La-vitality
La-vitality (Tib. བླ་, Wyl. bla) — located in the heart, it is responsible for the sense of identification with the body. If the la-vitality is “scattered” or leaves the body, death will soon follow. It is one of the three factors that contribute to keeping us alive, together with our longevity (Tib. ཚེ་, Wyl. tshe)[1] and the life-force (Tib. སྲོག་, sok, Wyl. srog).[2] The la of a deity or a person can be kept in a stone called lado.
La-vitality can be ransomed back through practices called lalu (bla bslu).
Khenpo Kartar explained that: "The word la means 'above' or 'higher' and is sometimes translated as 'spirit'. The la is what remains behind when a person dies, while the life-force is what ends and the consciousness is what proceeds to take rebirth."[3]
References
- ↑ Longevity is a kind of force or energy that we possess at birth as the result of our previous karma; when it is “interrupted” by an incidental factor, such as an accident or illness, we die.
- ↑ Life-force is the life energy that every sentient being possesses and that is responsible for our health and a general sense of well-being; when it is “corrupted” by illness or spirits, death will follow.
- ↑ Khenpo Kartar Rinpoche, Karma Chakme's Mountain Dharma, Vol. II (Woodstock: KTD Publications, 2006), p.88.