What is "Dhamma"? (Ajahn Chah)

South Park; Ajahn Chah (ajahnchah.org); Ellie Askew and Dhr. Seven (ed.), Wisdom Quarterly

The wise, bald Buddhist monks Marklarians of planet Marklar (South Park)

(South Park Clips) This South Park clip is from "Starvin' Marvin in Space" (Season 03, Episode 11). Cartman is being difficult, while Kyle finally manages to figure out how to effectively communicate with the Marklarians.

Turning the True Wheel

(Ajahn Chah) "Whether a tree, a mountain, or an animal, it's all Dhamma. Everything is Dhamma. Where is this Dhamma?

"Speaking simply, that which is not Dhamma does not exist. Dhamma is Nature. This is called the Sacca-Dhamma, the 'True Dhamma.'

If one sees Nature, one sees Dhamma; if one sees Dhamma, one sees Nature. Seeing Nature, one knows the Dhamma."

*EDITOR'S NOTE: By this definition, is the meaning of the Pali word Dhamma (Sanskrit Dharma) not something the English equivalent of da kine or aloha in the state of Hawaii or Marklar on the planet Marklar?

A word can take on so much meaning that, by encompassing all, it distinguishes nothing, becoming the most important and least important word, the most meaningful and therefore in a sense a quite meaningless word, except in context. Then, like da kine, it takes on all kinds of meaning. Dhamma lower case means "thing," as the closest English approximation. When capitalized, it means Doctrine or the Teaching of the Buddha.