ABC's Lost, Dharma Answers Revealed

An In Depth Look At The Dharma Initiative, Bagua's And The Island

Jul 14, 2009

Ever hear of heuristics? Research indicates it is the use of strategies using easily accessible information to direct and control problem solving in humans and machines.

Guess what Dharma stands for on ABC’s Lost; Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications.

Suppose, for a moment, that a time machine could show someone the future and the past. (Being immortal would also help and there does appear to be a few select characters that have lived for a very long time. I.E. Richard Alpert, Jacob, the man who vows to kill Jacob and then possibly becomes John Locke, (he would have to be old to some degree or a time traveller)). If that same someone had skills in heuristics it is conceivable that they could mould the timeline to their will by controlling the actions of a few key historical figures.

The Dharma Initiative Through The Looking Glass

So far in Lost we have been introduced to elements of both the Christian and Egyptian spiritual belief systems. Examples of both can be seen constantly. It is known that lost writers and creators enjoy citing historical figures and religious characters and weave similarities into the fictional characters from Lost.

For example Horus Goodspeed, the first name being Egyptian in origin after the god of the same name, Jacob, Christian, and Jack Sheppard, who has a last name that is rather obvious as the leader of the 815 survivors, are Christian based. Even Abadon, the dark skinned man that aids John Locke in trying to re-enlist the oceanic 6, has his name based on an ancient demon.

So much allegory leads to speculation that the storyline can’t provide. Will the Lost characters be held to the characteristic suggest by their names?

Dharma itself is an example of Indian influence on the island. In much of Indian Philosophy Dharma is put forth as the central concept that is used to explain the higher truth or definitive reality of the universe.

Dharma, in Indian belief systems literally translates to that which upholds or supports, and has been translated into English as Law. Dharma is also the deity or Deva in charge of Dharma. Lastly Dharma is also known as the teachings of the Buddha.

Dharma Details And Speculations

What is known about the Dharma Initiative is less complete. A little detective work can help bring some resolute answers however. The facts are that the DeGroots, doctoral candidates from Michigan State University, started the concepts for the Dharma Initiative with funding from the powerful Hanzo Foundation.

Dharma definitely has some sort of connection to the past and more specifically to the Black Rock, the land locked slave ship where Jack and his friends find dynamite. The first mate of the Black Rock had his journal go for auction on main land sometime between the very late 90’s and the early 2000’s. Desmond Hume storms in to confront Charles Widmore concerning Penelope Widmore, Charles’ daughter at that auction and when the next lot is called to sale it is identified as Tolian Hanzo’s journal. This is no coincidence.

This could mean many things. Widmore has his own industrial and economic empire but is that empire in allegiance with or fighting against the Hanzo Foundation?

The Bagua, Dharma Symbols And The Portal Of Buddhism

A bagua is a term that comes from the I-Ching, a sacred Chinese text used to tell the future. It is also a Chinese term that means eight areas. The comparisons to the Dharma symbols are easy to make. Each station and the main Dharma symbol are all placed on bagua’s.

These eight sectioned symbols are used to aid people in attaining fung shui, pronounced fung shway, and are laid over a space t help attain peace and harmony and properly channel energies.

The other interesting thing to note is the layout of the Dharma stations on the island. They are placed in a bagua/fung shui pattern. The center of a bagua is the one spot on the eight sectioned symbol that has a relationship with all other sections. The central spot for the island would then have to be the question mark station found by Locke and Mr. Eko by the yellow Nigerian drug plane. This station is known as the Pearl, the central jewel of the Dharma Initiative.

Dharma is the positive side of this belief with Adharma being the evil or negative side. This suggests that Dharma is a benevolent force working towards a positive goal for either the island or possibly the entire world. The eight sections of a Chinese bagua clockwise from the top section are:

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