[Buddha-l] Lamas and such

[John Willemsens]

<<
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.
>>

Hello Joy,
I have never heard the term "zielenboer" before and google does not return 
any hits.
/\ John Willemsens, Amsterdam.