nges par rtog pa

Lifelong Companion Gods ('go ba'i lha)

• A category of spirits who protect the life-essence (bla) of an individual, accompanying the individual in question for the duration of his or her life, in the manner in which a shadow follows the body. Five types of life-long companion god ('go ba'I lha lnga) are specifically identified: the gods of vitality (srog gi lha), the gods of masculinity (pho lha), the gods of femininity (mo lha), the gods of the countryside (yul lha), and the gods of inimical force (dgra lha). On these and other enumerations, see Nebesky-Wojkowitz, Oracles and Demons of Tibet, pp. 327-8. GD (from the Glossary to Tibetan Elemental Divination Paintings)