Dear Gabriel and friends,

please allow me to correct myself. I have got 'lama' mixed up with
another term. The term 'lama' is Tibetan, which literally means
wisdom, so a 'lama' is a 'wise man'. It is a respectful address to
both monks and laymen in the Tibetan culture. So, a Tibetan lama is
not necessarily a bhikkhu.

metta,
Yong Peng.

--- In Pali@yahoogroups.com, Ong Yong Peng wrote:

I do not know if 'lama' in Tibetan literature is translated from
'guru'. I do know 'lama' is a word with Mongolian origins.