Dharma (Buddhism) - Dharma Within Indian Religions

Dharma Within Indian Religions

Religion (a conceptual domain which in Europe has only been considered a discrete entity since the Age of Enlightenment) is part of the concept of dharma within traditional Indian Civilization. Dharma means the Law (see article dharma) as well as life that is lived in accordance with the law (whether legal statutes or natural law). Dharma in this latter sense is 'the path of righteousness', the way of 'correct', 'appropriate', 'decent', or 'proper' behaviour. The different religious traditions of India are conceived as so many variations of what is considered a life of purity and goodness. Therefore a Jain practices Jain-dharma; a Hindu follows Sanatana-dharma; and a Buddhist practices Buddha-dharma. However, these designations should not be taken to imply sectarianism. Historically, the Indian mindset has been characterized by religious pluralism and inclusivity. All religion is considered a matter of eternally valid laws of nature (sanatana dharma) because suffering and bondage and the path to freedom and liberation is conceived (even if one believes in a personal God) in terms of causes and effects. Dharma (as the perennially fixed set of natural laws governing causation) presents the structure of rules which if understood correctly leads to natural or skillful action (dharma or kusala kamma) or if not understood and contravened leads to unskillful action (adharma or akusala kamma) with unfortunate consequences. It is the persistence of the laws of nature (and the principle of causation) from day to day, from year to year and across the vastness of time that enables one to conceive dharma as eternal. Wholesome, fair-minded actions always bring forth positive future results whereas unwholesome and unjust actions lead to suffering, misery and future retribution.

Though each path of dharma (Jain, Buddhist, Hindu, etc.) signifies a particular religious form with its own rules and practices there is nonetheless general uniformity among these traditions concerning the underlying philosophy of liberation. To walk the path to liberation is to unravel and reorganize the entangled and disharmonious psycho-physical structures formed in the course of the path of unskillful action and the principal means by which this is achieved is Yoga, a central feature of Indian religions. Yoga is the ascetic path of purification by which the effects of sin (akusla kamma) may be undone. Most forms of Indian religion employ some form of yogic discipline as an important, if not central, tool in the process of mind-body purification.