Achara first appears in "Stranger in a Strange Land" S3.



Jack meets Achara in Phuket, Thailand. They meet on the beach when she helps him put together a kite, and afterwords they eat together in a restaurant. They become lovers, but Achara refuses to tell Jack much about herself except "she has a gift". After Jack follows her to her workplace one night, he finds out she is some kind of tattoo artist, but using ancient methods. She confesses she "can see who people are". Jack forces Achara to break the rules and "read" and tattoo him.

According to Lostpedia, Achara and Dharma are synonymous in Hinduism. Meaning "the regulation of daily life."
And Achara is often refered to as the Supreme Dharma.
"The mark of Dharma is Achara or good conduct. Achara is the mark of the good. From Achara is Dharma born. Dharma enhances life."

Does this mean Achara is in some way connected to the Dharma initiative?

I think she is connected with Dharma. I mentioned this (I think?) before in the episode thread.

I think her name was a clue for us to link her to Dharma. It would make sense in a way, considering there seems to be some Dharma links hinted at regarding most of the main Losties pre-island.