Dear Yong Peng.



Thanks for your attention and help regarding the terms that the monks and
Buddha himself are addressed in the pali canon.

Regarding yogi. Yes is a very common term find in the Mahayana designating a
practioner of yoga (re-union) with the nature of his mind. This practioner
is endowed with the achievements of samata and vipassana. In Tibetan yogi
was translated from Sanskrit sources as "Naljorpa".
It is interesting: yesterday while searching for the term yogi/yogavacaro in
the net I find a western theravada Bhikkhu within his dharma name the term
Yogavacaro.

I was trying to search again in the net the site of this monk but could not
find yet.



As for the Tibetan word "lama" it is indeed a translation from the Sanskrit
guru.
The word is spelling as bla ma (wylie transliteration system).

Bla means higher, superior, heavy.

Ma there is different connotations but the main one's are an negative
particle and the short form of a-ma that means mother.

In this context would "lama" would mean somebody that "there is no one
higher or superior", as for the Mahayana and vajrayana there is no one
superior or higher than our root teacher or guru.

The other meaning would be of no one heavier or full of wisdom and qualities
than him. This is in agreement with one of the etymologies of the Sanskrit
word guru for heavy in the sense of full of qualities and wisdom.

The other meaning would be for the first syllable "la" as superior in the
sense of full of transcendent qualities and wisdom. And for the second
syllable "ma" implying the meaning mother, in the sense of endowed with love
and compassion as a mother have for his own son. So "lama would mean a
person that is endowed with wisdom and compassion.



Thanks again for your attention

I find interesting this kind of studies where we find interconnections
between the traditions and the etymologies of the their dharma terms.



With regards,

Gabriel



From: Pali@yahoogroups.com [mailto:Pali@yahoogroups.com] On Behalf Of Ong
Yong Peng
Sent: 18 August 2007 17:52
To: Pali@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Pali] Re: Yogavacaro



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 <mailto:Pali%40yahoogroups.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.





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