Dharma
- a comprehensive term used to refer to that which determines our true essence;- righteousness;
- the basis of human morality and ethics;
- the lawful order of the universe;
- the foundation of all religion
For the individual, dharma is inseparable from one's karma, since dharma can be realized by the individual only to the extent permitted by one's karmic situation.
In Buddhism, Dharma refers to:
1. The cosmic law underlying our world;
2. The teaching of the Buddha, who recognized and formulated this "law"; thus the teaching that expresses the universal truth. The dharma in this sense existed already before the birth of the historical Buddha, who is no more than a manifestation of it. It is in the dharma in this sense that a Buddhist takes refuge.
3. Norms of behavior and ethical rules;
4. Manifestation of reality, of the general state of affairs; thing; phenomenon.
5. Mental content, object of thought, idea - a reflection of a thing in the human mind.
6. Term for the so-called factors of existence, which are considered as building blocks of the empirical personality and its world. - Compiled from various sources....