English-Tibetan
Dictionary of Key Spiritual Terms

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Wylie | Tibetan

See also merit

1. las/ 

   [lit. work, deed, act]

   Biblical: good works, virtuous acts (more properly, dge ba'i las/ ): las kyi sgo nas rnam dag tu gyur pa/  justified by works (Rom. 4:2), las la mi rten par bos pa la rten pa/  not by works but by him who calls (Rom. 9:11,12), thugs rjes yin pas las kyis min/  if by grace, then it is no longer by works (Rom. 11:6), sus kyang ngom pa mi byed phyir las kyi sgo nas kyang min no/  not by works, so that no one can boast (Eph. 2:9), dad pa'ang las dang bral na ro 'dra yin/  so too, faith without works is dead (Jas. 2:17).

   Buddhist: works of virtue or dge ba'i las/  are the means of acquiring merit in Bsm: bde ba'i rgyu dkar po dge ba'i las dang /,,sdug bsngal gyi rgyu nag po mi dge ba'i las/  the white action of virtue, the cause of happiness, and the black action of non-virtue, the cause of misery (TRC 242); see merit.

2. bya ba/ 

   Biblical: actions, deeds: dkon mchog gyi bya ba/  the works God requires (Jn. 6:28).

Related Terms: 1) bzo las/  workmanship: nged rnams dkon mchog gis mdzad pa'i bzo las yin/  for we are God's workmanship (Eph. 2:10 SV); 2) las tshan/  works of service: dam pa rnams las tshan gyi las byed cing ma shi ka'i sku lus 'god pa'i ched du phun sum tshogs par mdzad pa'i phyir/  to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up (Eph. 4:12 SV); 3) las byed pa/  to work, do work: las byed pa'i mi la thugs rje nas gla ster ba ltar mi brtsi/  when a man works, his wages are not credited to him as a gift (Rom. 4:4 SV); 4) tshul khrims srung ba/  to observe the law: de dag gis dad pa'i sgo nas ma btsal gyis/,,tshul khrims srung ba'i sgo nas btsal bas/  they pursued it not by faith but as if it were by works (Rom. 9:32 SV).