What does dharma mean in zen meditation?

“Dharma” has a range of meanings.

At its most basic level, it refers to the teachings of the Buddha. So the body of words spilled during his 40 year teaching career, as recorded in the suttras, are “the Dharma”. You could say this is the “default” meaning of the term.

In the more esoteric sects of Buddhism—including Zen—“Dharma” takes on another dimension. Zen ascribes less weight to the suttras than does classical Buddhism. It sees the Buddha’s words as no more than one man’s attempt to direct people’s attention to the living reality unfolding moment-by-moment. The true Dharma then is reality just as it is, not so much Buddha’s remarks about it. In the Zen sense, the Buddha’s teachings are to the true Dharma as a map of Paris is to standing on the Pont Neuf.

From this derives another meaning of Dharma: Because each thing, each phenomenon in the world is in itself a manifestation of reality, things and phenomena are sometimes referred to as “dharmas”. This usage is not very common, though, because it muddles the picture.

Thank you, thank you! Much to absorb.

Now can you answer my second question?

I’m on it

Stop being Jewish (and impatient and intellectual), and eventually the definition of “dharma” won’t matter.

Remember Ram Dass (née Richard Alpert…“Be Here Now.” He used LSD to launch himself, but I wouldn’t advise that.

@gailcalled Stop beng Jewish? Stop breathing? Ha!

^^^ That’s why meditation and Judiasm are often in conflict. They have antithetical approaches to breathing. My jewish relatives believe that you need enough breath to outshout your dinner companion, if nothing else.

Perhaps a tangential application of this could be to learn from the mistakes(?) of Jack Kerouac: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Dharma_Bums