http://www.ibps.org/english/master/Time%20and%20Space.html
has some interesting insite asto the connection between the buddhist Darma and the Buddhist perspective on time and space.

... anyway, I thought that if ones views of time and space could be streched, or skewed. You could perceive connections in other times and places, possibly invalidating the actual places and timelines of our flashbacks... it's a huge stretch, i'm just tossing out ideas. I have a few other ideas on how Dharma may have an effect on the "reality" of the lostaways.

LOST research:


There was a swan in the middle of the symbol in the hatch: Note the relationship to Apollo


Swan symbolism and mythology
Because of its pure white colour, the swan is a symbol of light in many parts of the world. Though in some regions it was considered a feminine symbol of the moon, in most it was a masculine symbol of the sun. In ancient Greece, for example, the swan was linked to Apollo, the god of the Sun. The god Zeus took the shape of a swan to get close to Leda, with whom he had fallen in love. And in Celic myth, a pair of swans steered the Sunboat across heaven. As a feminine symbol, the swan represents intuition and gracefulness, and goddesses such as Aphrodite and Artemis were sometimes accompanied by swans.
As a symbol in alchemy, the swan was neither masculine nor feminine, but rather symbolised hermaphroditism or 'the marriage of the opposites', fire and water. It was an emblem of mercury, as it was white and very mobile, because of its wings.
In Germanic myth the Valkyries had the power to transform into swans. They were warrior goddesses, bringing victory to one side and defeat to the other, and deciding which warriors could enter Walhalla after death. They would sometimes take off their swan-plumage and appear in human form, but if a man then stole their plumage, they were forced to obey him. However, the Valkyries could also be united with a man through love instead of force. The Valkyrie Kara accompanied her lover Helgi in war, flying over the battlefield in her swan's plumage. She sang a song so soothing that the enemy lost the will to fight. Also in Celtic and Siberian culture stories existed of swans taking off their plumage and turning into maidens.
As a dream symbol, the swan can signify self transformation, intuition, sensitivity, and even the soul, the 'higher Self' within each person.

Apollo was the type of candy Kate was eating: Notice the relationship to being a healer/epidemics! Also - he is a twin!

• Apollo was associated with law, philosophy, and the arts. He sometimes gave the gift of prophecy to mortals whom he loved, such as the Trojan princess Cassandra.
• One of the most important Olympian gods; son of Zeus and Leto, twin brother of Artemis.
• He is considered the ideal of manly beauty, so that a very handsome man might be called an “Apollo”. He is also the god of poetry and music.
• Apollo replaced the Titan Helios as the sun god; however, the Greeks didn’t delete Helios completely but referred to both of them as the Sun gods.
• The arrows of Apollo and Artemis invariably killed and the Greeks explained epidemics of diseases by supposing that they were shooting their arrows at people; and so, by praying to Apollo, the epidemic might be made to stop. In this way, Apollo became associated with the cure of diseases.
• Such so-called cures led to a myth in which Apollo was thought to have had a son, Asclepius (as KLEP ee uhs), who is better known under the Roman version of the name, Aesculapius (es" kyoo LAY pee uhs).
• He was a mortal medical healer who was so successful that he was reputed to have the ability to bring the dead back to life; which resulted in complaints by Hades. As a result, to keep peace in the godly family, Zeus killed him with a thunderbolt.


Someone mentioned they thought it said "dharma" in the middle of the symbol: I found this

When things are going well, and people are kind and treating us with respect, it is not so difficult to wish for them to be happy. However, if our love for others diminishes as soon as they cause us problems or fail to appreciate us, this indicates that our love is not pure. For as long as our good feelings for others are conditional upon their treating us well, our love will be weak and unstable and we shall not be able to transform it into universal love. It is inevitable that people will sometimes respond to our kindness in ungrateful and negative ways, and so it is essential that we find a way of transforming this experience into the spiritual path.

There is a lot of talk about transformation in dharma and also in the description of the swan above!

Good job, making the connection to Apollo, I thought the designers just wanted to make it seem more like a 60's bombshelter *j/k*

LOST research:

As a symbol in alchemy, the swan was neither masculine nor feminine, but rather symbolised hermaphroditism or 'the marriage of the opposites', fire and water.


There is a variation of the yin-yang (another symbol of balance) which is surrounded by the octagon which appears around the swan on the Dharma symbol and is also represented on the food packaging and the "Dharma" symbol. That strengthens this observation.

Good job, making the connection to Apollo, I thought the designers just wanted to make it seem more like a 60's bombshelter *j/k*

Interestingly enough, the candy bar that Kate had eaten was named "Apollo".

Swan - was on the symbol in the hatch

candy bar's name was Apollo

The word dharma was also on the symbol in one shot!

I know they say it is not about cloning but there is a lot of twin symbolism - the twin towers, appollo is a twin etc.... And then there is that insert on the other website which looks like a script.I have no idea where this is going

Could dharma be initials for something?

I have seen Dharma used as an acronym before. Something about "do harm..." it was a LONG time ago. You may be going in the right direction with that though. This kind of reminds me of the Resident Evil video game and the UMBRELLA Corporation.

CincyKelly - I definitely think you're on to something major with the twin thought. Especially since Desmond didn't recognize Jack after they shared such an bonding moment in the stadium. Of course, he HAS been underground for a loonnnggg time (as evidenced by the "slash" wall) and he may be disoriented. Also, with the Scott/Steve thing... my brain is fried. I'll try to think of more evidence to support the twin/cloning thing today.

Swan - was on the symbol in the hatch

candy bar's name was Apollo

The word dharma was also on the symbol in one shot!

I know they say it is not about cloning but there is a lot of twin symbolism - the twin towers, appollo is a twin etc.... And then there is that insert on the other website which looks like a script.I have no idea where this is going

I'm one who doesn't believe that the flashbacks are always the truth- if not completely false altogether. Like, I don't believe that Kate really robbed that bank that way, to steal back a little toy plane. I think it was more a metaphor or a fantasy, depicting how strongly she feels about what she would do to get back something in her childhood (not neccessarily something physical). Could be wrong, but that's something I've theorized for awhile.
So, maybe the twin symbolism refers to the duplicity inside all of us. Matched with the other ying/yang, good vs evil, faith vs science references, it makes some sense, even if you do believe that the flashbacks are real.