Themes
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Eastern Faiths
Also see Reincarnation / Rebirth ("The Next Life"), which are central ideas to many Eastern Faiths.
The DHARMA Initiative symbol is a bagua, a wheel of destiny from the I Ching often used in feng shui and Taoist geomancy, though usually seen with a central yin/yang to symbolize balance. It is also central to what is in The Destiny Book, which Bai Soo uses to predict love for Jin.
The term "dharma" is a Sanskrit word used in Hinduism, Buddhism, and other Eastern faiths, and means "The Way to Higher Truths."
108 is a highly sacred number to Buddhists, Hindus and Islamics. There are 108 stars of destiny, 108 beads on a mala, 108 seats in the Nepalese parliament, 108 moves in many tai chi sequences, 108 sins in Tibetan Buddhism (that must be overcome to achieve Nirvana), and it is the symbol of Siva in Hinduism and of surat al-Kawthar in the Qu'ran.
At the end of the orientation film, Dr. Candle says "Namaste," a Hindi greeting with religious connotations.
Sayid is Muslim. In "The Greater Good," he goes to a mosque to find Essam, and eventually Essam becomes convinced that a higher calling is bringing them together. Sayid at one point uses Essam's faith to manipulate him into going through with the plan at the center of the CIA sting. After he commits suicide, Sayid feels extremely guilty. The CIA says that his body will be cremated, forbidden by Islam. Sayid's wish to bring Essam's body to the States for burial is what results in the change of his tickets to fateful Flight 815.
On an Iraqi wall passed by Sayid in "One of Them" scribbled in Arabic: "Allah forgive the one who is leaving."
The dharmacakra, an 8-spoked wheel of enlightenment in Buddhism, is seen multiple times, including on Isaac's wall, and in The Lost Experience, flashed in the new psychology film and on THF's site.
A picture of the Buddha is seen in one of the Jeep ads of The Lost Experience.
Item Last Updated: April 21, 2006, 07:54:30 PM by Pandora
