Dharma

While the Sanskrit term dharma is sometimes translated as "law," I believe that for many readers this creates a false impression of how the term is used in the Dharma Flower Sutra and in Buddhism in general. It is translated as "law" because it was translated by Kumarajiva in Chinese as fa (pronounced ho in Japanese), a term that can reasonably be translated into English as "law." But to many, the term "law" has negative connotations, reminding us of courts, police, and punishment. More important, the term "law" simply does not convey the rich meaning and significance Buddha Dharma. That is why, like some other Buddhist terms, such as "nirvana,' "sutra," or even "Buddha," it has become a term in the English language. ANd this is why the Rev. Senchu Murano, of Nichiren-shu, while originally using "Law," decided to use "Dharma" for the revised version of his very fine translation of the Lotus Sutra into English.

While it can mean other things such as "way" or "method," there are four chief ways in which "dharma" is used in Buddhism:

(1) things—all the objects of experience that we can see, feel, hear, and touch, often translated as "phenomenon";

(2) the Buddha's teaching, a use which is often extended to include Buddhist teachings and practices generally, and thus can mean Buddhism itself;

(3) the truth that is taught in the Buddha's teachings, especially the highest truth disclosed in the awakening of the Buddha; and

(4) the reality that the truth reveals, that which enables and sustains things in accord with interdependence.

---Gene Reeves, in The Stories of the Lotus Sutra---