Epic Guide|Mostly Harmless

The asian religious undertones of ABC’s Lost are undeniable. The way everyone is connected before the flight, and how for everything there is an antithesis seem to be heavily influenced by either/both Hinduism and Buddhism. Here are some examples of balance on the island: In the same episode Boone died, Aaron was born. Jack is a man of science, Locke a man of faith. Hugo won the lottery, then bad things happened to him. Saeed tortured people in Iraq, He was tortured on the island. The tail party seems to have had similar struggles as there’s a leader (Michelle Rodriguez) who worked for a parent, comparable to Jack who worked for his father, struggling with people of faith, (Locke and Mr. Eko). The fact that many of the castaways “coincidentally” ran into each other before the flight also points to the idea of the interconnectedness of life. Not only this, but the term ”Dharma” (Dharma Initiative) is an obvious clue that the island’s significance has something to do with either Buddhism or Hinduism. In Buddhism the term refers to the teachings of the Buddha, in Hinduism it means one’s duty or place in the caste system. 

The idea of the “Dharma Wheel” is particularly interesting, since it is a theological idea of the teaching of the Buddha traveling from place to place and establishing its ideas. The fact that in the middle of the Ba Gua octagon is a yin yang symbol I think is another clue of the theme of balance taking place on the island. It may be that somehow the “Dharma Initiative” was an attempt to somehow ”trap” the dharma wheel in one place, if somehow the numbers 4, 8, 15, 16, 23, and 42 could be linked to the dharma wheel it would be good clue as to their meaning, and why they need to be repeatedly entered into the computer. Also the fact that the “monster” is nothing but black smoke leads me to think that it is somehow linked to the religious undertones of the show. 

Lost, unofficial website: http://www.lost-tv.com/