The Dharma Initiative, also written DHARMA (Department of Heuristics and Research on Material Applications), is a fictional research project featured in the television series Lost. It is introduced in the second season episode "Orientation". In 2008, the Dharma Initiative website was launched. 'Dharma' is Sanskrit and is used in Hinduism. It has also been borrowed into Buddhism (sometimes called "Dhamma") to describe the collected teachings of the Buddha. It was likely used in the series because it refers to a body of supreme knowledge.
