Termo

The beings of one of the six realms, dominated by pride. To avoid confusion we have translated lha as "deity" when it means a Buddha or wisdom deity. [WOMPT, 1998]

A class of beings who, as a result of accumulating positive actions in previous lives, experience immense happiness and comfort, and are therefore considered by non-Buddhists as the ideal state to which they should aspire. Those in the world of form and world of formlessness experience an extended form of the meditation they practiced (without the aim of achieving liberation from cyclic existence) in their previous life. Gods like Indra and others of the six classes of gods of the world of desire possess, as a result of their merit, a certain power to affect the lives of other beings and they are therefore worshipped, for example by Hindus. The same Tibetan and Sanskrit term is also used to refer to enlightened beings, in which case it is more usually translated as “deity.” [TLWF 2011]

According to the Buddhist tradition, a class of beings, superior to humans, who, although not immortal, enjoy immense power, bliss, and longevity. The Tibetan and Sanskrit terms are also used to refer to powerful spirits as well as to the deities visualized in tantric meditation, which are not to be understood as "gods" in the ordinary sense of the word. Occasionally, the term is also used in a technical sense to refer to the Buddha or to the guru, as well as, honorifically, to great and powerful kings. The Tibetan usage reflects that of the Sanskrit term, which is rich and elusive in meaning. Originally it seems to have meant "bright" and, later, the "bright ones who give to man." Accordingly, the range of meaning is wide and covers the sun and moon as universal luminaries, human parents who give life and sustenance, and thence to the learned and to spiritual guides who impart knowledge. [TPQ, 2010]

Also translated as celestial beings. A class of beings who, as a result of accumulating positive actions in previous lives, experience immense happiness and comfort and are, therefore, considered by some non-Buddhists to have attained the ideal state to which they should aspire. According to the Buddhist teachings, however, they have not attained freedom from cyclic existence. Those in the world of form and the world of formlessness experience an extended form of the meditation that they practiced (without the aim of achieving liberation from cyclic existence) in their previous life. Gods like Indra, and others of the six classes of gods of the world of desire, possess, as a result of their merit, a certain power to affect the lives of other beings, and they are therefore worshipped, for example, by Hindus. The same Tibetan and Sanskrit term is also used to refer to enlightened beings, in which case it is more usually translated as deity. [NS]