（Skt. dharma， Pali dhamma）. The word dharma is originally derived from the Indic root dhr， with the meaning of "that which preserves or maintains"， especially that which preserves or maintains human activity. The term has a wide range of meanings: （1） Custom， habit， standard of behavior; （2） That which should be done; occupation， duty， obligation; （3） social order， social pattern; （4） goodness， good action， virtue; （5） truth， reality， true principle， law， （Skt. satya）; （6） the basis of all worlds and realms; （7） religious duty; （8） the standard of the awareness of truth， the law; （9） teachings， explanation; （10） original essence， original nature. （11） Attribute， quality， characteristic quality， elemental construct. It is this sense of the term that is commonly used in the treatises of the Yoga^ca^ra school 瑜伽行派， which categorizes the gamut of the experiential world into one hundred types of phenomena， or elemental constructs. The fact that these constructs lack inherent existence is not recognized by the practitioners of the two vehicles 二乘， but is a distinctive characteristic of the contemplations of the bodhisattvas 菩萨. The lack of perception of the emptiness of elemental constructs is important in the formation of the noetic hindrances.