Dhamma

In the Buddhist tradition, dhamma (Pāli) is the Buddha’s teaching, the natural law governing reality, and simultaneously each individual phenomenon constituting experience.

The term has multiple layers:

• The Teaching — The body of doctrine transmitted by the Buddha
• Natural law — The immutable order of the universe: things are as they are, regardless of whether we understand them
• Phenomena — Each event, each mental state, each process. In the Abhidhamma, dhammas are the elementary building blocks of experience

The Dhammapada opens with: manopubbaṅgamā dhammā — “mind precedes all phenomena.” Here dhammā refers to mental phenomena and their consequences.

In Sanskrit it becomes dharma, which in yogic context adds the dimension of personal duty (svadharma) and inherent quality. In Pāli, dhamma maintains a more phenomenological focus: reality as it is, without embellishment.