Dear Stephen, Suan and friends,

that's right, not all lamas are monks. One example is the best seller
author Lama Surya Das. A lama is a learned teacher, who is not
necessarily a monk, and it is actually a mongolian word. The
following isn't a joke, but if you observe a lama whose hair is
longer than average for a monk, he is probably a layperson.


metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Stephen Hodge wrote:

but one does not necessarily have to be a monk to be called a lama as
it is merely a title of respect for a teacher. Even you could be a
lama if you were sufficiently qualified as a teacher or
practitioner. I would be surprised if he even calls himself a monk --
since he is married etc, he is more likely to be a yogin or ngakpa,
even if he may have been a monk once. As such, it would be perfectly
acceptable for him to wear lay clothes or not as he wishes.