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A transcription of page xv of an introduction to a Buddhist text (specifically The Diamond Sutra). It discusses various scholarly interpretations of the Sanskrit term Dharma.
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...or as we should say, phenomenal and subjective, that they are, in fact, of our own making, the products of our own mind.” With those noteworthy observations, there is embodied in the preface to The Diamond Sutra original: Vagrakkhedika, literally "The Diamond-Cutter", the following interesting suggestion: that the Greek form original: εἶδος (eidos)—meaning whatever is seen, a shape, or a figure appears to be the equivalent of the Sanskrit Dharma A central term in Indian philosophy; in Buddhism, it can mean the cosmic law, the Buddha's teachings, or the fundamental elements of reality.
Spence Hardy A 19th-century missionary and scholar who studied Buddhism in Sri Lanka, a distinguished writer on Buddhism, made a suggestion of perhaps equal importance, with reference to the correct interpretation of Dharma. In his well-known volume Eastern Monachism, there occurs the following relevant passage: “The second of the three great treasures The "Three Jewels" or "Triple Gem": the Buddha, his Teachings (Dharma), and the Monastic Community (Sangha) is called Dharma original: Dhammo in Pali, or Dharmma in Sinhalese. This word has various meanings, but is here to be understood in the sense of truth.”
Rhys Davids An influential British scholar of the Pali language in his useful volume Buddhism, indicated that “Dharma original: Pali Dhamma is not law, but that which underlies and includes the law — a word often most difficult to translate, but best rendered here by Truth and Righteousness.” ¹
Perhaps it may be opportune to remark, that had Kumarajiva A prolific translator-monk (344–413 CE) who translated the Diamond Sutra from Sanskrit into Chinese regarded “form,” “truth,” or “righteousness,”
¹ Dr. Edkins Joseph Edkins, a British missionary and sinologist, in his scholarly work Chinese Buddhism, seems to have regarded “the Law or body of doctrine” as an accurate definition of Dharma.
Dr. Eitel Ernest John Eitel, author of a seminal dictionary of Chinese Buddhism, in his Handbook of Chinese Buddhism, explained Dharma by “Law” original: Fah (法); and observed that it is “a general term for religious objects, especially for the Buddhist Canon.”
Mr. Vincent A. Smith A prominent historian of ancient India, in Asoka, Buddhist Emperor of India, suggested that the Chinese piety original: Hsiao (孝), and the Latin devotion original: Pietas, coincide with the Sanskrit term Dharma.