“法”是什么意思？
What is "Dhamma" ?
“法”字的梵语是“达摩”（Dharma）。佛教对这个字的解释是：“任持自性、轨生物解。”这就是说，每一事物必然保持它自己特有的性质和相状，有它一定的规则，使人看到便可以了解是何物。例如水，它保持着它的湿性，它有水的一定规则，使人一见便生起水的了解；反过来说，如果一件东西没有湿性，它的轨则不同于水的规则，便不能生起水的了解。所以，佛教把一切事物都叫做“法”。佛经中常见到的“一切法”、“诸法”字样，就是“一切事物”或“宇宙万有”的意思。照佛教的解释 ，佛根据自己对一切法如实的了解而宣示出来的言教，它本身也同样具有“任持自性、轨生物解”的作用，所以也叫做法。
"Dharma" in Sanskrit ( "Dhamma" in Pāli ) means "retaining one's own nature, such that it can be recognized". That is to say, everything has its own attributes and appearance (S. prakṛti and lakṣaṇa, P. pakati and lakkhaṇa) and maintains its own properties, by which people can perceive it for what it is. For instance, water maintains its property of wetness and acts according to its fixed track, so people recognize it as water when they see it. Conversely, when something is devoid of wetness and obeys different rules from water, there then can be no conception of water. Therefore, Buddhism views everything as "dhamma". The terms "all dhammas", "each dhamma" appearing in Buddhist canons indicate "all things" or "universal existence". According to this interpretation, the discourses delivered by the Buddha based on his own empirical comprehension of dhammas are also "Dhamma" since they hold true to the principle of "retaining its own nature, so that it can be recognized" .
