Script: Defining Dharma

A Journey to the West

Gary Dean | 10 September 2024 | https://garydean.id/works/journey-to-the-west

Introduction

[On-screen title: Defining Dharma: A Journey to the West]
[Cut to a slow pan across ancient stone carvings, manuscripts, and cultural rituals from various parts of the world. Soft ambient music plays.]

The word dharma is one of the most enduring—and yet most misunderstood—concepts in human thought.

In the Western world, it often arrives as a borrowed term, loosely associated with Eastern spirituality, karma, or moral law. But this is a distortion—an oversimplification of a far more complex and adaptive idea.

Dharma is not a singular doctrine. It is not confined to any one religion, region, or historical period. It is not merely a rulebook, nor is it a metaphysical abstraction. It is a way—a path, a framework, a structure—that holds together the ethical, social, and existential dimensions of human life.

[Cut to black-and-white portraits and paintings of historical figures. Displayed text only, no narration:]

Gautama Buddha
Socrates
Marcus Aurelius
Niccolò Machiavelli
Baruch Spinoza
Arthur Schopenhauer
Charles Darwin
Edward O. Wilson
David Sloan Wilson
Stephen Batchelor
Robert Sapolsky
David Graeber
Rupert Bozeat
Elfie Klinger

[Return to voiceover with visuals of natural landscapes, urban life, and people in ritual or communal settings.]

My name is Gary Dean. I approach this inquiry not as a theologian or mystic, but as an anthropologist—one who studies the patterns of human life across time, culture, and biology.

The questions I explore in this film are deceptively simple:

What is dharma?
What is a dharma?
Is there such a thing as the dharma?
And what exactly do we mean when we use this word?

These are not merely semantic curiosities. They are questions that strike at the heart of how human beings orient themselves in a world of impermanence, complexity, and interdependence.

Over the years, my exploration of dharma has been shaped by multiple disciplines:

Human evolutionary biology, which reveals the deep roots of cooperation, empathy, and moral behavior in our species.
Evolutionary psychology, which examines how our cognitive architecture gives rise to ethical reasoning and social norms.
Anthropology and sociology, which trace the emergence of cultural systems—rituals, laws, customs—that hold communities together.

Each of these perspectives contributes to a broader understanding of dharma—not as a fixed truth, but as an evolving response to the conditions of human life.

[Cut to a montage of cultural practices: monks walking in silence, scientists in a lab, indigenous elders in council, protestors marching, children learning.]

Dharma is not a relic of the past. It is not confined to temples or scriptures. It is alive in the ways we live, the values we uphold, the systems we build, and the questions we ask.

This film is a journey—across time, across cultures, and across disciplines—to trace the many forms that dharma has taken, and to understand how it continues to shape the human condition.

[Fade to black. On-screen text:]

“Dharma is not a destination. It is a way of being that holds us together, even as we change.”

[Music fades. Transition to next section title.]

Defining “Dharma”

[On-screen title: Defining “Dharma”]
[Visual: Close-up of ancient Sanskrit manuscripts, intercut with stone inscriptions and linguistic diagrams. Soft instrumental music underscores the narration.]

The word dharma originates from the ancient Sanskrit root dhṛ—meaning “to hold,” “to support,” or “to sustain.” It is a term that predates the formalization of any single religious tradition. Its earliest usage appears in the Vedic corpus, where it was closely associated with ṛta—the principle of cosmic order, the rhythm of seasons, the integrity of ritual, and the harmony of the natural world.

[Visual: Overlay of the Sanskrit root धृ and its cognates in other Indo-European languages.]

This root, dhṛ, shares linguistic ancestry with several Indo-European terms:

Latin firmus — firm, stable
Greek thronos — throne, support
Lithuanian derėti — to be suitable, fitting
English derivatives such as firm, endure, and truth

These linguistic parallels suggest a deep cognitive structure: across cultures, humans have sought language to describe that which holds things together—socially, morally, cosmologically.

[Visual: Transition to early Vedic rituals, fire offerings, and depictions of seasonal cycles.]

In its earliest articulations, dharma was not a moral commandment, but a recognition of alignment—of being in accord with the patterns that sustain life. It referred to the integrity of action, the appropriateness of behavior, the suitability of a thing to its place in the whole.

Over time, dharma evolved into a central organizing principle in multiple traditions:

In Hindu thought, it came to signify both universal moral order and the specific duties of caste and life stage.
In Buddhism, dharma (Pali: dhamma) refers to both the teachings of the Buddha and the fundamental nature of reality.
In Jainism, it denotes both ethical conduct and a metaphysical principle that enables motion.
In Sikhism, it is associated with righteous action and devotion to truth.

[Visual: A split-screen showing a Hindu priest, a Buddhist monk, a Jain ascetic, and a Sikh elder—all engaged in different practices.]

But the etymological essence remains consistent: dharma is that which supports, that which sustains, that which holds together.

[Visual: A slow zoom out from a single thread to a woven tapestry.]

To understand dharma etymologically is to recognize that it is not a fixed law, but a structural metaphor—an image of coherence. It is not a command from above, but a pattern discerned from within the fabric of life.

[On-screen text:]

“Dharma is not what you are told to do. It is what holds the world together when you do it well.”

[Music fades. Transition to next section title.]

Beyond Etymology: Dharma as an Idea

[On-screen title: Beyond Etymology: Dharma as an Idea]
[Visual: A globe slowly rotating, dissolving into a montage of diverse human cultures—African villages, East Asian temples, European town halls, Amazonian rainforests, and modern cityscapes.]

The word dharma, as we have seen, emerges from the Sanskrit root dhṛ—to hold, to support, to sustain. But to understand dharma as merely a linguistic artifact is to miss its deeper significance.

Dharma is not just a word. It is an idea—a cognitive and cultural structure that has emerged independently in many human societies under different names, shaped by different conditions, yet performing similar functions.

[Visual: Split-screen showing different cultural terms:
Dharma (India) | Li (China) | Ma’at (Egypt) | Ubuntu (Africa) | Nomos (Greece) | Tikanga (Māori) | Bushidō (Japan)]

Across cultures, humans have developed frameworks to answer the same fundamental question:
How should we live, given the conditions of our world?

The idea of dharma is one such answer. It is a response to the perennial challenges of human life: cooperation, conflict, suffering, impermanence, and the search for meaning.

[Visual: A tribal council in Africa, a Confucian classroom in China, a Buddhist sangha in Thailand, a Māori marae gathering in New Zealand.]

In each of these settings, we see the same underlying structure: a shared way of life that orients individuals toward ethical action, social responsibility, and existential coherence.

These are not mere customs. They are not arbitrary traditions. They are adaptive systems—what we can call dharmas—that emerge from the interaction between human biology, social complexity, and ecological constraint.

[Visual: A diagram showing three overlapping circles labeled Biology, Culture, and Environment, with Dharma at the intersection.]

The idea of dharma is not bound to any one civilization. It is a product of cultural evolution—an emergent property of human cognition and social organization.

From the Confucian li, which governs ritual and relational ethics in East Asia,
to the African ethic of ubuntu, which affirms that “a person is a person through other people,”
to the Māori tikanga, which aligns human conduct with ancestral and ecological order—
each expresses a dharmic logic: a way of holding life together through ethical orientation and social coherence.

[On-screen text:
“A dharma is not a belief. It is a way of being that makes life livable.”]

These frameworks are not static. They evolve. They adapt. They are shaped by the pressures of history: colonization, urbanization, technological change, ecological crisis.

And yet, the idea of dharma persists—not as a doctrine, but as a function.
Not as a commandment, but as a structure that enables life to continue with dignity and meaning.

[Visual: A montage of people in action—planting trees, resolving conflict, teaching children, caring for the sick.]

To think of dharma as an idea is to recognize that ethical life is not a solved problem. It is an ongoing process of attunement—between self and society, between desire and duty, between freedom and responsibility.

[On-screen text:
“Dharma is not what we believe. It is what we enact—together.”]

[Visual: Fade to black. Music softens. Transition to next section title.]

The Concept of a Dharma

[On-screen title: The Concept of a Dharma]
[Visual: A slow aerial shot of a winding path through a forest, transitioning to scenes of human communities—villages, cities, nomadic camps—engaged in daily life.]

A dharma is not a commandment. It is not a law handed down from the heavens, nor a rigid code etched in stone. A dharma is a way—a path, a framework, a structure of life that emerges from the conditions of being human in a complex and impermanent world.

To speak of a dharma is to speak of a culturally and biologically informed mode of ethical orientation. It is a system that helps individuals and communities discern how to live, how to act, and how to relate—within themselves, with others, and with the world that sustains them.

[Visual: Overlay of different cultural practices—Confucian rites, Buddhist meditation, tribal councils, environmental activism.]

At its core, a dharma is a functional ethical structure. It holds together the psychological, social, and ecological dimensions of life. It is not a universal blueprint, but a contextual response—a pattern of coherence that arises from the interplay of biology, culture, and environment.

From a cognitive perspective, dharmas are scaffolds for moral reasoning. They provide the mental models through which individuals interpret right and wrong, appropriate and inappropriate, sacred and profane. These models are not innate, but learned—transmitted through story, ritual, symbol, and imitation.

[Visual: Children learning from elders, apprentices watching masters, ritual dances, courtroom proceedings.]

From an evolutionary standpoint, dharmas are cultural adaptations. As Homo sapiens evolved in tightly knit social groups, survival depended on cooperation, fairness, and mutual care. Over time, these pro-social tendencies were encoded into shared ethical systems—dharmas—that stabilized group behavior, reduced internal conflict, and fostered long-term cohesion.

[Visual: A diagram showing the overlap of evolutionary psychology, cultural transmission, and social norms.]

A dharma is not a fixed doctrine. It is a living system—an emergent pattern that evolves in response to changing conditions. It is shaped by geography, history, technology, and ecology. The dharma of a nomadic herder differs from that of an urban merchant, a healer, a warrior, or a scientist.

[On-screen text:
“There is no single dharma. There are only dharmas—plural, contextual, evolving.”]

Each dharma performs multiple functions:

Ethical Orientation: It offers a compass for navigating moral complexity.
Social Cohesion: It defines roles, responsibilities, and expectations that reduce friction and enable cooperation.
Psychological Integration: It helps individuals align their inner states—desires, fears, impulses—with external norms and values.
Existential Meaning: It situates the self within a larger narrative—of ancestry, cosmos, or community—offering coherence in the face of impermanence.

[Visual: A montage of people in moments of ethical decision—returning a lost wallet, intervening in conflict, caring for the sick.]

A dharma is not a belief system. It is a practice. It is enacted in daily life—through speech, gesture, ritual, and relationship. It is not what one professes, but what one embodies.

[Visual: A craftsman at work, a teacher guiding students, a farmer tending soil.]

In this light, dharmas are not merely cultural artifacts. They are adaptive technologies—evolved responses to the perennial question:
How shall we live, given the conditions of our world?

[Visual: A split-screen showing different dharmas in action—Ubuntu in community justice, Bushidō in martial training, scientific dharma in peer review, ecological dharma in reforestation.]

These dharmas are not mutually exclusive. They intersect, overlap, and sometimes conflict. Navigating these tensions requires discernment, dialogue, and ethical sensitivity—qualities that are themselves cultivated within dharmic life.

[On-screen text:
“A dharma is not a rulebook. It is a compass.”]

In a world marked by rapid change, technological acceleration, and ecological fragility, the concept of a dharma remains vital. It reminds us that ethical life is not a solved problem. It is a process—a continual inquiry into what it means to live well, together, in a world that is always becoming.

[Visual: A slow fade to a winding river, flowing through diverse landscapes.]

[Music softens. Transition to next section title.]

The Ancient Dharmic Philosophers

[On-screen title: The Ancient Dharmic Philosophers]
[Visual: A montage of ancient stone busts, manuscripts, and temple ruins from Greece, India, and China. Subtle ambient music underscores the narration.]

Between the 6th and 4th centuries BCE, a remarkable convergence occurred across several regions of the world. In India, China, and the Mediterranean, thinkers emerged who did not merely speculate about the cosmos—they articulated new ways of living. These were not prophets of belief, but architects of dharmas: adaptive frameworks for ethical life, social coherence, and existential orientation.

[Visual: A world map slowly zooming in on India, China, and Greece, with animated portraits of Mahāvīra, Gautama, Laozi, and Socrates appearing.]

Each of these figures—Mahāvīra, Gautama, Laozi, and Socrates—responded to the conditions of their time: urbanization, political instability, the breakdown of tribal structures, and the rise of complex societies. Their teachings were not abstract doctrines, but living inquiries into how to live well in a world marked by impermanence, suffering, and moral ambiguity.

Mahāvīra and the Jain Dharma

[Visual: Ancient Jain temples and statues of Mahāvīra. Scenes of ascetic practice and non-violent protest.]

Mahāvīra, the 24th Tīrthaṅkara of Jainism, articulated a dharma rooted in radical non-violence (ahiṃsā), non-possession (aparigraha), and truthfulness (satya). His teachings emerged in a time of growing urban complexity in the Gangetic plain, where new forms of wealth and power were destabilizing older moral orders.

The Jain dharma is not merely a metaphysical system—it is an ecological and ethical orientation. It affirms that all living beings possess jīva, or life-force, and that ethical life requires restraint, awareness, and reverence for all forms of existence.

[On-screen text:
“To harm another is to harm oneself. To restrain oneself is to honor life.”
— Jain aphorism]

Mahāvīra’s dharma is a response to the violence of civilization. It offers an ethic of radical interdependence, where liberation is not achieved through conquest, but through the disciplined reduction of harm.

Siddhartha Gautama and the Dharma of Non-Reactivity

[Visual: Scenes of the Buddha under the Bodhi tree, early sangha gatherings, and meditative practice.]

Siddhartha Gautama, known as the Buddha, articulated a dharma that begins not with belief, but with observation: the recognition that life, as ordinarily lived, is marked by dukkha—unsatisfactoriness, suffering, instability.

The Buddha’s response was not metaphysical speculation, but pragmatic inquiry. Through the Four Noble Truths and the Eightfold Path, he offered a method for transforming the mind: cultivating ethical conduct (sīla), mental discipline (samādhi), and wisdom (paññā).

[Visual: A diagram of the Eightfold Path, intercut with scenes of mindfulness, compassion, and ethical action.]

The Buddhist dharma is a path of non-reactivity. It trains the practitioner to observe the arising and passing of thoughts, sensations, and desires without clinging or aversion. It is a dharma of impermanence, interdependence, and liberation through insight.

[On-screen text:
“Just as a candle is consumed by flame, so is the self consumed by craving.”
— Paraphrase of early Buddhist teaching]

This dharma is not confined to monasteries. It is a technology of the self—an adaptive framework for reducing suffering and cultivating clarity in any context.

Laozi and the Way of Non-Forcing

[Visual: Chinese ink paintings of mountains and rivers, Daoist temples, and scenes of rural life.]

In ancient China, Laozi articulated a dharma known as the Dao—the Way. His teachings, preserved in the Dao De Jing, emerged during the Warring States period, a time of political fragmentation and moral confusion.

Laozi’s dharma is not a code of conduct, but a principle of alignment. It affirms that the universe operates through spontaneous order, not coercive control. The sage, therefore, does not impose, but yields; does not strive, but flows.

[Visual: Water flowing around rocks, trees bending in the wind.]

This is the dharma of wu wei—non-forcing. It is an ethic of humility, simplicity, and responsiveness. In a world obsessed with domination, Laozi offered a path of attunement.

[On-screen text:
“The soft overcomes the hard. The still overcomes the restless.”
— Dao De Jing]

Laozi’s dharma is ecological in its essence. It invites human beings to live in harmony with the patterns of nature, not in opposition to them.

Socrates and the Dharma of Ethical Inquiry

[Visual: Classical Greek architecture, Socratic dialogues in animated form, scenes of public debate.]

In Athens, Socrates walked the streets not as a teacher, but as a questioner. He claimed to know nothing, yet insisted that the unexamined life was not worth living.

Socrates’ dharma was not a doctrine, but a method: dialectic, dialogue, and ethical self-examination. He challenged the assumptions of his time—about justice, virtue, and the good life—not to destroy them, but to refine them.

[Visual: A reenactment of the trial of Socrates, with his refusal to flee or recant.]

His refusal to escape execution was not martyrdom, but fidelity to a dharma: the commitment to truth, integrity, and the cultivation of the soul.

[On-screen text:
“I am not an Athenian or a Greek, but a citizen of the world.”
— Attributed to Socrates]

Socrates’ dharma is the dharma of ethical inquiry. It affirms that wisdom is not possession, but practice; not certainty, but the courage to question.

The Dharmic Function of Philosophy

[Visual: A collage of all four figures—Mahāvīra, Gautama, Laozi, and Socrates—fading into scenes of modern life: classrooms, protests, meditation halls, ecological restoration.]

Each of these ancient philosophers articulated a dharma—a way of living that responded to the conditions of their time. They did not offer salvation, but orientation. They did not impose belief, but invited reflection.

Their dharmas differ in form, but converge in function:

They provide ethical scaffolding in times of uncertainty.
They cultivate psychological resilience and moral clarity.
They sustain social cohesion without coercion.
They offer existential meaning without metaphysical guarantees.

These are not relics of the past. Their insights continue to inform secular dharmas today—in contemplative science, civic ethics, environmental stewardship, and educational reform.

[On-screen text:
“The dharmic philosopher is not a knower of truth, but a practitioner of care.”]

In a world once again marked by fragmentation, acceleration, and ecological peril, the ancient dharmic philosophers remind us that to live well is not to possess answers, but to walk a path—with humility, discernment, and responsibility.

[Visual: Fade to black. Music softens. Transition to next section title.]

The Axial Age and the Emergence of Dharmas

[On-screen title: The Axial Age and the Emergence of Dharmas]
[Visual: A slow zoom across a map of Eurasia, highlighting key regions—India, China, the Eastern Mediterranean, and Persia—circa 800–200 BCE. Overlay with animated trade routes, early cities, and fortifications.]

Between the 8th and 3rd centuries BCE, a profound transformation occurred across multiple, geographically distant civilizations. Known as the Axial Age—a term coined by the German philosopher Karl Jaspers—this period witnessed the emergence of new ethical, philosophical, and spiritual frameworks that would shape human consciousness for millennia.

These were not isolated events. They were parallel responses to a shared condition: the increasing complexity of human life.

[Visual: Aerial reconstructions of early cities—Pataliputra, Luoyang, Athens, Babylon. Scenes of crowded markets, city walls, and administrative centers.]

Urbanization was accelerating. City-states and empires were expanding. Populations were growing beyond the scale of kinship-based societies. The old tribal dharmas—rooted in bloodline, ritual, and ancestral memory—were no longer sufficient to hold together these new, heterogeneous polities.

Walls were rising—not only literal walls of stone and clay, but symbolic walls of law, hierarchy, and institutional control. The emergence of writing, currency, and bureaucracy enabled new forms of governance, but also introduced new forms of alienation, inequality, and existential anxiety.

[Visual: Scenes of scribes recording laws, coins being minted, soldiers enforcing order, and citizens pleading before magistrates.]

In this context, the question of how to live—ethically, coherently, and meaningfully—became urgent. The dharmas of the Axial Age arose not as religious dogmas, but as adaptive responses to this new scale of human life.

India: From Ritual to Reflection

[Visual: Transition to ancient India—Upanishadic sages in forest hermitages, early Buddhist sanghas, Jain ascetics walking barefoot.]

In the Indian subcontinent, the Vedic ritual order was giving way to introspective inquiry. The Upanishads reinterpreted sacrifice as internal transformation. The Buddha rejected caste and metaphysical speculation, offering instead a dharma of mindfulness, compassion, and non-reactivity. Mahāvīra emphasized radical non-violence and self-restraint.

These were not mere theological shifts. They were dharmic recalibrations—ethical frameworks designed to stabilize life in a world where old certainties were dissolving.

China: Harmony Amidst Disorder

[Visual: Ancient Chinese scrolls, Confucian classrooms, Daoist hermits in the mountains.]

In China, the Warring States period had plunged society into chaos. Confucius responded with a dharma of relational ethics—ren (benevolence), li (ritual propriety), and xiao (filial piety)—to restore harmony through moral cultivation. Laozi, by contrast, offered a dharma of withdrawal: the Dao, the Way, which flows not through control but through alignment with the natural order.

Both responses sought to reweave the social fabric—not through force, but through ethical attunement.

Greece: Reason and the Polis

[Visual: Agora debates, Socratic dialogues, Plato’s Academy.]

In the Greek city-states, the rise of democracy and philosophical inquiry gave birth to a dharma of reasoned self-examination. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle each proposed that ethical life required the cultivation of virtue, the pursuit of truth, and the alignment of the soul with the good.

These were not abstract exercises. They were responses to the tensions of the polis—how to live justly in a society of competing interests, shifting alliances, and fragile institutions.

Persia and the Levant: Justice and Covenant

[Visual: Zoroastrian fire temples, Hebrew prophets speaking to crowds.]

In Persia, Zoroaster articulated a moral dualism of truth versus falsehood, light versus darkness—a dharma of ethical choice in a cosmically ordered universe. In the Levant, the Hebrew prophets called for justice, mercy, and covenantal responsibility—a dharma of communal accountability under divine law.

Dharmas as Cultural Technologies

[Visual: A diagram showing the convergence of multiple dharmas—Indian, Chinese, Greek, Persian—around shared functions.]

Despite their doctrinal differences, the dharmas of the Axial Age share a common function: they are cultural technologies for ethical orientation, social cohesion, and existential navigation.

They emerged not from divine revelation, but from the pressures of complexity. They were not imposed from above, but cultivated from below—through dialogue, reflection, and lived experimentation.

These dharmas addressed the same structural challenges:

How to sustain cooperation beyond kinship.
How to regulate power without tyranny.
How to respond to suffering without despair.
How to live meaningfully in the face of death.

[On-screen text:
“The Axial Age was not a revolution of belief, but a reconfiguration of being.”]

The Role of Boundaries

[Visual: Walls of Babylon, the Great Wall of China, Greek city-state borders.]

The Axial Age also marked the rise of boundaries—geopolitical, legal, and conceptual. As empires expanded and identities solidified, dharmas began to differentiate themselves. What had once been shared ethical practices became codified traditions, often exclusive and institutionalized.

Yet within these boundaries, the dharmic impulse remained: to hold life together, to reduce harm, to cultivate wisdom.

The Evolution of Dharmas

[Visual: A time-lapse of dharmas evolving—scrolls becoming books, temples becoming universities, oral traditions becoming legal codes.]

The dharmas of the Axial Age did not remain static. They evolved—absorbing new knowledge, responding to new crises, adapting to new forms of life. Some became religions. Others became philosophies. Many fractured, reformed, or faded.

But their core function endured: to provide orientation in a world that is always changing.

[On-screen text:
“A dharma is not a doctrine. It is an adaptive response to complexity.”]

The Axial Legacy

[Visual: Modern scenes—courtrooms, classrooms, meditation centers, protest marches.]

Today, we live in a world shaped by the dharmas of the Axial Age. Our legal systems, educational institutions, ethical vocabularies, and spiritual practices all bear their imprint.

Yet we also face new complexities: technological acceleration, ecological collapse, global interdependence. The dharmas we have inherited may no longer suffice. New dharmas are emerging—secular, plural, planetary.

The question remains:
What will hold us together now?

[Visual: A slow fade to a river delta, where many streams converge.]

[Music softens. Transition to next section title.]

Common Characteristics of a Dharma

[On-screen title: Common Characteristics of a Dharma]
[Visual: A montage of diverse human communities—monks in meditation, elders in council, scientists in lab coats, environmental activists planting trees, artisans at work. Subtle ambient music underscores the narration.]

Across cultures, epochs, and worldviews, dharmas have emerged in myriad forms—religious and secular, mystical and pragmatic, ancient and contemporary. They are called by many names: dharma, li, ubuntu, tikanga, nomos, virtus. Yet despite their diversity, all dharmas share a set of common characteristics—structural features that reflect the deep patterns of human cognition, social life, and existential orientation.

These characteristics are not imposed from without, but arise from within the conditions of human existence. They are adaptive responses to the perennial challenges of living together in a world of impermanence, complexity, and interdependence.

1. Ethical Orientation

[Visual: A teacher guiding students, a judge mediating a dispute, a healer tending to a patient.]

Every dharma provides a framework for discerning what is appropriate, responsible, or life-affirming in a given context. This is not mere moralism. It is a functional necessity. In the absence of shared ethical orientation, human groups fragment, conflict escalates, and coherence dissolves.

Dharmas offer principles—such as non-harm, compassion, honesty, and restraint—not as absolutes, but as guides for navigating moral ambiguity. They do not eliminate complexity; they render it intelligible.

[Visual: Community rituals, cooperative labor, shared meals.]

Dharmas bind individuals into communities. They define roles, responsibilities, and expectations. They establish norms of behavior that reduce friction, foster trust, and enable large-scale cooperation.

This function is especially vital in societies that extend beyond kinship bonds. As human groups scale, dharmas become the invisible architecture that holds them together—not through coercion, but through shared meaning.

3. Psychological Integration

[Visual: A person meditating, a child learning to manage emotions, a therapist and client in dialogue.]

Dharmas help individuals align their internal states—desires, fears, impulses—with external responsibilities and social realities. They provide a structure for emotional regulation, cognitive clarity, and behavioral coherence.

Neuroscience confirms that ethical and contemplative practices—central to many dharmas—enhance activity in brain regions associated with empathy, impulse control, and reflective awareness. Dharmas are not only social systems; they are technologies of the self.

4. Existential Orientation

[Visual: A funeral ceremony, a birth ritual, a solitary figure gazing at the stars.]

Human beings are not only social animals; we are meaning-making animals. We confront death, suffering, and uncertainty with a need for narrative, for coherence, for a sense of place within a larger whole.

Dharmas provide this orientation. They situate the individual within a cosmological, ancestral, or ecological order. They offer practices and symbols that help us face impermanence without despair, and responsibility without paralysis.

5. Contextual and Adaptive Structure

[Visual: A split-screen showing a Buddhist monk, a Confucian scholar, a Maasai elder, and a climate activist.]

There is no single, universal dharma. Every dharma is contextual—shaped by the ecological, historical, and technological conditions of its emergence. The dharma of a nomadic herder is not the dharma of a digital technologist. Yet each is a response to the same structural question:
How shall we live, given the conditions of our world?

Dharmas evolve. They adapt. They are not static doctrines, but living systems—open to revision, responsive to feedback, and capable of transformation.

6. Transmission and Embodiment

[Visual: An elder telling stories to children, a martial arts master training a student, a scientist mentoring a young researcher.]

Dharmas are not merely taught; they are transmitted—through story, ritual, apprenticeship, and imitation. They are embodied in practice, not merely professed in belief.

This transmission is intergenerational. It is how cultures remember, how values persist, and how ethical life is sustained across time.

7. Symbolic and Aesthetic Expression

[Visual: Religious iconography, ceremonial dress, architectural forms, protest banners.]

Dharmas are not only cognitive frameworks; they are also aesthetic systems. They are expressed through symbols, rituals, clothing, music, and space. These forms are not ornamental. They encode values, evoke emotion, and reinforce identity.

Aesthetic expression is a carrier of dharma—translating ethical principles into embodied experience.

8. Regulation of Power and Violence

[Visual: A tribal council, a courtroom, a military oath ceremony.]

Every dharma addresses the question of power—its use, its limits, its legitimacy. Whether in the form of warrior codes, civic constitutions, or spiritual vows, dharmas seek to regulate the use of force and the exercise of authority.

They do not eliminate conflict. But they provide structures for its containment, its resolution, and its integration into the social fabric.

9. Feedback and Self-Correction

[Visual: A community revising its laws, a religious council debating doctrine, a scientific peer review process.]

Dharmas are not infallible. They can become rigid, oppressive, or obsolete. But the most resilient dharmas contain within themselves mechanisms for feedback and self-correction—rituals of renewal, councils of elders, forums of critique.

This capacity for reflexivity is what allows dharmas to endure—not as frozen systems, but as evolving responses to the changing conditions of life.

[On-screen text:
“A dharma is not a belief. It is a structure that holds life together.”]

[Visual: A slow pan across a woven tapestry, a beehive, a coral reef, a bustling city—each a metaphor for complex, adaptive coherence.]

Despite their differences in form, language, and lineage, all dharmas share these common characteristics. They are not arbitrary conventions, but emergent properties of human life—reflecting our deepest needs for orientation, connection, and care.

In a world increasingly marked by fragmentation, acceleration, and ecological crisis, the question is not whether we need dharmas, but what kinds of dharmas we are willing to cultivate—together.

[Music fades. Transition to next section title.]

Why Do Dharmas Exist?

[On-screen title: Why Do Dharmas Exist?]
[Visual: A montage of early human life—hunter-gatherers around fire, cave paintings, communal hunting, childbirth, and burial rituals.]

Dharmas exist because human beings, as biologically social and cognitively reflective organisms, cannot survive or flourish without structured ways of living. These structures—ethical, social, psychological, and existential—are not arbitrary inventions. They are emergent responses to the conditions of human life: impermanence, interdependence, vulnerability, and the need for coherence.

[Visual: A slow zoom into a human brain scan, transitioning to scenes of group cooperation—building shelters, sharing food, resolving conflict.]

From an evolutionary standpoint, Homo sapiens is a species shaped by interdependence. Our survival has always depended on cooperation—on the ability to trust, to share, to coordinate, and to care. These behaviors are not instinctual in the way that they are for eusocial insects. They must be learned, reinforced, and transmitted. Dharmas are the cultural scaffolds that make this possible.

[On-screen text:
“Without shared ways of living, there is no human life.”]

Dharmas exist because they solve problems that biology alone cannot. They regulate behavior in groups too large for kinship alone to manage. They encode memory, transmit values, and stabilize identity across generations. They reduce the cognitive load of constant ethical decision-making by providing frameworks of appropriateness. They make the implicit explicit, the chaotic coherent.

[Visual: A diagram showing the overlap of three circles: Biology, Culture, and Environment, with Dharma at the intersection.]

In early human societies, these frameworks emerged as oral traditions, taboos, rituals, and kinship codes. As societies grew more complex—through agriculture, urbanization, and trade—dharmas evolved into more formalized systems: laws, philosophies, religions, and civic institutions.

[Visual: A time-lapse of human settlements growing from small villages to cities, with dharmic structures—temples, courts, schools—emerging alongside.]

Dharmas exist because they perform multiple, interlocking functions:

1. Ethical Orientation

[Visual: A person standing at a crossroads, contemplating two paths.]

Dharmas provide guidance in situations of moral ambiguity. They help individuals discern what is appropriate, responsible, or life-affirming in a given context. They do not eliminate complexity, but offer tools for navigating it.

[Visual: A community gathering—feasting, dancing, resolving disputes.]

Dharmas bind individuals into groups. They define roles, establish norms, and create shared expectations. They reduce friction, foster trust, and enable cooperation at scales far beyond kinship.

3. Psychological Integration

[Visual: A person meditating, journaling, or engaging in ritual.]

Dharmas help individuals align their internal states—emotions, desires, fears—with external responsibilities. They provide a sense of coherence, reducing anxiety and enhancing resilience.

4. Existential Meaning

[Visual: A funeral, a birth, a stargazer on a mountain.]

Dharmas offer narratives through which individuals can interpret suffering, mortality, and impermanence. They situate the self within a larger order—ancestral, ecological, or cosmological—providing orientation in a world without guarantees.

5. Regulation of Power and Violence

[Visual: A tribal council, a courtroom, a military oath.]

Dharmas place ethical constraints on the use of force and authority. They define legitimacy, establish accountability, and seek to prevent domination and abuse.

6. Cultural Transmission

[Visual: An elder teaching children, a ritual being passed down.]

Dharmas encode and transmit knowledge, values, and practices across generations. They are the memory of a culture—not only its stories, but its habits of care.

[On-screen text:
“Dharmas are not beliefs. They are adaptive responses to the conditions of life.”]

The existence of dharmas is not a matter of ideology. It is a matter of necessity. Without them, human life becomes incoherent—socially fragmented, ethically unmoored, psychologically disintegrated.

Even in secular, post-metaphysical societies, dharmas persist. They appear in professional ethics, scientific integrity, environmental stewardship, civic responsibility. They evolve, but they do not disappear.

[Visual: A split-screen showing a Buddhist monk, a climate activist, a physician, and a software engineer—all engaged in their respective practices.]

Each of these individuals is enacting a dharma—a way of living that holds together their actions, their values, and their responsibilities within a larger whole.

[On-screen text:
“To live without a dharma is not freedom. It is disorientation.”]

Dharmas exist because human beings are not merely biological organisms. We are meaning-making, pattern-seeking, future-oriented beings. We require coherence—not only to survive, but to live well.

[Visual: A river flowing through a landscape, branching and converging.]

Dharmas are the channels through which human life flows. They do not dictate the destination. But they shape the journey—holding us together, even as we change.

[Music fades. Transition to next section title.]

The Evolution of Dharmas

[On-screen title: The Evolution of Dharmas]
[Visual: Time-lapse of a forest growing from saplings to a dense canopy, intercut with evolving human settlements—from tribal camps to megacities.]

Dharmas are not static. They are not eternal laws etched into the cosmos. They are living systems—adaptive frameworks that emerge, transform, and dissolve in response to the shifting conditions of human life.

A dharma is not a singular truth, but a situated response. It arises from the interplay of biology, environment, culture, and technology. As these conditions change, so too does the dharma.

[Visual: A diagram showing concentric circles labeled Biology, Culture, Technology, Ecology, with Dharma at the center.]

From the earliest human societies, dharmas emerged as oral traditions, taboos, and kinship codes—ways of regulating behavior in small, interdependent groups. These early dharmas were embedded in ritual, myth, and ancestral memory. They were not written, but enacted—through dance, story, and seasonal observance.

[Visual: Cave paintings, firelit storytelling, initiation rites.]

As agriculture took root and populations grew, dharmas evolved to meet new challenges: property, hierarchy, surplus, and conflict. The rise of cities and states required more formalized systems—laws, priesthoods, bureaucracies. Dharmas became codified in texts, institutionalized in temples, and enforced through ritual and rule.

[Visual: Ancient legal codes—Hammurabi’s stele, Vedic scriptures, Confucian classics.]

The Axial Age marked a further evolution. As societies became more complex and plural, dharmas turned inward. Philosophers and sages articulated paths of ethical self-cultivation, existential inquiry, and universal compassion. These were not tribal codes, but frameworks for navigating life in a world of strangers.

[Visual: Socratic dialogues, Buddhist sanghas, Daoist hermits, Confucian academies.]

With the rise of empires, dharmas were absorbed into statecraft. They became instruments of legitimacy, order, and control. Religious dharmas were institutionalized; civic dharmas were codified. Yet even within these structures, dharmas continued to evolve—through schism, reform, and reinterpretation.

[Visual: The spread of Buddhism along the Silk Road, the evolution of Islamic jurisprudence, the Protestant Reformation.]

The modern era introduced new forces of transformation: industrialization, secularization, scientific rationalism, and global capitalism. Traditional dharmas were challenged—by the disembedding of individuals from place, kin, and ritual; by the fragmentation of authority; by the acceleration of change.

[Visual: Factories, railroads, printing presses, urban sprawl.]

In response, new dharmas emerged—secular, plural, and planetary. Scientific integrity became a dharma of truth-seeking. Human rights became a dharma of dignity. Environmental stewardship became a dharma of interdependence. These are not religious systems, but they function as dharmas: orienting behavior, sustaining coherence, and responding to the conditions of the time.

[Visual: Climate protests, scientific conferences, humanitarian aid, digital ethics panels.]

The evolution of dharmas is not linear. It is not a march of progress. It is a branching, recursive, and often contested process. Dharmas adapt through feedback—through dialogue, crisis, and experimentation. Some dissolve. Others hybridize. New forms emerge at the margins.

[On-screen text:
“A dharma is not a fossil. It is a pattern of life, always becoming.”]

Technological change continues to reshape the landscape of dharmas. Artificial intelligence, surveillance capitalism, and digital ecosystems demand new ethical frameworks. What is the dharma of the algorithm? What is the dharma of data? What is the dharma of planetary survival?

[Visual: AI interfaces, satellite imagery of deforestation, digital avatars, climate models.]

In this context, the evolution of dharmas is not optional. It is imperative. The dharmas that sustained past societies may no longer suffice. New conditions require new responses—rooted in ancient wisdom, but not bound by it.

[Visual: A weaving loom, threads of many colors forming a new pattern.]

To evolve a dharma is not to abandon tradition. It is to carry forward its function—ethical orientation, social coherence, existential clarity—into new forms, suited to new realities.

[On-screen text:
“The dharma lives not in the form, but in the function.”]

[Visual: A child learning from an elder, a coder writing ethical guidelines, a community restoring a forest.]

The dharmas of the future will not be handed down. They will be co-created—through reflection, dialogue, and care. They will be plural, contextual, and dynamic. They will not offer certainty, but coherence. Not salvation, but responsibility.

[Visual: A river delta, many streams converging, branching, and flowing forward.]

[Music fades. Transition to next section title.]

Examples of Dharmas in Human Cultures

[On-screen title: Examples of Dharmas in Human Cultures]
[Visual: A global montage—temples, parliaments, hospitals, martial arts dojos. Subtle instrumental music underscores the narration.]

Dharmas are not confined to any one tradition, region, or era. They are adaptive ethical frameworks that emerge wherever human beings seek to live coherently within their world. Whether religious or secular, ancient or modern, dharmas function as cultural technologies—holding together the psychological, social, and existential dimensions of life.

Across human history, we find dharmas expressed in multiple domains: spiritual, political, professional, and martial. Each reflects the conditions of its emergence, yet all perform the same essential function: to sustain coherence amid complexity.

Religious Dharmas

[Visual: Aerial shots of temples, mosques, churches, and monasteries across different cultures.]

Religious dharmas are among the most enduring and widely recognized. They offer comprehensive frameworks for ethical conduct, ritual practice, and existential orientation. Examples include:

Sanātana Dharma in Hindu traditions, emphasizing cosmic order, caste duties, and spiritual liberation.
Halakha in Judaism, a legal-ethical system governing daily life and communal identity.
Sharia in Islam, integrating law, morality, and spiritual practice.
Christian monastic rule, such as the Rule of St. Benedict, guiding communal life through prayer, labor, and obedience.

But among these, the Buddhist Dharma stands out for its clarity of structure and its emphasis on direct experience over metaphysical belief.

[Visual: Buddhist monks in meditation, lay practitioners engaged in mindfulness, scenes from Theravāda monasteries.]

The Buddhist dharma, articulated by Siddhartha Gautama—the Buddha—is not a creed but a path: a pragmatic method for reducing suffering through ethical conduct (sīla), mental discipline (samādhi), and insight (paññā).

At its heart lies the recognition of impermanence (anicca), unsatisfactoriness (dukkha), and non-self (anattā). These are not dogmas, but observations—diagnoses of the human condition.

[On-screen text:
“Just as the ocean has one taste—the taste of salt—so too the dharma has one taste: the taste of liberation.”
— The Buddha]

The Buddhist dharma is not confined to monasteries. It has evolved into secular forms—mindfulness-based therapies, contemplative science, and ethical leadership programs—while retaining its core function: to cultivate non-reactivity, compassion, and clarity in the face of suffering.

Political Dharmas

[Visual: Parliaments, tribal councils, protest marches, and community gatherings.]

Political dharmas are frameworks that sustain collective life through governance, justice, and civic responsibility. They include:

Athenian democracy, grounded in public deliberation and civic virtue.
Confucian statecraft, which emphasizes moral leadership and relational ethics.
Islamic caliphates, integrating spiritual and political authority.
Modern constitutional democracies, with their emphasis on rights, participation, and rule of law.

Among these, the African ethic of Ubuntu offers a particularly resonant political dharma—one that affirms relational personhood and communal responsibility.

[Visual: South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission, community healing circles, rural village councils.]

Ubuntu, often translated as “I am because we are,” is not a written code but a lived ethic. It affirms that human dignity arises not from autonomy, but from interdependence. It guides conflict resolution, leadership, and justice—not through retribution, but through reconciliation.

[On-screen text:
“A person is a person through other people.”
— Ubuntu proverb]

In post-apartheid South Africa, Ubuntu informed the Truth and Reconciliation process, emphasizing healing over punishment. In contemporary governance, it shapes leadership models grounded in humility, service, and collective well-being.

Ubuntu is a dharma of political life that resists individualism and instrumentalism. It reminds us that ethical governance begins not with control, but with care.

Occupational and Professional Dharmas

[Visual: Artisans at work, doctors in hospitals, teachers in classrooms, medieval guild halls.]

Occupational dharmas define the ethical responsibilities of specific roles. They include:

The Hippocratic Oath in medicine.
The Code of Hammurabi for builders and merchants.
Medieval guild charters, which regulated quality, apprenticeship, and mutual aid.
Modern professional codes in law, journalism, engineering, and education.

Among these, the Physician’s Dharma is one of the most enduring and ethically charged.

[Visual: Doctors in surgery, palliative care, rural clinics, and medical training.]

The physician’s dharma is not merely technical. It is existential. It places the healer at the threshold between life and death, vulnerability and trust. It demands not only competence, but compassion, integrity, and humility.

[On-screen text:
“Cure sometimes, relieve often, comfort always.”
— Medical aphorism]

This dharma evolves with technology and context. It now includes responsibilities to public health, ecological sustainability, and equitable access. It also includes care for the caregiver—recognizing the psychological toll of moral injury and burnout.

The physician’s dharma is a dharma of presence: to witness suffering without turning away, to act without arrogance, and to hold life with reverence.

Military and Martial Dharmas

[Visual: Military ceremonies, martial arts training, historical battle reenactments.]

Martial dharmas regulate the use of force. They include:

The Kshatriya Dharma in Hinduism, emphasizing righteous warfare.
Chivalry in medieval Europe, blending martial skill with Christian virtue.
The Spartan Agoge, training citizens in discipline and sacrifice.
Modern military codes, such as the Geneva Conventions and rules of engagement.

Among these, Bushidō—the Way of the Warrior in feudal Japan—offers a refined martial dharma.

[Visual: Samurai in armor, calligraphy of Bushidō virtues, scenes of sword training and tea ceremony.]

Bushidō is not merely a code of combat. It is a path of ethical cultivation. It emphasizes loyalty, honor, courage, and self-discipline. It integrates Zen mindfulness, Confucian duty, and Shinto reverence.

[On-screen text:
“The way of the warrior is death.”
— Yamamoto Tsunetomo, Hagakure]

This stark aphorism is not a call to violence, but a reminder of impermanence. The samurai trains not to kill, but to die well—to act with clarity in the face of mortality.

Bushidō is a dharma of restraint. It channels aggression into discipline, power into service. In modern contexts, its spirit lives on in martial arts, ethical leadership, and the cultivation of inner strength.

[Visual: A montage of all four dharmas—Buddhist meditation, Ubuntu community gathering, physician at work, samurai in training.]

Each of these dharmas—religious, political, professional, and martial—arises from a specific context. Yet all perform the same essential function: to hold life together through ethical orientation, social coherence, and existential clarity.

They are not relics. They are living paths—ways of being that continue to evolve, adapt, and guide us in a world of uncertainty.

[On-screen text:
“A dharma is not what we believe. It is how we live—together.”]

[Music fades. Transition to next section title.]

The Samin of Java

[On-screen title: The Samin of Java]
[Visual: Archival photographs of rural Javanese villages, teak forests, and portraits of Samin elders. Subtle gamelan music plays in the background.]

In the late 19th century, amid the colonial extraction and bureaucratic expansion of the Dutch East Indies, a quiet but radical dharma emerged in the teak forests of Central and East Java. It was not a religion, nor a political ideology. It was a way of life—a dharma—rooted in simplicity, nonviolence, and ethical refusal.

This was the dharma of the Samin people, also known as Sedulur Sikep—“the siblings who are steadfast.” Founded by Surontiko Samin, a Javanese peasant and mystic, the Samin movement articulated a form of resistance that did not rely on weapons or protest, but on silence, integrity, and the cultivation of an alternative moral order.

[Visual: A slow pan across teak forests, intercut with scenes of traditional Javanese farming and community gatherings.]

The context was one of dispossession. Dutch colonial authorities had declared vast tracts of forest as state property, restricting access to land that had long sustained local communities. Taxes were imposed, land titles demanded, and indigenous systems of stewardship were undermined.

Surontiko Samin’s response was not rebellion in the conventional sense. It was a dharmic refusal. He taught his followers to reject the legitimacy of colonial rule—not through violence, but through non-cooperation. They refused to pay taxes, register land, or participate in state institutions. They spoke in parables, avoided confrontation, and lived by a code of ethical clarity.

[On-screen text:
“We do not oppose. We do not obey. We simply live.”
— Attributed to Surontiko Samin]

The Samin dharma is defined not by dogma, but by practice. It is transmitted orally, through story, proverb, and example. Its core principles include:

1. Nonviolence and Ethical Refusal

[Visual: Samin villagers walking barefoot, tending fields, and engaging in quiet conversation.]

The Samin do not confront power directly. They withdraw from it. Their resistance is passive, but not passive in spirit. It is a refusal to participate in systems they deem unjust, exploitative, or dishonest. They do not fight the state; they ignore it.

This is not apathy. It is a dharma of dignity—a way of preserving ethical integrity in the face of domination.

2. Simplicity and Self-Sufficiency

[Visual: Traditional Javanese homes, subsistence farming, handmade tools.]

The Samin reject material excess, trade, and accumulation. They value subsistence over surplus, cooperation over competition. Wealth is not a sign of success, but of ethical compromise.

This simplicity is not romantic primitivism. It is a deliberate dharmic choice—a refusal to participate in systems of exploitation and inequality.

3. Honesty, Respect, and Measured Speech

[Visual: Close-ups of Samin elders speaking slowly, children listening attentively.]

Speech is sacred. To lie, to boast, or to speak in anger is to violate the dharma. The Samin cultivate tepa slira—empathy, humility, and restraint. They avoid gossip, conflict, and confrontation.

This ethic of speech is not merely social decorum. It is a form of psychological discipline—a way of reducing reactivity and cultivating inner clarity.

4. Ecological Harmony

[Visual: Teak forests, rice paddies, and traditional irrigation systems.]

The Samin do not see the land as property. It is not a commodity to be owned, but a living partner to be cared for. Their relationship with the forest is one of stewardship, not extraction.

This ecological sensibility is not abstract environmentalism. It is embedded in daily life—in how they plant, harvest, and walk upon the earth.

[On-screen text:
“The land is not ours. We belong to it.”
— Samin proverb]

5. Communal Autonomy

[Visual: Samin families sharing meals, building homes together, resolving disputes informally.]

The Samin live in close-knit communities, governed not by external law but by shared ethical understanding. There are no formal hierarchies, no written codes. Authority is earned through wisdom, not imposed through force.

This is not anarchism. It is a dharma of mutual care—an adaptive system for sustaining social cohesion without coercion.

A Secular Dharma

[Visual: A Samin elder sitting in quiet reflection, surrounded by children.]

Though often labeled a religious movement, the Samin dharma is fundamentally secular. Surontiko Samin denied belief in a personal god, heaven, or hell. He taught that divinity is not external, but internal—“God is within me.”

This inward orientation does not lead to isolation. It leads to responsibility. The Samin do not act out of fear of punishment or hope of reward. They act from a cultivated sense of ethical presence.

[On-screen text:
“We do not pray. We live rightly.”
— Samin teaching]

Resonances and Parallels

[Visual: Split-screen comparisons—Gandhi’s satyagraha, Daoist hermits, Zen simplicity.]

The Samin dharma shares affinities with other traditions:

With Gandhian satyagraha, in its emphasis on nonviolent resistance and moral clarity.
With Daoism, in its alignment with natural rhythms and rejection of imposed authority.
With Zen Buddhism, in its simplicity, silence, and ethical immediacy.
With existential philosophy, in its refusal of metaphysical consolation and its embrace of lived responsibility.

Yet the Samin dharma is not a derivative. It is a unique, indigenous response to the conditions of colonialism, modernity, and ecological disruption.

Contemporary Relevance

[Visual: Samin communities protesting mining projects, engaging in environmental activism.]

Today, the Samin continue to resist. In the Kendeng Mountains, they have opposed limestone mining that threatens their ancestral lands. Their protest is not framed in legal terms, but in ethical ones. The land is sacred—not because of doctrine, but because of relationship.

[On-screen text:
“We are the land. If it is destroyed, so are we.”
— Kendeng Samin elder]

In an age of ecological collapse, social fragmentation, and moral exhaustion, the Samin dharma offers a quiet, enduring alternative. It does not seek to convert, to conquer, or to dominate. It simply lives—steadfast, coherent, and clear.

[Visual: A final wide shot of the teak forest at dawn, with a Samin family walking a narrow path.]

The dharma of the Samin is a testament to the human capacity for ethical self-organization. It is a reminder that resistance need not be loud, that dignity need not be declared, and that coherence can be cultivated—not through force, but through fidelity to a way of life.

[On-screen text:
“To live rightly is to resist.”]

[Music fades. Transition to next section title.]

The TriDharma of Sumarah

[On-screen title: The TriDharma of Sumarah]
[Visual: Aerial shots of Javanese landscapes—rice fields, misty hills, and quiet villages. Traditional gamelan music plays softly in the background.]

In the heart of Java, Indonesia, amid the legacies of colonialism, spiritual syncretism, and modern upheaval, a quiet dharma emerged. It did not seek followers, temples, or doctrines. It offered no salvation, no metaphysical promises. It offered only a way—a path of surrender, discernment, and ethical presence.

This is the dharma of Sumarah.

Sumarah is not a religion. It is a contemplative and ethical tradition rooted in Javanese mystical culture. Its name means “to surrender”—not in defeat, but in attunement. It is a practice of yielding to the unfolding of life, of softening the ego’s grip, and of aligning with a deeper rhythm.

At the heart of Sumarah lies the TriDharma—three interwoven principles that guide thought, feeling, and action:

Suwung: Right Thinking

[Visual: A practitioner sitting in stillness, eyes closed, surrounded by nature.]

Suwung means “empty,” “silent,” or “spacious.” It refers not to nihilism, but to a state of mental openness—a quieting of the habitual chatter of thought, a loosening of conceptual rigidity.

In practice, suwung is the cultivation of non-reactivity. It is the capacity to observe without grasping, to think without clinging, to hold space without judgment. It is a cognitive de-escalation—a return to presence.

Neuroscientific research affirms the value of such states. Reduced activity in the brain’s default mode network—associated with rumination and self-referential thought—correlates with increased clarity, emotional regulation, and resilience.

Suwung is not a technique. It is a stance. A way of being that allows thought to arise and pass without domination.

[On-screen text:
“In silence, the mind becomes clear. In clarity, the path becomes visible.”]

Manembah: Right Feeling

[Visual: Close-up of a face in gentle contemplation, intercut with scenes of communal care and quiet empathy.]

Manembah is often translated as “devotion” or “reverence,” but in the context of Sumarah, it refers to ethical feeling—humility, sincerity, and attunement to rasa, the subtle intelligence of the heart.

Rasa is not mere emotion. It is a mode of knowing—an embodied sensitivity to the relational field. It is the capacity to feel-with, to discern what is appropriate, to respond with care.

Manembah cultivates ethical discernment not through rules, but through resonance. It is the refinement of empathy into wisdom.

This aligns with affective neuroscience, which identifies interoception—the sensing of internal bodily states—as foundational to emotional intelligence and moral behavior.

[On-screen text:
“To feel rightly is to know what cannot be spoken.”]

Tampa Pindha: Right Action

[Visual: A person helping another across a stream, a group tending a garden, a teacher guiding a child.]

Tampa pindha means “without imitation” or “without copying.” It refers to action that arises authentically from the clarity of suwung and the sensitivity of manembah.

It is not rule-based behavior, but context-sensitive responsiveness. It is action without egoic assertion, without coercion, without attachment to outcome.

This principle echoes the Daoist concept of wu wei—non-forcing—and the Gandhian ethic of ahimsa—non-harm. It is a dharma of humility, appropriateness, and ethical spontaneity.

From a systems perspective, tampa pindha reflects adaptive behavior within complex environments. It is not about control, but about participation in the unfolding of life.

[On-screen text:
“Right action is not chosen. It arises.”]

The TriDharma as an Integrated Path

[Visual: A flowing river, branching and converging, mirroring the interplay of thought, feeling, and action.]

The TriDharma is not a set of doctrines. It is a dynamic feedback system. Suwung clears the mind. Manembah refines the heart. Tampa pindha expresses their integration in the world.

Together, they form a coherent dharma—a way of being that sustains psychological integration, ethical clarity, and social harmony.

This triadic structure mirrors principles found in virtue ethics, contemplative science, and systems theory. It is a model of homeostasis—not through stasis, but through continual adjustment and attunement.

Contemporary Relevance

[Visual: A modern Sumarah group in quiet meditation, intercut with scenes of urban life—traffic, screens, noise.]

In a world of acceleration, distraction, and fragmentation, the dharma of Sumarah offers a counterpoint. It does not call for withdrawal, but for presence. It does not demand belief, but practice.

Its relevance extends beyond Java. In education, it informs relational pedagogy. In leadership, it cultivates ethical responsiveness. In mental health, it supports emotional regulation and non-reactivity. In ecological ethics, it fosters humility and reverence.

[On-screen text:
“To surrender is not to give up. It is to give in—to the rhythm of life.”]

A Dharma of Quiet Coherence

[Visual: A final wide shot of a Sumarah practitioner sitting in stillness as the sun sets behind a mountain ridge.]

The TriDharma of Sumarah is a dharma of quiet coherence. It does not seek to dominate, convert, or explain. It invites. It listens. It aligns.

In a time of noise, it offers silence. In a time of certainty, it offers humility. In a time of fragmentation, it offers integration.

It is not a path to transcendence. It is a way of being here—fully, ethically, and with care.

[On-screen text:
“Suwung. Manembah. Tampa Pindha.
Empty mind. Open heart. Right action.”]

[Music fades. Transition to next section title.]

The Māori Code of Tikanga Māori

[On-screen title: The Māori Code of Tikanga Māori]
[Visual: Aerial shots of Aotearoa’s landscapes—mountains, rivers, and coastal marae. Traditional Māori chants and soft taonga pūoro (flute) music underscore the narration.]

Tikanga Māori is the ethical, legal, and cultural framework that sustains the life of the Māori people—the Indigenous tangata whenua of Aotearoa, New Zealand. It is not a set of static rules, nor a codified religion. It is a living dharma: a way of being that holds together the social, ecological, and spiritual dimensions of Māori existence.

Derived from the root word tika, meaning “right,” “just,” or “appropriate,” tikanga refers to the correct way of doing things. But correctness here is not abstract or universal. It is relational, contextual, and grounded in the web of connections that define Māori life.

[Visual: Close-ups of carved wharenui (meeting houses), elders in ceremonial dress, and intergenerational gatherings on the marae.]

Tikanga Māori is not imposed from above. It is transmitted through whakapapa—genealogy—and enacted through kawa—ritual protocol. It is embedded in reo (language), karakia (prayer), haka (ritual performance), and mātauranga (ancestral knowledge). It is not merely known; it is lived.

Whakapapa: Relational Ontology

[Visual: A genealogical tree interwoven with images of land, rivers, and ancestors.]

At the heart of tikanga lies whakapapa—the genealogical structure that connects every person to their ancestors, to the land (whenua), to the waters (wai), and to the cosmos. In this worldview, identity is not individual but relational. One does not exist apart from one’s lineage, one’s place, or one’s obligations.

Whakapapa is not merely ancestry. It is an ethical orientation. It affirms that to be human is to be embedded in a network of reciprocal responsibilities—across generations, across species, and across realms.

[On-screen text:
“I am the river, and the river is me.”
— Whanganui iwi proverb]

Mana, Tapu, and Noa: Balancing Sacred and Ordinary

[Visual: Ceremonial gatherings, sacred sites, and everyday village life.]

Mana refers to authority, dignity, and spiritual potency. It is inherited, earned, and relational. To act in accordance with tikanga is to uphold one’s mana and that of others.

Tapu denotes sacredness or restriction. It marks people, places, and actions as spiritually significant. Noa is its complement—the ordinary, the neutral, the everyday. The movement between tapu and noa is regulated through ritual, ensuring balance and harmony.

These concepts are not metaphysical abstractions. They are practical tools for maintaining social and ecological equilibrium. They guide behavior, resolve conflict, and protect the integrity of relationships.

Utu and Mauri: Reciprocity and Vitality

[Visual: Gift exchanges, restorative justice circles, and ecological restoration projects.]

Utu is the principle of reciprocity—not vengeance, but balance. It governs the restoration of harmony when relationships are disrupted—through conflict, generosity, or transgression. Utu is enacted through muru (ritual compensation), koha (gifting), and whakawhanaungatanga (relationship-building).

Mauri is the life-force present in all beings—human, animal, plant, river, mountain. To uphold tikanga is to protect and enhance mauri. When mauri is diminished—through pollution, violence, or neglect—tikanga calls for restoration.

[On-screen text:
“Mauri ora—life in balance.”]

Tikanga as a Dharma

[Visual: A diagram showing the functions of dharma—ethical orientation, social cohesion, psychological integration, and existential meaning—mapped onto tikanga.]

Tikanga Māori functions as a dharma in the fullest sense. It provides:

Ethical orientation: guiding appropriate behavior through values such as manaakitanga (hospitality), aroha (compassion), and kaitiakitanga (guardianship).
Social cohesion: sustaining communal life through shared protocols, roles, and responsibilities.
Psychological integration: aligning internal states with external expectations through ritual, narrative, and embodied practice.
Existential meaning: situating individuals within a cosmological order that affirms continuity, responsibility, and sacred interconnection.

Tikanga is not a legal system in the Western sense. It is not enforced through coercion, but through consensus, respect, and the authority of elders. Its legitimacy arises from its capacity to sustain life—not only human life, but the life of the land, the waters, and the ancestors.

Contemporary Revitalization

[Visual: Māori youth learning te reo, environmental activism, legal recognition of Māori rights.]

After generations of colonial suppression, tikanga Māori is undergoing a powerful resurgence. It informs legal frameworks, educational curricula, environmental policy, and restorative justice. The recognition of the Whanganui River as a legal person—Te Awa Tupua—is a direct expression of tikanga’s dharmic logic.

Tikanga is not a relic. It is a living, adaptive dharma—capable of guiding ethical action in the face of modern challenges: ecological collapse, cultural fragmentation, and spiritual disconnection.

[On-screen text:
“Ko au te whenua, ko te whenua ko au.”
I am the land, and the land is me.]

A Dharma of Interbeing

[Visual: A final wide shot of a Māori community gathering at dawn, with mist rising over the marae.]

Tikanga Māori is a dharma of interbeing. It affirms that to live rightly is to live in relationship—with ancestors, with land, with others, and with the unseen.

It does not offer salvation. It offers coherence.

It does not promise certainty. It cultivates care.

It does not impose belief. It invites participation.

In a world increasingly shaped by fragmentation and ecological crisis, the wisdom of tikanga Māori offers a path—not backward into tradition, but forward into relational responsibility.

[Music fades. On-screen text:]

“To walk in tikanga is to walk in balance—with the past, the present, and the possible.”

[Transition to next section title.]

Inclusive Dharmas, Exclusive Dharmas

[On-screen title: Inclusive Dharmas, Exclusive Dharmas]
[Visual: A montage of diverse human gatherings—interfaith ceremonies, tribal initiation rites, civic protests, and monastic rituals. Subtle ambient music underscores the narration.]

Dharmas are not monolithic. They arise in response to specific ecological, historical, and social conditions. As such, they exhibit a wide spectrum of orientations—some expansive and universal in scope, others bounded and particular. These orientations can be broadly understood as inclusive dharmas and exclusive dharmas.

This distinction is not a binary opposition, but a dynamic polarity. Each form serves vital functions in the ecology of human life. Each reflects a different strategy for sustaining coherence, transmitting values, and navigating the tension between belonging and universality.

Inclusive Dharmas: Expanding the Circle

[Visual: Aerial shots of global humanitarian efforts, interfaith dialogues, environmental movements, and peacebuilding initiatives.]

Inclusive dharmas extend ethical concern beyond immediate group boundaries. They emphasize shared humanity, interdependence, and the moral worth of all beings. These dharmas are often cosmopolitan in orientation, seeking to transcend tribal, ethnic, or religious divisions.

Examples include:

Mahayana Buddhism, with its Bodhisattva ideal of compassion for all sentient beings.
Ubuntu, which affirms personhood through mutual recognition—“I am because we are.”
Secular humanism, grounded in dignity, rights, and universal ethical responsibility.
Ecological dharmas, which recognize the interdependence of all life forms and the moral imperative of planetary care.

Inclusive dharmas are adaptive responses to pluralism, globalization, and systemic interconnection. They enable large-scale cooperation, reduce intergroup conflict, and cultivate empathy across difference.

[On-screen text:
“The whole world is one family.”
— Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, Sanskrit maxim]

The locus of compassion in inclusive dharmas is expansive. It is not limited to kin, tribe, or nation. It is cultivated through practices that deconstruct egoic boundaries—meditation, dialogue, service, and systems thinking.

But inclusivity is not without risk. Without grounding, it can become abstract, performative, or unmoored from lived realities. Compassion, to be effective, must be embodied—not merely proclaimed.

Exclusive Dharmas: Preserving the Core

[Visual: Footage of tribal initiations, monastic cloisters, Hasidic communities, and indigenous councils.]

Exclusive dharmas, by contrast, focus on preserving the integrity of a particular community, lineage, or tradition. They define roles, obligations, and boundaries. They sustain identity through ritual, dress, language, and law.

Examples include:

Orthodox Judaism, with its halakhic codes and communal boundaries.
Monastic vinaya in Theravāda Buddhism, regulating the conduct of ordained practitioners.
Bushidō, the samurai code rooted in fealty, discipline, and honor.
Tikanga Māori, which defines ethical conduct through whakapapa, tapu, and mana.

Exclusive dharmas are adaptive responses to vulnerability—cultural erosion, colonization, persecution, or existential threat. They provide psychological security, social cohesion, and intergenerational continuity.

The locus of compassion in exclusive dharmas is often internal. It is directed toward members of the group, the ancestors, and the sacred order. This is not a deficiency, but a function. In contexts of marginalization or trauma, bounded compassion is a form of survival.

[On-screen text:
“We care for our own, so that we may endure.”]

Yet exclusivity can harden into insularity. When boundaries become impermeable, compassion can contract into suspicion, and identity into exclusion. The challenge is to preserve coherence without closing the heart.

Tensions and Intersections

[Visual: A split-screen showing an interfaith gathering on one side, and a monastic ritual on the other.]

Inclusive and exclusive dharmas are not mutually exclusive. Many traditions contain both tendencies. A monastic order may be exclusive in membership, but inclusive in aspiration. A tribal dharma may protect its own while extending hospitality to outsiders.

The tension between these orientations is structural. Inclusive dharmas risk dilution without boundaries. Exclusive dharmas risk stagnation without openness. The health of a dharma depends on its ability to balance identity with empathy, continuity with adaptability.

[Visual: A braided rope—distinct strands woven into a resilient whole.]

Compassion, in this context, is not a sentiment. It is a practice of discernment. It asks:
Who is this dharma for? What does it protect? What does it exclude? What does it make possible?

Compassion as a Dharmic Function

[Visual: A montage of care—nurses tending to patients, elders guiding youth, strangers helping each other.]

In both inclusive and exclusive dharmas, compassion is not merely an emotion. It is a structural function. It sustains coherence, reduces suffering, and affirms the dignity of life.

In inclusive dharmas, compassion expands the moral circle.
In exclusive dharmas, compassion deepens the bonds within it.

Both are necessary. Both are incomplete alone.

[On-screen text:
“Compassion is not where the boundary lies. It is how the boundary is held.”]

Toward Ethical Pluralism

[Visual: A mosaic of dharmic expressions—Sumarah meditation, Māori haka, Buddhist chanting, scientific research, civic activism.]

In a plural world, the future of dharma is not uniformity, but dialogue. It is not the erasure of difference, but the cultivation of mutual respect. Inclusive dharmas must learn from the depth and resilience of exclusive ones. Exclusive dharmas must remain porous to the insights of the wider world.

The question is not which dharma is right. The question is:
How do we live together—ethically, coherently, and with care—amid difference?

[Visual: A circle of people from diverse backgrounds, sitting in dialogue.]

[On-screen text:
“The dharma that holds us together is the one that honors both our boundaries and our bonds.”]

[Music fades. Transition to next section title.]

Dharmas as Aesthetic, Dharmas as Identity

[On-screen title: Dharmas as Aesthetic, Dharmas as Identity]
[Visual: A montage of distinct cultural and spiritual attire—orange-robed Western Buddhist monks, Arabized Indonesian Muslims in white garments, Hare Krishna devotees in saffron and tilaka, Amish communities in plain dress, and 1960s countercultural hippies.]

A dharma is not only a framework for ethical living. It is also a structure of identity—a way of being that is embodied, visible, and performed. While dharmas operate at the level of values, practices, and worldviews, they are also expressed through form: through clothing, symbols, rituals, and aesthetic choices that signal belonging, orientation, and commitment.

To adopt a dharma is often to adopt a way of appearing in the world. This is not superficial. It is structural. Aesthetic expression is a primary mode through which dharmas are transmitted, recognized, and sustained.

Aesthetics as Ethical Form

[Visual: Close-up shots of ritual garments being folded, prayer beads being handled, tattoos being inked, and sacred symbols being drawn.]

Aesthetics are not merely decorative. In dharmic life, they function as ethical media. The way one dresses, speaks, moves, and adorns the body is not separate from the dharma—it is part of it. These forms encode values, reinforce discipline, and cultivate identity through repetition and visibility.

In Buddhist monastic traditions, the robe (kāṣāya) is not simply a uniform. It is a symbol of renunciation, humility, and non-attachment. When Western practitioners adopt these robes, they are not merely emulating Asian monastics—they are aligning themselves with a dharma that transcends cultural origin.

[Visual: Western Buddhist monks walking in silence through a modern city.]

In the Hare Krishna movement, the saffron robes, shaved heads, and forehead markings are not arbitrary. They are aesthetic enactments of a devotional dharma—external signs of internal orientation. These symbols create coherence, both within the self and within the group.

The Amish, by contrast, reject modern fashion not out of nostalgia, but as a dharmic commitment to simplicity, humility, and separation from the perceived corruptions of the world. Their plain dress is a visible boundary—a daily reminder of their chosen path.

[On-screen text:
“Clothing is not fashion. It is a form of memory.”]

Identity as Ethical Alignment

[Visual: A person standing before a mirror, donning ritual attire with care and intention.]

To adopt a dharma is to take on a role—not as performance, but as ethical embodiment. Identity in this context is not self-expression, but self-alignment. It is the integration of internal values with external form.

This is why dharmas often prescribe specific clothing, gestures, and speech patterns. These are not arbitrary rules. They are technologies of coherence—ways of stabilizing identity in a world of flux.

In Arabized Indonesian Islam, for example, the adoption of Middle Eastern dress is not simply cultural borrowing. It is an aesthetic alignment with a perceived center of spiritual authority. It signals a dharmic aspiration—to live in accordance with a sacred tradition, even across geography.

In the countercultural movements of the 1960s, the hippie aesthetic—long hair, colorful fabrics, natural materials—was not merely rebellion. It was a dharma of anti-materialism, communalism, and ecological sensitivity. The look was not fashion; it was philosophy made visible.

[Visual: Archival footage of 1960s communes, peace marches, and alternative schools.]

The Function of Aesthetic Boundaries

[Visual: A diagram showing concentric circles—Self, Group, World—with aesthetic markers at the boundaries.]

Aesthetic forms serve as boundaries. They delineate who is inside and who is outside a dharma. This is not necessarily exclusionary. It is functional. Boundaries create clarity. They allow for recognition, solidarity, and transmission.

But boundaries can also harden. When aesthetic identity becomes rigid, it can ossify into dogma, tribalism, or performative piety. The challenge is to hold form lightly—to recognize that aesthetic expression is a means, not an end.

[On-screen text:
“The robe is not the path. But it can help you walk it.”]

The Risk of Commodification

[Visual: Fashion runways featuring “spiritual” designs, yoga studios selling branded mala beads, influencers performing rituals for the camera.]

In the global marketplace, dharmic aesthetics are often detached from their ethical roots. Symbols become commodities. Practices become products. Identity becomes branding.

This is not merely cultural appropriation. It is dharmic disintegration—the reduction of coherent ethical frameworks to aesthetic fragments. When form is severed from function, the dharma dissolves into spectacle.

The task, then, is not to reject aesthetics, but to re-embed them in ethical life. To remember that the visible is a portal to the invisible—that what we wear, how we move, and what we display are not just signals, but practices of alignment.

Aesthetics as Transmission

[Visual: A child watching an elder prepare for ritual, mimicking their movements.]

Aesthetic dharmas are also pedagogical. They teach without words. They transmit values through form. A child does not learn dharma through doctrine alone, but through watching, imitating, and embodying.

This is why dharmas persist—not through argument, but through repetition. Not through belief, but through practice. The aesthetic is the carrier wave of the ethical.

[On-screen text:
“We become what we repeatedly enact.”]

Toward a Conscious Aesthetic

[Visual: A montage of people from diverse backgrounds choosing their attire with intention—monks, artists, activists, elders.]

To live dharmically is to live with awareness—not only of what we do, but of how we appear. A conscious aesthetic is not vanity. It is responsibility. It is the recognition that form shapes function, and that identity is not a possession, but a practice.

In a world of fragmentation and spectacle, the dharmic challenge is to reclaim aesthetic life—not as performance, but as presence. Not as costume, but as coherence.

[On-screen text:
“Let your clothing be your vow. Let your form be your path.”]

[Music fades. Transition to next section title.]

Secular Dharmas? The Journey to the West

[On-screen title: Secular Dharmas? The Journey to the West]
[Visual: A slow pan across Western urban landscapes—New York, London, Berlin—intercut with scenes of scientific laboratories, climate marches, classrooms, and meditation centers.]

The concept of dharma—a way of living that sustains coherence, ethical orientation, and existential clarity—has traveled far from its ancient roots. Once embedded in the cosmologies of India, China, and other early civilizations, dharmas have evolved, adapted, and migrated. They have crossed boundaries of geography, language, and belief. And now, in the modern West, they are reemerging—not as religious systems, but as secular frameworks for living in a world of complexity, impermanence, and interdependence.

This is not a simple transplantation. It is a transformation. As dharmas enter Western secular contexts, they shed metaphysical assumptions and take on new forms—grounded not in revelation, but in experience; not in doctrine, but in discernment.

[Visual: A diagram showing the evolution of dharmas from ancient religious systems to modern secular frameworks.]

Secular dharmas are not defined by temples, scriptures, or gods. They are defined by function. They perform the same structural roles as their ancient counterparts:

They guide ethical behavior in the absence of absolute authority.
They sustain social cohesion in pluralistic societies.
They support psychological integration in a fragmented world.
They offer existential orientation without metaphysical guarantees.

These dharmas are not imposed. They are emergent—arising from the lived conditions of modern life.

The Forms of Secular Dharmas

[Visual: A montage of contemporary secular practices—scientists in collaborative research, activists organizing, educators mentoring, mindfulness practitioners in urban settings.]

Secular dharmas manifest in diverse domains. They are not always recognized as such, but they function as dharmas in structure and purpose.

1. Scientific Integrity

[Visual: Peer review meetings, lab work, open-access publishing.]

The ethos of science—truth-seeking, transparency, skepticism, and peer accountability—is a dharma of epistemic responsibility. It regulates behavior within research communities, fosters humility, and sustains the collective pursuit of knowledge.

This dharma is not about belief. It is about method. It is a way of holding together a community of inquiry through shared norms and ethical commitments.

2. Environmental Stewardship

[Visual: Climate protests, permaculture farms, indigenous land defenders.]

In response to ecological collapse, a planetary dharma is emerging—one that affirms interdependence, sustainability, and reverence for life. This dharma is not religious, but it is sacred in practice. It calls for restraint, regeneration, and responsibility across generations.

It is a dharma of systems thinking—recognizing that human flourishing is inseparable from the health of the biosphere.

3. Civic Responsibility

[Visual: Voting booths, community organizing, public hearings.]

Democratic participation, social justice, and institutional trust form the basis of a civic dharma. It is a framework that sustains pluralistic societies through shared values: equity, accountability, and the common good.

This dharma is not enforced by divine command. It is enacted through dialogue, deliberation, and collective care.

4. Contemplative Practice

[Visual: Secular mindfulness classes, trauma-informed therapy, silent retreats.]

Adapted from Buddhist and yogic traditions, secular contemplative practices offer a dharma of awareness, non-reactivity, and compassion. They support psychological resilience, emotional regulation, and ethical clarity.

These practices are not spiritual in the traditional sense. They are therapeutic, educational, and civic. They cultivate the inner conditions for ethical life in a distracted and reactive world.

The Journey of Dharma into the West

[Visual: A historical timeline showing the migration of dharmic ideas—Buddhism to Europe, yoga to America, mindfulness to healthcare.]

The journey of dharma into the West has been shaped by translation, adaptation, and sometimes distortion. Eastern practices have been secularized, commodified, and recontextualized. But beneath the surface, the dharmic function persists.

The West has not merely imported dharmas. It has generated its own. The dharma of liberal humanism, the dharma of scientific rationalism, the dharma of existential authenticity—all are responses to the conditions of modernity: disenchantment, individualism, and systemic complexity.

These dharmas are not unified. They are plural, overlapping, and sometimes in tension. But they share a common ground: the recognition that ethical life requires orientation, coherence, and care.

[On-screen text:
“In the absence of gods, we must become the stewards of our own dharmas.”]

The Future of Dharmas

[Visual: Youth-led climate movements, AI ethics panels, global dialogues on justice and sustainability.]

As the 21st century unfolds, new dharmas will emerge—shaped by artificial intelligence, climate disruption, global migration, and cultural hybridity. These dharmas will not be universal. They will be contextual, adaptive, and provisional.

They will arise wherever human beings ask the perennial question:
How shall we live, given the conditions of our world?

The dharmas of the future will not offer certainty. They will offer coherence. They will not promise salvation. They will cultivate responsibility. They will not impose belief. They will invite participation.

[Visual: A river delta—many streams converging, branching, and flowing forward.]

[On-screen text:
“The dharma is not behind us. It is ahead of us—waiting to be lived.”]

[Visual: Final montage—scientists, artists, elders, activists, children—each engaged in their own form of dharmic practice.]

To live dharmically in the modern West is not to return to the past. It is to carry forward the function of dharma—ethical orientation, social coherence, and existential clarity—into new forms, suited to new realities.

This is the journey of dharma to the West. Not a migration, but a transformation. Not a borrowing, but a becoming.

[Music fades. On-screen text:]

“Dharma is not what we inherit. It is what we enact.”

[Fade to black. End credits roll.]

#garydean #dharma

Introduction

Defining “Dharma”

Beyond Etymology: Dharma as an Idea

The Concept of a Dharma

The Ancient Dharmic Philosophers

Mahāvīra and the Jain Dharma

Siddhartha Gautama and the Dharma of Non-Reactivity

Laozi and the Way of Non-Forcing

Socrates and the Dharma of Ethical Inquiry

The Dharmic Function of Philosophy

The Axial Age and the Emergence of Dharmas

India: From Ritual to Reflection

China: Harmony Amidst Disorder

Greece: Reason and the Polis

Persia and the Levant: Justice and Covenant

Dharmas as Cultural Technologies

The Role of Boundaries

The Evolution of Dharmas

The Axial Legacy

Common Characteristics of a Dharma

1. Ethical Orientation

2. Social Cohesion

3. Psychological Integration

4. Existential Orientation

5. Contextual and Adaptive Structure

6. Transmission and Embodiment

7. Symbolic and Aesthetic Expression

8. Regulation of Power and Violence

9. Feedback and Self-Correction

Why Do Dharmas Exist?

1. Ethical Orientation

2. Social Cohesion

3. Psychological Integration

4. Existential Meaning

5. Regulation of Power and Violence

6. Cultural Transmission

The Evolution of Dharmas

Examples of Dharmas in Human Cultures

Religious Dharmas

Political Dharmas

Occupational and Professional Dharmas

Military and Martial Dharmas

The Samin of Java

1. Nonviolence and Ethical Refusal

2. Simplicity and Self-Sufficiency

3. Honesty, Respect, and Measured Speech

4. Ecological Harmony

5. Communal Autonomy

A Secular Dharma

Resonances and Parallels

Contemporary Relevance

The TriDharma of Sumarah

Suwung: Right Thinking

Manembah: Right Feeling

Tampa Pindha: Right Action

The TriDharma as an Integrated Path

Contemporary Relevance

A Dharma of Quiet Coherence

The Māori Code of Tikanga Māori

Whakapapa: Relational Ontology

Mana, Tapu, and Noa: Balancing Sacred and Ordinary

Utu and Mauri: Reciprocity and Vitality

Tikanga as a Dharma

Contemporary Revitalization

A Dharma of Interbeing

Inclusive Dharmas, Exclusive Dharmas

Inclusive Dharmas: Expanding the Circle

Exclusive Dharmas: Preserving the Core

Tensions and Intersections

Compassion as a Dharmic Function

Toward Ethical Pluralism

Dharmas as Aesthetic, Dharmas as Identity

Aesthetics as Ethical Form

Identity as Ethical Alignment

The Function of Aesthetic Boundaries

The Risk of Commodification

Aesthetics as Transmission

Toward a Conscious Aesthetic

Secular Dharmas? The Journey to the West

The Forms of Secular Dharmas