lha - Gods

Ok, we encountered this word earlier, as lha ma yin, but here it is lha, gods, devas in Sanskrit. Sometimes these two groups are combined, so it's only five realms of existence. In the Wheel of Life this group is usually at the top, with gods and goddesses playing instruments and otherwise be in a pleasant state of mind.

The las to get to experience this realm is extremely good deeds in the past, but still las created with 'dzin pa. Very few experience this realm, and those who do, think this is indeed heaven, until the causes for this experience to continue wears off. And as the beings have not exactly created new positive las, they drop down to really bad realms of experience. Needless to say, it is seldom lha practice dharma, as they don't exactly suffer.

Yes, Buddhism accepts gods, note lowercase and plural. It's just that even gods are trapped in samsara, and they have not created the realms -- las does that. Any powerful being could be considered a lha by someone who does not have similar powers, that's all.

For those studying letters, this is a good example of a la that is stacked on top of a ha. Lha sa, by the way, is translated as the place of gods (sa - ground, place). So that should be an easy word to remember!