Dear Nina and Gabriel,

allow me to add my points after some thoughts.

Very commonly, dhamma refers the Buddha's teachings, as in "Buddha,
Dhamma, Sangha", 'dhamma-vinaya'.

However, as one starts reading the Tipitaka in Pali, one would realise
that dhamma is a word with multiple meanings. If we read the Tipitaka
in English, the word dhamma would hardly exist, as it would have been
translated into one English equivalent or another. The same is not
true for Chinese translations. Chinese translators are more loyal to
the original texts by retaining very much more of the Indian
vocabulary in their translations. This resulted in the blossoming of
Chinese commentaries and subcommentaries in all shapes and sizes, it
also makes the Chinese translations a highly reliable source for
understanding the original texts, many of which no longer exist, today.

In a passage like "Tasmi.m khopana samaye dhammaa honti, khandhaa
hontii"ti, the dhamma(s) refer to the khandha(s).

In Buddhism, an individual is made up of rupa and arupa khandhas. The
rupa khandhas can be further divided as elements of earth, water, fire
and wind. The arupa khandhas are those of feeling, cognition, mental
formation and consciousness, each of which can also be further divided
into various elements. These khandhas have the common characteristics:
nissattanijjiivata (two adjectives). So, in places where the texts use
dhamma to refer to khandha, dhamma has the characteristics of
nissattanijjiivata.

By saying dhamma is synonymous with nissattanijjiivata, as we see in
Saddaniti, etc., is merely a bold step of the ancient Pali scholars to
solidify the Buddhist concept of anatta in living vocabulary.

metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Lotsawanet wrote:

1. There are some references on dhamma implying absence of an entity
or living soul, without a soul. Soul here is the translation of which
pali term?

> http://www.tipitaka.net/pali/scope/dhamma

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Pali/message/11507