Dharma is a concept of central importance in Indian philosophy and religion. It has multiple meanings in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism. It is difficult to provide a single concise definition for dharma, as the word has a long and varied history and straddles a complex set of meanings and interpretations. Paul Horsch suggests Ṛta and Dharma are parallel concepts, the former being a cosmic principle, the latter being of moral social sphere; while Māyā and Dharma are also analogous concepts, the former being that which corrupts law and moral life, the later being that which strengthens law and moral life. Though each path of dharma (Jain, Buddhist, Hindu, etc.) signifies a particular religious form with its own rules and practices there is nonetheless general uniformity among these traditions concerning the underlying philosophy of liberation. The cultivation and attainment of wisdom is part of the goal and practice of Buddhism. In order to attain wisdom one must understand the nature of things (the dharma), and part of the practice of Buddhism is the investigation of Nature - dhamma-vicaya. This means to adopt an objective, systematic approach to understanding the causal relationships between various phenomena.
