Dharma - The Four Noble Truths

The Four Noble Truths

In Hinduism and Buddhism, law, truth, or doctrine that defines the cosmos; also, duty, truth, righteousness, virtue, ideal, phenomena, and so on. Dharma has many-shaded meanings, depending on context. "Dharma" is Sanskrit from the Aryan root dhar, to uphold, sustain, or support. Its Pali form is dhamma, which is generally used in Theravada Buddhism.

In Hinduism dharma is the supreme operating law of the universe, governing earth and all beings upon it and all gods in the cosmos, existing with neither beginning nor end in time. The major aspects of dharma that govern human beings and the world are samsara, or reincarnation; karma, the law of cause and effect; and moksha, the spiritual liberation from the bondage of reincarnation. Dharma also refers to the continuous effort to eliminate karma by surrendering to divine will. Dharma is duty; it relates to moral nature and behavior rather than religious beliefs. Each individual has his or her own dharma to follow in the quest for spiritual development. Communities have collective dharmas to provide educational and social supports to their members. Within the context of reincarnation, dharma is the purpose to which an individual is born, created by a need in a particular time and place. Karma is the conditioning that makes fulfillment of dharma possible.

In Buddhism dharma comprises teachings about the universe and a discipline, a means by which to attain awakening. It arises from humankind's attempts to understand the world. The essence of dharma is expressed in the Four Noble Truths:

Suffering exists. There are three general types of suffering: suffering of pain, which is physical and mental; suffering of change, which superficially appears to be pleasure but actually is suffering; and pervasive compositional suffering, which is part of karma and rebirth. (Rebirth and reincarnation are not equivalent.)
Suffering is caused by karma and afflictive emotions" such as desire, hatred, ignorance, lack of self-control, jealousy, and anger.
Suffering is ended by the extinction or cessation of its causes.
Causes are overcome through the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of Right View, Right Determination, Right Effort, Right Speech, Right Conduct, Right Livelihood, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.

Dharma is the second of the Three Treasures; the first is the Buddha and the third is the Sangha, or the kinship and harmony of all things. Dharma, the second Treasure, is the "truth of Buddhism" or "the way." The three poisons to Dharma are hatred, ignorance, and greed.

Buddhists do not follow Buddha; they follow dharma, the way of Buddha. The dharma is the universe, which is both empty and void and full and complete. Karma is the action of dharma, and freedom from karma is freedom from blind response to it. The enlightened soul sees karmic hindrances as fundamentally empty and does not become burdened by them. A gatha (verse stating major points of Buddha dharma) intended to free one from blind response to karma is the Purification Gatha:

All the evil karma ever created by
me since of old,
on account of my beginningless
greed, hatred, and ignorance,
born of my body, mouth, and
thought,
I now confess, openly and fully.

The term "dharma" also refers to attributes or phenomena called "elements of being," which are minute impulses of energy. Dharmas comprise the skandas, the karmic aggregates of form, feelings, perceptions, impulses, and consciousness, which in rum comprise the illusory nature of all sentient beings.