| Key Term |
dharmadhātu |
| Hover Popup Choices |
dharmadhātu; dharmadhatu |
| In Tibetan Script |
ཆོས་དབྱིངས་ |
| Wylie Tibetan Transliteration |
chos dbyings |
| Devanagari Sanskrit Script |
धर्मधातु |
| Romanized Sanskrit |
dharmadhātu |
| Tibetan Phonetic Rendering |
chöying |
| Chinese Script |
法界 |
| English Standard |
expanse of phenomena |
| Richard Barron's English Term |
basic space of phenomena |
| Jeffrey Hopkin's English Term |
sphere of reality |
| Gyurme Dorje's English Term |
expanse of reality |
| Ives Waldo's English Term |
ultimate sphere |
| Term Type |
Noun |
| Source Language |
Sanskrit |
| Basic Meaning |
The fundamental expanse from which all phenomena emerge. |
| Has the Sense of |
The ultimate source of phenomenal appearances, or the basic nature which allows for phenomena to arise in all their multiplicity. It is often treated as a synonym for emptiness and the ultimate truth. |
| Related Terms |
śūnyatā;paramārthasatya |
| Definitions |
| Rangjung Yeshe's English Term |
Dharmadhatu, ultimate sphere, totality of being, total field of events and meanings, the sphere of Dharma, field of all events and meanings, reality field, element of [superior] qualities, dharmadhatu, realm of dharmas, {chos khams}; the dimension of all existence; the expanse of All That Is; the sphere of Dharma, expanse of all events, absolute expanse |
| Tshig mdzod Chen mo |
1) stong pa nyid/ ... 2) gzugs kyi phung po la sogs pa phung po lnga'i rang bzhin stong pa nyid gang yin pa/ |
| Other Definitions |
Jeffrey Hopkins' Comment: An equivalent of ultimate truth (don dam bden pa, paramArthasatya) so called because meditation within observing it acts as a cause of the qualities (dharma, chos) of Superiors (Arya, 'phags pa)." Emptiness, being uncaused, is not itself a cause (element), but meditation on it causes the development of marvelous qualities; thus, emptiness comes to be called a cause, an element producing those qualities. |