

3. Character of the Dhamma in var. attributes, general phraseology. -- The praise of the Dh. is expressed in many phrases, of which only a few of the more frequent can be mentioned here. Among the most famous is that of "dhammaŋ deseti ādi -- kalyāṇaŋ majjhe -- k˚ pariyosāna -- k˚, etc. "beautiful in the beginning, beautiful in the middle & beautiful in the end," e. g. D i.62 S i.105;

iv.315;

A ii.147, 208;

iii.113 sq., 135, 262 D iii.96, 267;

Nd2 316;

It 79;

VvA 87. It is welcome as a friend, beautifully told, & its blessings are immediate: ;sv' akkhāta, sandiṭṭhika, akālika, ehipassika etc. D ii.93;

iii.5, 39, 45, 102;

S i.9, 117;

ii.199;

iv.271 A iii.285 etc. It is mahā -- dh. S iv.128;

ariya˚;

S i.30 A v.241, 274;

Sn 783;

sammā˚;

S i.129. It is likened to a splendid palace on a mountain -- top Vin i.5=It 33 or to a quiet lake with sīla as its banks S i.169=183 and it is above age & decay: satan ca dhammo na jaram upeti S ;i.71. Whoever worships the Dh. finds in this worship the highest gratification: diyo loke sako putto piyo loke sako pati, tato piyatarā . . . dhammassa magganā S i.210;

ye keci ariyadhamme khantiyā upetā . . . devakāyaŋ paripūressanti S i.30. Dh ˚ŋ garukaroti D iii.84. Opp. Dhamme agārava A iii.247 340;

iv.84: the slanderers of the Dh. receive the worst punishment after death S i.30 (upenti Roruvaŋ ghoraŋ) -- Var. phrases: to find the truth (i. e. to realize intuitively the Dh.)=dh˚ŋ anubodhati D ii.113;

S i.137, or vindati D i.110, 148. To expound the Dh., teach the truth, talk about problems of ethics & philosophy dh˚ŋ deseti Vin ;iv.134;

S i.210 etc.;

katheti PvA 41 bhāsati Vin i.101;

bhaṇati Vin i.169;

pakāseti S ii.28 iv.121. To hear the Dh., to listen to such an exposition: dh˚ŋ suṇāti S i.114, 137, 196, 210;

A i.36;

iii.163 DhA iii.81, 113. To attain full knowledge of it: dh ˚ŋ pariyāpuṇāti A ii.103, 185;

iii.86, cp. 177 & ˚pariyatti To remember the Dh.: dhāreti A ;iii.176 (for details of the 5 stages of the Dh. -- accomplishment);

to ponder over the Dh., to study it: dh ˚ŋ viciṇāti S i.34=55, 214 A iv.3 sq. To enter a relation of discipleship with the Dh.: dh ˚ŋ saraṇaŋ gacchati (see above 2) Pv iv.348 dhammaŋ saraṇatthaŋ upehi Vv 532 (cp. VvA 232). <-> See further Ps i.34, 78, 131;

ii.159 sq.;

Pug 58, 66 Vbh 293 sq., 329;

Nett 11, 15, 31, 83, 112; & cp. cpds

4. ;Dhamma and anudhamma. Childers interprets anudhamma with "lesser or inferior dhamma," but the general purport of the Nikāya passages seems to be something like "in conformity with, in logical sequence to the dhamma" i. e. lawfulness, righteousness, reasonableness, truth (see KS ii.202;

Geiger, Pāli Dhamma pp. 115 -- 118). It occurs (always with Dh.) in the foll contexts: dhammassa c' ânudh ˚ŋ vyākaroti "to explain according to the truth of the Dhamma" D i.161 iii.115;

Ud 50;

dhammassa hoti anudhammacārin "walking in perfect conformity to the Dh." A ii.8 dh. -- anudh ˚ŋ ācaranti id. D iii.154;

dh. -- anudh˚ paṭipanna "one who has reached the complete righteousness of the Dh." D ii.224;

iii.119;

S iii.40 sq.;

It 81;

A iii.176 (where it forms the highest stage of the Dhammaknowledge viz. (1) dh ˚ŋ suṇāti; (2) pariyāpuṇāti (3) dhāreti; (4) atthaŋ upaparikkhati; (5) dh -- anudh ˚ŋ paṭipajjati). Further in series bahussuta, dhammadhara dh -- anudh˚ -- paṭipanna D ii.104;

S v.261;

A ii.8;

Ud 63;

also in dhamma -- kathika, dh -- anudh˚ -- paṭi panna, diṭṭha -- dhamma -- nibbāna -- patta S ii.18=114 iii.163; & in atthaŋ aññāya, dhammaŋ aññāya, dhanudh˚ -- paṭipanna A ;i.36;

ii.97.

-- akkhāna discussing or preaching of the Dhamma Nd1 91; -- atthadesanā interpretation of the Dh. Miln 21 -- âdhikaraṇa a point in the Dh. S iv.63=v.346; -- âdhipa Lord of righteousness (+anudhamma -- cārin) A i.150 cp. ˚ssāmi;

nt. abstr. ˚âdhipateyya the dominating influence of the Dh. A i.147 sq.;

D iii.220;

Miln 94 Vism 14. -- ânudhamma see above C 4; -- anuvattin acting in conformity with the moral law Dh 86, cp DhA ii.161; -- ânusārin of righteous living D iii.105, 254 (+saddhā˚);

M i.226, 479;

A i.74;

iv.215;

iv.23 S v.200;

Pug 15;

Nett 112, 189; -- anvaya main drift of the faith, general conclusions of the Dh., D ii.83 iii.100;

M ii.120; -- abhisamaya understanding of the Truth, conversion to the Dhamma [cp. dharmâbhisamaya Divy 200] S ii.134 (+dh. -- cakkhu -- paṭilābha) Pug 41;

Miln 20;

DhA i.27;

iv.64;

PvA 31 etc. -- âmata the nectar of righteousness or the Dh. Miln 22 (˚meghena lokaŋ abhitappayanto), 346; -- ādāsa the mirror of the Dhamma D ii.93 (name of an aphorism S v.357 (id.);

Th 1, 395;

ThA 179; -- āyatana the field of objects of ideation S ii.72;

Dhs 58, 66, 147, 397, 572 594;

Vbh 70, 72 sq.; -- ārammaṇa: dh. as an object of ideation Dhs 146, 157, 365;

cp. Dhs. trsl. 2; -- ārāma "one who has the Dh. as his pleasure -- ground," one who rejoices in the Dh. A iii.431;

It 82 (+dh -- rata);

Sn 327 Dh 364, cp. DhA iv.95; -- ālapana using the proper address, a fit mode of addressing a person as followed by the right custom. See Dial. i.193 -- 196;

J v.418 -- āsana "the Dh -- seat," i. e. flat piece of stone or a mat on which a priest sat while preaching J i.53;

DhA ii.31 -- ûposatha the fast day prescribed by the Dh. A i.208 -- okkā the torch of Righteousness J i.34; -- oja the essence or sap of the Dh. S v.162;

DhA iv.169; -- osadha the medicine of the Dh. Miln 110, 335. -- kathā ethical discussion, fit utterance, conversation about the Dh. advice D iii.151;

J i.217;

VvA 6;

PvA 50, 66; -- kathika (adj.) one who converses about ethical problems, one who recites or preaches the Dh., one who speaks fitly or properly. Often in combn. with Vinaya -- dhara "one who masters (knows by heart) the Vinaya," & bahussuta "one who has a wide knowledge of tradition" Vin iv.10, 13, 141;

A iii.78;

DhA ii.30;

also with suttantika "one who is versed in the Suttantas" Vin i.169;

ii.75;

iv.67. The ability to preach the Dh is the first condition of one who wishes to become perfected in righteousness (see dhamm -- ânudhamma, above C 4): S ii.18, 114=iii.163;

M iii.40. -- A i.25 sq. ii.138;

Pug 42;

J i.217;

iv.2 (˚thera). Cp. also AvŚ ii.81; -- kathikatta (nt.) speaking about the Dh.;

preaching M iii.40;

A i.38 (+vinayadhara -- katta); -- kamma a legally valid act, or procedure in accordance with the Rules of the Order Vin iv.37, 136, 232;

A i.74 (+vinaya˚);

a˚ an illegal act Vin iv.232;

A i.74 -- karaka a proper or regulation (standard) water -- pot i. e. a pot with a filter for straining water as it was used by ascetics Vin ii.118, 177, 301;

J i.395;

vi.331 DhA iii.290, 452;

VvA 220 (not ˚karaṇena);

PvA 185 Miln 68; -- kāma a lover of the Dh. D iii.267;

A v.24, 27 90, 201;

Sn 92. -- kāya having a body according to the Norm (the dhammatā of bodies). See Bdhgh as translated in Dial. iii. ad loc.;

having a normal body (sic Bdhgh, esp. of the B. D iii.84; -- ketu the standard of the Dh., or Dh. as standard A i.109=iii.149; -- khan- dha the (4) main portions or articles of the Dh. (sīla samādhi, paññā, vimutti) D iii.229;

cp. Sp. AvŚ ii.155; -- gaṇa a body of followers of the Dh. PvA 194 -- gaṇḍikā (better gaṇṭhikā, q v.) a block of justice, i. e of execution J i.150, 151;

ii.124;

vi.176;

v.303; -- garu worshipping the Dh. S iv.123;

DhA i.17 (˚ka); -- gariya a kind of acrobatic tumbler, lit. excellent t. (+brahma˚ Miln 191; -- gu one who knows the Dh. (analogous to vedagu) J v.222;

vi.261; -- gutta protecting the Dh. or protected by the Dh. (see gutta) S i.222;

J v.222 (+dhpāla); -- ghosaka ( -- kamma) praise of the Dh. DhA iii.81 -- cakka the perfection or supreme harmony of righteousness (see details under cakka), always in phrase dhcakkaŋ pavatteti (of the Buddha) "to proclaim or inaugurate the perfect state or ideal of universal righteousness" Vin i.8=M i.171;

Vin i.11;

S i.191 iii.86;

Sn 556, 693;

Miln 20, 343;

DhA i.4;

VvA 165 PvA 2, 67 etc.;

besides this also in simile at S i.33 of the car of righteousness; -- cakkhu "the eye of wisdom, perception of the law of change. Freq. in the standing formula at the end of a conversation with the Buddha which leads to the "opening of the eyes" or conversion of the interlocutor, viz. "virajaŋ vītamalaŋ dhcakkhuŋ udapādi" D i.86, 110;

ii.288;

S iv.47 A iv.186;

Vin i.11, 16, 40 etc. Expl. at DA i.237 dhammesu vā cakkhuŋ dhammamayaŋ vā cakkhuŋ Cp. S ii.134 (˚paṭiĺābha;+dhammâbhisamaya);

Dial. i.184;

ii.176; -- cariyā walking in righteousness, righteous living, observance of the Dh., piety (=dānādi -- puññapaṭipatti VvA 282) S i.101 (+samacariyā kusalakiriyā);

A ii.5;

iii.448;

v.87, 302;

Sn 263 (=kāyasucaritâdi˚ Sn A 309), 274 (+brahma˚). a˚ evil way of living A i.55 (+visama -- cariyā); -- cārin virtuous, dutiful M i.289;

ii.188;

Dh 168;

Miln 19 (+samacārin) -- cetiya a memorial in honour of the Dh. M ii.124 -- chanda virtuous desire (opp. kāma˚) DhsA 370;

Vbh 208; -- ja born of the Dh. (see above, Note on B 1 a), in formula "Bhagavato putto oraso dh -- jo, dh -- nimmito dh.dāyādo" (the spiritual child of the Buddha) D iii.84=S ii.221;

It 101; -- jāla "net of the Dh.," name of a discourse (cp. ˚ādāsa & pariyāya) D ;i.46; -- jīvin living righteously It 108;

Dh 24 (=dhammenā samena DhA i.239); -- ññū one who knows the Dh. J vi.261 -- ṭṭha standing in the Law, just, righteous S i.33 (+sīlasampanna);

Sn 749;

J iii.334;

iv.211;

ThA 244 -- ṭṭhita=˚ṭṭha D i.190; -- ṭṭhiti˚;

having a footing in the Dh. S ii.60, 124, cp. ˚ṭṭhitatā: establishing of causes and effects S ii.25; -- takka right reasoning Sn 1107 (=sammāsankappa Nd2 318); -- dāna gift of; -- dāyāda heir of the Dh.;

spiritual heir (cp. above note on B 1 a) D iii.84 S ii.221;

M i.12;

iii.29;

It 101; -- dīpa the firm ground or footing of the Dh. (usually combd with atta -- dīpa: having oneself as one's refuge, self -- dependent) D ii.100;

iii.58 77;

S v.154; -- desanā moral instruction, exposition of the Dh. Vin i.16;

D i.110 etc. (see desanā); -- dessin a hater of the Dh. Sn 92; -- dhaja the banner of the Dh. A i.109 iii.149;

Nd2 503;

Miln 21; -- dhara (adj.) one who knows the Dh. (by heart);

see above C 4. Combd w. Vinayadhara Vin i.127, 337;

ii.8;

A i.117, & bahussuta (ibid) Sn 58 (cp. SnA 110). -- See also A ;iii.361 sq., iv.310 Nd2 319; -- dhātu the mental object considered as irreducible element Dhs 58, 67, 147 etc.;

Vbh 87, 89 (see above B 1);

an ultimate principle of the Dh., the cosmic law D ii.8;

M i.396;

S ii.143 sq.;

Nett 64 sq.;

Vism 486 sq. -- dhāraṇa knowledge of the Dh. M ii.175 -- nāṭaka a class of dancing girls having a certain duty J v.279; -- nimmita see ˚ja; -- niyāma belonging to the order of the Norm D i.190;

DA on D ii.12: dhammatā (˚ka); -- niyāmatā, certainty, or orderliness of causes and effects S ii.25;

Points of Controversy, 387; -- netti niyāma Miln 328;

DA i.31;

cp. Sk. dharmanetrī M Vastu ii.357;

iii.234, 238; -- pajjota the lamp of the Dh. Miln 21; -- pada (nt.) a line or stanza of the Dhamma a sentence containing an ethical aphorism;

a portion or piece of the Dh. In the latter meaning given as 4 main subjects, viz. anabhijjhā, avyāpāda, sammā -- sati sammā -- samādhi D iii.229;

A ii.29 sq. (in detail) Nett 170. -- S i.22 (dānā ca kho dh -- padaŋ va seyyo) 202 (dh -- padesu chando);

A ii.185;

Sn 88 (dh -- pade sudesite=nibbāna -- dhammassa padattā SnA 164) J iii.472 (=nibbāna);

DhA iii.190 (ekaŋ dh -- padaŋ) As Np. title of a canonical book, included in the Khuddaka Nikāya; -- pamāṇa measuring by the (teaching of Dh. Pug 53;

DhA iii.114 (˚ikāni jātisatāni); -- pariyatti attainment of or accomplishment in the Dh., the collection of the Dh. in general A iii.86 (w. ref. to the 9 angas see navanga); -- pariyāya a short discourse, or a verse or a poem, with a moral or a text;

usually an exposition of a single point of doctrine D i.46;

ii.93;

iii.116 M i.445;

Vin i.40 (a single verse);

A i.65;

iv.63 (a poem Sn 190 -- 218, where also it is called a dh˚pariyāyo) A v.288, 291. Such a dh˚pariyāya had very often a special name. Thus Brahmajāla, the Wondrous Net D i.46;

Dhammādāso dh˚p˚, the Mirror of the Law D ii.93=S v.357;

Sokasallaharaṇa, Sorrow's dart extractor A iii.62;

Ādittap˚ dh˚p˚, the Red -- hot lancet S iv.168;

Lomahaŋsana˚ M i.83;

Dhammatā -- dhamma Miln 193, etc. -- pāla guardian of the Law or the Dh J v.222, freq. also as Np.; -- pīti ( -- rasa) the sweetness of drinking in the Dh. (pivaŋ) Sn 257;

Dh 79 (=dhammapāyako dhammaŋ pivanto ti attho DhsA ii.126) -- bhaṇḍāgārika treasurer of the Dh., an Ep. of Ānanda Th 1, 1048;

J i.382, 501;

ii.25;

DhA iii.250;

PvA 2 -- bhūta having become the Dh.;

righteousness incorporated said of the Buddhas D iii.84. Usually in phrase (Bhagavā) cakkhu -- bhūta . . . dh -- bhūta brahmabhūta A v.226 sq. (cp. cakkhu);

Th 1, 491;

see also above, note B 1 a; -- bheri the drum of the Dh. Miln 21 -- magga the path of righteousness Sn 696;

Miln 21 -- maya made (built) of the Dh. (pāsāda) S i.137; -- yanta the (sugar -- ) mill of the Dh. (fig.) Miln 166. -- yāna the vehicle of the Law (the eightfold Noble Path) S v.5 -- rakkhita rightly guarded Sn 288; -- rata fond of the Law Sn 327;

Dh 364;

DhA iv.95;

cp. dh. -- [gatā]rati Th i.742;

Dhp. 354; -- rasa taste of Dhp. 354; -- rājā king of righteousness, Ep. of the Buddha S i.33=55;

D i.88 (of a cakkavatti);

A i.109;

iii.149;

Sn 554;

J i.262 interpreted by Bdhgh at DA i.249 as "dhammena rajjaŋ labhitvā rājā jāto ti"=a king who gained the throne legitimately; -- laddha one who has acquired the Dh., holy, pious S ii.21;

J iii.472;

justly acquired (bhogā) Sn p. 87; -- vara the best of truths or the most excellent Doctrine Sn 233, 234; -- vādin speaking properly speaking the truth or according to the Doctrine Vin ii.285;

iii.175 (+Vinaya -- vādin);

D iii.135 (id.) D i.4, 95 (of Gotama;

DA i.76: nava -- lokuttara -- dhamma sannissitaŋ katvā vadati);

S iv.252;

A i.75;

ii.209 -- vicaya investigation of doctrine, religious research Dhs 16, 20, 90, 309, 333, 555;

Vbh 106;

Vism 132 -- vitakka righteous thought A i.254; -- vidū one who understands the Dh., an expert in the Dh. J v.222 vi.261; -- vinicchaya righteous decision, discrimination of the truth Sn 327;

Dh 144;

DhA iii.86; -- vihārin living according to the Dh. A iii.86 sq.; -- saŋvibhāga sharing out or distribution of the Dh., i. e. spiritual gifts It 98 (opp. āmisa˚ material gifts); -- sangāhaka a compiler of the sacred scriptures, a diaskeuasth/s VvA 3, 169 -- saññā righteous thought, faith, piety PvA 3; -- sabhā a hall for the discussion of the Dh., a chapel, meetinghouse J vi.333;

DhA i.31;

ii.51;

iv.91;

PvA 38, 196 -- samaya a meeting where the Dh. is preached S i.26 -- samādāna acquisition of the Dh., which is fourfold as discussed at M i.305;

D iii.229; -- saraṇa relying on or putting one's faith in the Dh. (see above C 3) D iii.58 77;

S v.154; -- savana hearing the preaching of the Dh. "going to church" Vin i.101;

M ii.175;

A ii.248, 381 iv.361;

Sn 265;

DhA iii.190; -- sākaccha conversation about the Dh. Sn 266; -- ssāmi Lord of the Truth, Ep. of the Buddha (see above B 1 a note) S iv.94; -- sāra the essence of the Dh. S v.402; -- sārathi in purisa -- dh. -- s˚ at D i.62 misprint for purisa -- damma -- s˚; -- sārin a follower of the Dh. S i.170; -- sudhammatā excellency of the Dh S ii.199;

Th 1, 24, 220, 270, 286; -- senāpati "captain of the Dhamma," Ep. of Sāriputta Th 1, 1083;

J i.408 Miln 343;

DhA iii.305;

VvA 64, 65, 158; -- soṇḍatā thirst after justice J v.482; -- sota the ear of the Dh. S ii.43.


What , *******, is right-effort?	“katamo ca, bhikkhave, sammā-vāyāmo?
Not-yet-arisen evil, un-skillful ☸Dhamma-[teachings]…	An-uppannānaṃ pāpakānaṃ a-kusalānaṃ dhammānaṃ…
arisen evil, un-skillful ☸Dhamma-[teachings]…	uppannānaṃ pāpakānaṃ a-kusalānaṃ dhammānaṃ…
Not-yet-arisen skillful ☸Dhamma-[teachings]…	An-uppannānaṃ kusalānaṃ dhammānaṃ…
arisen skillful ☸Dhamma-[teachings]…	uppannānaṃ kusalānaṃ dhammānaṃ …
desire (he) generates! (he) endeavors! Vigor & vitality (he) arouses! (the) mind (he) pushes, exerts!	chandaṃ janeti vāyamati vīriyaṃ ārabhati cittaṃ paggaṇhāti padahati,


phenomena:	B.bodhi
mental qualities:	B.Thanissaro
principles:	B.Sujato
Dhamma (with a capital “d”):	B.Anālayo


2a. kusala and a-kusala Dhamma	skillful and un-skillful Dhamma


“Upali,	ye ca kho tvaṃ, upāli,
“As for the Dharmas of which you may know,	dhamme jāneyyāsi —
‘These Dharmas {lead}	‘ime dhammā
to utter disenchantment,	ekanta-nibbidāya
to dispassion,	virāgāya
to cessation,	nirodhāya
to calm,	upasamāya
to direct knowledge,	abhiññāya
to self-awakening,	sambodhāya
nor to Nirvana’:	nibbānāya
(they) lead (to that)’;	saṃvattantī’ti;
You may categorically hold,	ekaṃsena, upāli, dhāreyyāsi —
‘This is the Dhamma,	‘eso dhammo
this is the Vinaya,	eso vinayo
this is the Teacher’s-instruction.’”	etaṃ satthu-sāsanan’”ti.

4👑☸ Cattāri Ariya-saccaṃ 四聖諦

☸Dhamma

Dhamma

☸Dhamma, dhamma

🔬☸Dharma, dhamma

🃏 ‘Dhamma’ must be left untranslated

1. Dhamma-[teaching]

1a. The Buddha’s skillful teaching

1b. Other traditions’ teachings

2. Dhamma-[natural laws]

2a. kusala and a-kusala Dhamma

2b. Impermanence, dukkha, etc

3. dhamma-[mind object]

4. dhamma-[thing]

sati remembers ‘Dhamma’, always

Sutta Passages that support Dhamma=Teaching

pali

AN 4.34 notice 8aam and virage-dhamma hold “dhamma” slot in triple gem

AN 5.26 7sb into samadh

AN 6.10 6 recollections (buddha, dhamma, sangha…) leads to Dhamma stream entry, not phenomenal entry

AN 7.83 How to verify dhamma-vinaya is Buddha’s word

AN 8.53 similar to AN 7.83 (what is dhamma & vinaya)

MN 10 satipatthana, its parallels and earlier incarnations

SN 56.31 handful of rosewood leaves

Proof: Dharma = Buddha's Teaching, not "mental qualities"

Proof

Chinese suttas & sutras translate ‘dharma’ as 法 everywhere

法 ‘fa’ = ‘dharma’

Duty of Right Speech in revealing Counterfeit of True Dharma

Alphabetized sutta citations from essay

The Counterfeit of the True Teaching

(analogy with Einstein’s Special Theory of Relativity)

Misc.

dhamma or Dhamma in SN 55.40 and SA 885

B.Thanissaro trans. Comments

Popular english translations of “Dhamma” in 4sp

some pros and cons for each of these choices

and in dhamma-vicaya-sambojjhanga (Dhamma investigation awakening factor)

B.bodhi in SN 47 4sp intro

thanissaro, book "right mindfulness" intro

relationship between memory/remembering and 4sp:

Thanissaro on dhamma in 4sp

Translation notes B.Sujato & B.Bodhi

Dictionary defn.

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