"The bla is conceived of as a support upon which the physiological and intellectual aspects of life rest. It is thus considered the most important of the three physiological principlles, the other two being vital force (srog) and breath (dbugs)......the bla pervades all parts of the body, but depends on the breath and cannot function without it.......bla is also one of the three intellectual principles along with sems and yid.".....ARROW AND SPINDLE...pg. 311)

LA...." the word La is similar in meaning to the word 'soul'. All human beings possess a la, consciousness (sem) and life (sok). The la is an entity which is part of one's being but is unintelligent. Therefore it can be stolen, confiscated, regained, as well as reinforced by spiritual power." (Trungpa: 1978..pg 227)....

"represents the psycho-energetic function of the individual in relation to the energies of the world. The link between the inner and outer energy." (Norbu: 1995..pg 60)...

"the notion of ancestral souls (bla)"..(Blondeau: 1996..pg 123)....

"In the Saka of the Altai, there was a belief not only that the body contained a life element (the soul) but also that its parts, including the hair and nails, had their distinct, partial souls. The hair and nails continue to grow after death. It was sufficient to possess the hair or nails of a person in order to gain control over his soul and influence his life." (Rudenko: 1970..pg 287)...

"In the Kalachakra tradition, the soul (bla-gnas) resides at the bottom of the left foot (men), or right foot (women) at the new moon. Then it rises higher each day, residing at the top of the head on the full moon. Then returns." (Stein: 1972..pg 226)...

At the new moon the LA is in the soul of the foot....it reaches the crown of the head on the Full Moon..

According to Tibetan medicine it is very important to avoid any injury or surgery to the area where the LA is located......

lama (l�'mə) ......Tibetan bla-ma, the upper one, lama, from bla, superior.

In terms of the Nine Ways of Bon, the Tsewang Rikzin practice belongs to the tantric vehicle of transformation while the ransom sections belong to a lower causal vehicle known as �Rites and Rituals�. Before one performs the ritual of reinforcing the life force (chi bslu) and retrieving the soul (bla bslu) for the benefit of an individual whose life is threatened or whose health is suffering, the practitioners should gather and proceed through the recitation and visualization sections of the sadhana.

certain among these Pawo shamans came to be employed by the larger monasteries, and even later by the Tibetan government, as oracles. Such an oracle is known as a Lhapa or Sungma (srung-ma). The most famous among these oracles is the State Oracle attached to Nechung monastery, and he is usually possessed by the spirit Pehar, who is said to have been originally a deity of Turkish origin. The State Oracle continues to function in exile at Dharamsala in India, the seat of HH the Dalai Lama and the Tibetan Government in exile.

The Ngakpa, on the other hand, as a Tantrika and an exorcist, is rarely possessed by the spirits. Rather, the Ngakpa is able, by way of certain meditations and other psychic techniques, to enter into an altered state where one's consciousness or Namshe leaves the physical body in a subtle mind-made body (yid-lus) and enters into the dimensions of the Otherworld, where one searches for fragments of the soul of the afflicted person which has been stolen by deceitful spirits or imprisoned there by a black magician. A patient suffering from soul-sickness or loss of soul is characterized by inertia, weakness, depression, and loss of interest in one's surroundings and everyday affairs. If the La (bla) or the soul, this being a subtle energy field that serves as the vehicle for the individual's emotional life, is not recovered and restored to wholeness in the patient within a sufficient period of months, there exists the possibility of physical death. The Ngagpa may also perform a ritual procedure for this purpose known as La-guk (bla 'gug), "recalling the soul". The Ngakpa, by virtue of his power to enter the Otherworld and return with treasures of knowledge and power, is able to diagnose the causes of diseases and prescribe a variety of methods for effecting cures.

bLA...life force....concerned with this world's good fortune, tather than rebirth and salvation.....the la is a spirit-essence or life-principle, residing in the body...it Tibet it is customary to plant a tree at the firth of a child..this tree is the la-shing, the tree of the child's la.......usually a Juniper.....The la can leave the body, weakening one;s life and exposing one to harm....it can also be affected by damaging its external resting place......

There seems to be many points of similarity between the LA of the Tibetans, the HUN (soul) of the Chinese, and the KA or double of the Egyptians....