The Dharma

The word Dharma is a complicated term, and can have different meanings. It is usually translated as "way", but it also means truth. It is the word that is used for the teaching of the Buddha. Another way to think of it is the means to achieve Bodhi. If the Buddha represents the ideal or goal, then the Dharma is the means to achieve that goal. In this sense, the Dharma can be that which helps human beings to grow and develop.

The Dharma is often literally translated as truth and is used in that sense by Buddhists. However, the analogy that is used is that of a raft or a ladder. The Dharma is to be used rather than philosophically dissected. A raft is used to cross to the other side of the river, and then you leave it, you don't carry it with you. A ladder is used to climb, but you don't take it with you once you have climbed up a floor. For Buddhists, you use the Dharma rather than worship it.

The teaching of the historical Buddha was originally spoken. Tradition has it that the sayings and stories of the Buddha were memorised by his followers. After the Buddha's death or Paranirvana, his followers met for a great council, to agree on the teaching and the stories. These stories or discourses of the Buddha were collected together and called Suttas. This is a Pali word and means "thread". In English we sometimes say, "I've lost the thread", when someone forgets what they are saying. This is the idea of a point or purpose, a thread of meaning, running through the story.

The Buddha had many followers. Some of these became mendicants or wandering monks. They gave up their possessions, put on a saffron robe, shaved their head, and became mendicants or wandering monks. Other followers of the Buddha practiced his teaching in their daily lives, these were the lay followers. The monks had the job of memorising the Suttas. Gradually more material developed, commentaries on the text (explaining what they meant), and also attempts to strip away the story and get to the main philosophical point of the Sutta. This material became known as the Abhidhamma. There also developed a series of rules and regulations to govern the running of the monastic community. These rules and regulations became know as the Vinaya.

Eventually all of this material was collected together. These collections were known as the Tripitaka, which literally means the Three Baskets. This material was eventually written down in the languages of Pali and in Sanskrit.