Gary Dean
Preface
> These essays were assembled in an unusual way, by an unlikely person, in an unlikely place. So before starting, you are owed an open account of all three; not as credentials, but as disclosures: where the work comes from, who helped make it, and, m…
Defining Dharma
> Dharma: A word almost no one can define without a lot of hand-waving, and almost everyone uses anyway. At its root, it means something very plain, "to hold"; the interesting thing is how far this plain idea reaches. The word is everywhere, once you…
The Dharmas of the Samin of Java
> An illiterate farmer, a fenced-off forest, and a way of living so complete it outlasted its maker by a hundred years. What a Javanese peasant movement can show us that the great religions no longer easily can. Sometime in the first years of the twe…
When Dharmas Go Wrong
> Every failure of a dharma turns out to be the dark twin of a strength. The bond that holds a group together is the fence that shuts others out; the authority that can free people is the authority that can rule them; the practice that liberates is t…
Coda
> Eight parts of searching have earned one plain definition and two tests. So here they are, stated rather than argued: what a dharma is, and how to tell the better ones ... A dharma is a way of living that tells a person or group how to act, what to…
wtf? SRSLY? :facepalm:
Some friends and I have a YouTube channel called 'a secular dharma?'. This channel has long -- often boring -- discussions about the nature and definition of dharma, and about life in general. In Sept 2024, YouTube removed a video entitled "Metaphysi…
ways, paths, cultures, outlooks
## The Etymology of 'Dharma' The word dharma is one of the most enduring and multifaceted terms in human thought, with deep roots in ancient Indian languages and cultures. While it is often associated with religious or spiritual traditions, its etymo…
