[Buddha-l] Lamas and such

[Joy Vriens]

Hi Franz,

I am with you on the attain/obtain thingy and on the lamaism thingy too.

The origins of the word "bla" (?soul) used in the word lama (bla ma) may 
go back further than its use in Buddhism. Lama is used as the Tibetan 
translation for guru, but it also carries a lot of pre- or non-buddhist 
baggage.

The following link (which I only present as a sort of brainstorming on 
"bla") gives an idea about the various uses of the term "bla".
http://www.angelfire.com/vt/OkarResearch/bla.html

Trungpa made great use of the concept "Drala" (sgra bla) in his Shambala 
method. Read the chapter on "Drala" and you will get another idea of 
what the term "bla" covers. I am sure Henk Blezer would have a lot to 
say about "bla".

In general "bla" is the spirit of a deceased person. That seems to be 
more or less the starting point. I imagine, and take responsibility for 
my imagination, that a la-ma originally is a person making a living out 
of the spirit of deceased persons and of spirits in general. A 
spirit-caretaker. For the growing number of Dutch speaking list members 
the neologism "zielenboer" (soul farmer) could be a good translation. A 
spirit-caretaker can take care of your spirit when it is dead but also 
when it is still hanging around in your body. He can be a simple shaman, 
a bön po, a buddhist, a newager... There seem to be no contra-indications.

I don't think either Lamaism started as a derogatory term. E.g. the good 
French father Huc used the term lama (in 1844) in many declinations 
(lamaique, lamaserie, lamaisme). He can't be accused of colonialism, 
only of altruism since he wanted to save Thibetan and Tartarian souls.

Souvenirs d’un voyage dans la Tartarie, le Thibet et la Chine pendant 
les années 1844, 1845 et 1846,
http://classiques.uqac.ca/classiques/HUC_evariste/C20_souvenirs_voyage_tartarie/huc_souvenirs.pdf

Lamaism could be a perfectly sound name, considering lama is the 
translation of guru and the central role of a lama in Tibetan Buddhism. 
Perhaps even more nowadays than in Tibet. But even in Tibet before the 
12th century, there were hardly any lamas around in buddhist 
monasteries, mainly kalyanamitras. Why this has changed since then is 
perhaps not entirely free from reasons that some may call distorted, 
reductive, and pejorative but that may contain some truth. If lamaism 
develops as it is developing in the West, the problem may soon be 
resolved as there will be less and less lamas and more and more 
Rinpoches, His Eminences, His Holinesses etc. Rinpocheism will be the 
new trend.

Joy

> Whatever the meaning of "bla-ma" in Tibetan (thank you, Dan and Kate),  
> I think the meaning in English necessarily differs, for historical  
> reasons. Without being able to prove it, I assert there is no question  
> the English term "Lamaism" is analogous to "Popery" and is thus  
> distorted, reductive, and pejorative. Please consider the historical  
> and intellectual context of the origin of this English word and apply  
> a little hermeneutic of suspicion.
>
> Of course *I* think the English word "obtain" means something  
> different than "attain," so you are all wise to doubt my pronouncements.
>