All the teachings of the Buddha can be summed up in one word: Dhamma in Pali, and Dharma in Sanskrit. The Buddha himself spoke Pali and all the Buddhist scriptures were written in Pali. Dhamma means truth. It also means law, thje law which exists in a man’s own heart and mind. It is the principle of righteousness. Therefore the Buddha appeals to man to be noble, pure, and charitable not in order to please any Supreme Being, but in order to be true to the highest in himself.[1]
Dharma is also exists in the universe. The entire universe is an embodiment and revelation of Dhamma. When the moon rises and sets, the rains come, the crops grow, the seasons change, it is because of Dhamma, for Dhamma is the law resideing in the universe which makes matter act in the ways revealed by the studies of modern science in physics, chemistry, zoology, botany, and astronomy. Dhamma is the true nature of every existing thing, animate and inanimate.[2]
The Doctrine (Dhamma) taught by the Buddha is based on a conception of all existence as impermanent and substanceless. Whatever exists is in a state of constant flux, through and through, like the flame of the lamp. All existence is a process which continues without a break, constantly renewing itself. Because all things are impermanent and substanceless, they cannot be a lolace to us. Men, out of ignorance and attachement, try to cling to them, but they fall into despair and disappointment as all things glide away. When, however, a man obtains an insight into the true nature of all existence—that it is impermanent (annica), substanceless (anatta), and is ultimately suffering (dukkha)—an insight which is possible only in the mystic state called Samadhi, his ignorance (avijja) is dispelled and his attachment, or desire (tanha), is uprooted. He becomes free from all passions and then his actions no more accumulate the potentiality of kamma that causes birth after death. He becomes a saint, an Arahat, who is free from all bondage of the cycle of birth and death.[3]
1. The Doctrine of Karma
We ourselves are responsible for our own deeds, happiness and misery. We build our own hells. We create our own heavens. We are the architects of our own fate. In short we ourselves are our own kamma.[4]
The Buddha briefly replied: "Every living being has kamma as its own, its inheritance, its cause, its kinsman, its refuge. Kamma is that which differentiates all living beings into low and high states."
He then explained the cause of such differences in accordance with the law of moral causation.
Thus from a Buddhist standpoint, our present mental, intellectual, moral and temperamental differences are mainly due to our own actions and tendencies, both past the present.
Kamma, literally, means action; but, in its ultimate sense, it means the meritorious and demeritorious volition (Kusala Akusala Cetana). Kamma constitutes both good and evil. Good gets good. Evil gets evil. Like attracts like. This is the law of Kamma.[5]
Kamma is neither fate nor predestination imposed upon us by some mysterious unknown power to which we must helplessly submit ourselves. It is one's own doing reacting on oneself, and so one has the possibility to divert the course of Kamma to some extent. How far one diverts it depends on oneself.
It is Kamma, rooted in ignorance and craving, that conditions rebirth. Past Kamma conditions the present birth; and present Kamma, in combination with past Kamma, conditions the future. The present is the offspring of the past, and becomes, in turn, the parent of the future.[6]
The Pali word Nibbana is formed of Ni and Vana. Ni is a negative particle and Vana means lusting or craving. "It is called Nibbana, in that it is a departure from the craving which is called Vana, lusting." Literally, Nibbana means non-attachment.[7]
Nibbana of the Buddhists is neither a mere nothingness nor a state of annihilation, but what it is no words can adequately express. Nibbana is a Dhamma which is "unborn, unoriginated, uncreated and unformed." Hence, it is eternal (Dhuva), desirable (Subha), and happy (Sukha).
In Nibbana nothing is "eternalized," nor is anything "annihilated," besides suffering.
Nibbana is not situated in any place nor is it a sort of heaven where a transcendental ego resides. It is a state which is dependent upon this body itself. It is an attainment (Dhamma) which is within the reach of all. Nibbana is a supramundane state attainable even in this present life.
When Nibbana is realized in this life with the body remaining, it is called Sopadisesa Nibbana-dhatu. When an arahant attains Parinibbana, after the dissolution of his body, without any remainder of physical existence it is called Anupadisesa Nibbana-dhatu.[8]
In the words of Sir Edwin Arnold:
"If any teach Nirvana is to cease
Say unto such they lie.
If any teach Nirvana is to love
Say unto such they err."
From a metaphysical standpoint Nibbana is deliverance from suffering. From a psychological standpoint Nibbana is the eradication of egoism. From an ethical standpoint Nibbana is the destruction of lust, hatred and ignorance.[9]
How is Nibbana to be attained?
It is by following the Noble Eight-fold Path which consists of Right Understanding (Samma-ditthi), Right Thoughts (samma-sankappa), Right Speech (samma-vaca), Right Actions (samma-kammanta), Right Livelihood (samma-ajiva), Right Effort (samma-vayama), Right Mindfulness (samma-sati), and Right Concentration (samma-samadhi).[10]
[1] K. W. Morgan, The Path of the Buddha, p. 67.
[2]Morgan, The Path of the Buddha, p. 67.
[3] Morgan, The Path of the Buddha, pp. 24-25.
[4] Narada Mahathera, Buddhism in a Nut-shell (Buddhist Publication Society, 1982). Accessed to Insight edition, 1995. URL: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/narada/nutshell.html (Accessed on 9 November 2007).
[5] Ibid., Buddhism in a Nut-shell, URL: http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/authors/narada/nutshell.html
[6] Ibid. Buddhism in a Nut-Shell,
[7] Ibid., Buddhism in a Nut-Shell,
[8] Ibid., Buddhism in a Nut-shell, URL:
[9] Ibid., Buddhism in a Nut-shell, URL:
[10] Ibid., Buddhism in a Nut-shell, URL: