1: In Search of Dharma
Defining Dharma
Dharma means 'that which holds', not destiny or doctrine. Tracing its Sanskrit root shows why every society builds an ethics to hold itself together.
Gary Dean
Articles/Essays/Notes
#hashtags (36)
4: In Search of Dharma
A World of Dharmas
Five dharmas—Ubuntu, Stoicism, Aboriginal Dreaming, Sumarah and the Abrahamic covenant—disagree on nearly everything, yet rhyme underneath.
9: In Search of Dharma
Coda
What is a dharma? A concise definition, four defining features, and two tests for judging whether a way of living holds without crushing.
10: In Search of Dharma
Appendix: Dharmas: The Better Ones
Gary Dean's two-part test for judging dharmas: holding without crushing, and staying revisable by those they bind—applied to real cases and objections.
LLMs and the Linguistic Semiotic Key
What the machines found in our language, and why it ought to unsettle us
LLMs recovered the linguistic key from text alone, and confabulation research shows human minds were guessing too. We aren't as smart as we think.
Defining Dharma
ways, paths, cultures, outlooks
Explore dharma's Sanskrit roots and its evolution into an adaptive ethical framework—still relevant for secular life, ethics and modern culture.
Evolution Doesn't Read the Labels
Splitters, lumpers, and the problem of species
Why do taxonomists still argue over species after centuries of data? Gary Dean explores splitters, lumpers, and how naming forces continuums into boxes.
After Buddhism
A review of Stephen Batchelor's "After Buddhism: Rethinking the Dharma for a Secular Age"
A review of Batchelor's After Buddhism: sharp philological demolition and vivid history, but a secular dharma left without institutions to sustain it.
Karl Marx's The Origins and Development of Capitalism
a review
A critical review of Marx's Capital on capitalism's origins, weighing feudal breakdown and wage labour against his prophetic voice.
