K-L
Ka’aba (also Kaaba): The black cubical shrine in Mecca where Muslims journey annually. (AJ)
The cubical shrine in Mecca, toward which all Muslims face at prayer. It is the goal of the annual pilgrimage (the Hajj). -Arabic. (Du)
kaanahu Hu: Literally, exactly He. Like Him. Description by the Shuhudiyyah school of what the soul becomes at final fana. -Sufi. (1a)
kabaddi: An outdoor Indian game, similar to hu-tu-tu. (N6)
kabala (also cabala): A system of mystical interpretation of the scriptures, developed and transmitted orally by Jewish rabbis in the sixth to eleventh centuries A.D. (Du)
Kabir: The fourteenth century Perfect Master of Benares, India 1435-1518 A.D. (1a)(Du)(Gr)(L)
(1440 – 1518) Perfect Master and poet of northern India. (1b)
kafni: A body-length lightweight cotton garment. -Urdu. (Du)
A long ankle-length, shirt-like garment sometimes worn by Meher Baba and His companions during the "New Life". (I)
A body-length lightweight cotton garment. A long robe. (N2)
Kailas: The name of one of the loftiest peaks of the Himalayas, rising north of Manasa Lake. Traditionally the abode of Shiva. -Sanskrit. (Du)
kaka: Father’s brother (paternal uncle). (I)
kakemono: A picture or writing on silk or paper that is suitable for hanging, usually with a roller on its lower edge. -Japanese. (Du)
kaki: Father’s brother’s wife (paternal uncle’s wife). (I)
kal: An age of about 65 to 125 years duration. There are eleven ages in each cycle. -Vedanta. Sufi: waqt. (1a)
Kalanki: Kalanki, another name for the White Horse Avatar, means the Divine Incarnation belonging to the present Kali Yuga, which is the last of the four yugas or ages, and the longest. Each yuga comprises millions of years and hundreds of Avataric incarnations. (Ka 2256 )
See also Kalki. -Ed.
Kali yuga: One of the four "yugas" or ages according to Hindu tradition, the "Kali Yuga" is the one in which ignorance of spiritual truth is at its height. (I)
The fourth, or present, cycle of time (yuga). (N5)
See also Kalanki. –Ed.
Kalki: See also Kalanki. –Ed.
Kalyan: (1) favorite disciple of the Perfect Master Swami Ramdas Samarth, mentioned in the discourse "True Discipleship"; (2) Kalyan (mentioned in the "Epilogue: Twelve Ways of Realizing Me"), also known as Kamal, favorite disciple of Kabir, the Perfect Master. (1b)
kama (also kam): Lust. -Sanskrit. (Du)
Lust, desire. (N4)
Kamal: See under Kalyan. (1b)
kambal: A coarse woolen blanket. (N3) (see also kamli. Ed.)
Kamil: = Salik-e-Kamil. See: Salik. -Sufi. (1a)
Perfect. (N2)
The Perfect One. (N4)
kamli: Coarse woolen blanket. (N4) (see also kambal. -Ed.)
Kamli coat: A coat made from a coarse woolen blanket which, patched innumerable times, Meher Baba wore almost continuously over a period of years; now on display in the Museum Room on Meherabad Hill. (I)
kanchan: Gold, wealth. -Hindi. (Du)
kanya: Literally, daughter. Also a virgin, young nun. (N4)
...a virgin who has dedicated her life, from her youth, to God, the God-Man, or a Sadguru. (N7)
karamat: A miracle performed by those on the fifth and sixth planes. -Sufi. (1a)
karan sharir (also karana sharira): The mental body. -Vedanta. Sufi: jism-e-altaf. (1a)
The causal or mental body; the seat of the mind. See also manas. –Vedanta. Sufi: jism-e-altaf. (1b)
karma: Literally, action. Fate. The natural and necessary happenings in one’s lifetime, preconditioned by one’s past lives. -Vedanta. (1a)
(adj. karmic) Action, work; effect; fate. The natural and necessary happenings in one’s life, preconditioned by one’s past lives.-Vedanta. (1b)
Action, movement, deed; the unmitigated law of retribution working with equal precision in "good" and "evil" deeds and thoughts, thus determining the nature and circumstances of each incarnation. (A)
The law of action and reaction; happenings in one’s lifetime as a result of one’s action in former lives. (AJ)
The law of cause and effect. Fate; the natural and necessary happenings in one’s lifetime, determined by one’s past lives and past actions in this life. (Gr)
(The working of (N4)) the law of action and reaction (in relation to oneself and others (N5)). Fate. The natural and necessary happenings of one’s lifetime, preconditioned by one’s past lives. (N2) -Sanskrit. (Du)
karma kanda: See: shariat. -Vedanta. (1a)
External conformity and adherence to dharma shastra (religious injunctions and traditions); orthodoxy. –Vedanta. Sufi: shariat. (1b)
karma marga: The way of action. (C)
karma yoga: The yoga of selfless action; yoga through the selfless performance of duties. –Vedanta. (1b)
See: yoga. (Du)
The yoga (path) of action. (N4)
karma-yogi (also karmayogin): One who practices the yoga of selfless action. –Vedanta. (1b)
kasb: An acquisition, as by buying or trading. Compare maohib. -Sufi. (1a)
Kashf-al-Mahjub: See: Hujwiri. -Sufi. (1a)
Kasi: See Benares. –Ed.
kasturi-mriga: Musk deer; a deer whose navel yields musk. –Sanskrit. (1b)
Kauravas: See under Krishna. (1b)
kebeb (also kebab): Meat cooked on a skewer. (EBF)
A small ball of seasoned minced meat which is fried or broiled on a skewer. (I)
keeping watch: See watch. –Ed.
Kerawala, Jal: During Baba’s brief visit to Nagpur, Jal Kerawala became overwhelmed by the power of Baba’s love, and he gave his full dedication to the Master. He worked hard in Baba’s cause, and was to prove most useful in Baba’s work in times to come. (Ka 2258 )
Kettner, Frederick: As a philosopher, Frederick Kettner was a deep seeker and mystic; he founded an esoteric form of thought called Biosophy - the wisdom of life. (Ka 1932 )
Khilafat: From the book, Themes of Islamic Civilization, a Chishti Deed of Appointment, the Friends of God translated by John Alden Williams, from Ka Nizami’s Religion and Politics in India in the thirteenth century. Khilafat means to succeed or follow, lineage, successorship, which in certain Islamic or Sufi circles means a chain of command or authority. (Ka 2397 )
khamsa wujudat: The five kinds of existence. The five devolutions of God in the Beyond-Beyond state into man. See: wujud. -Sufi. (1a)
Khizr, Khidr: Literally, the green one. An office of one of the Perfect Masters. -Arabic. (Du)
Khordad Saal: The birthday of Lord Zoroaster. (N5)
khudi: The false ego. -Sufi. (1a)
Khuldabad: A village near Aurangabad on the road to Ellora. Khuldabad is called the "Valley of the Saints" because of a large scale Sufi migration to this spot several hundred years ago. At the tomb of one of these figures, the Perfect Master Zar Zari Zarbaksh (who had died 600 years previously), Sai Baba received God-Realization. The Emperor Aurangzeb’s tomb is nearby. Meher Baba visited Khuldabad often and at one of the saint’s tombs He bowed down six thousand times. (A location within Maharashtra State. -Ed.) (EBF)
Khushru Quarters: The name of the compound in Ahmednagar originally the family residence for some of Meher Baba’s disciples including Adi K. and Rustom Irani, their mother Gulmai, and Sarosh Irani; it is now known as "Meher Nazar" and is the place where the offices of the Avatar Meher Baba Perpetual Public Charitable Trust are located. (I)
(See also: Meher Nazar Compound. -Ed.)
khwaja: A title of respect, as in addressing a venerable old man, teacher, etc. Also, one of the types of Qutub (q.v.), who has the characteristic of staying in one place as a headquarters, rather than moving about. -Arabic. (Du)
Khwaja Saheb: See Chishti, Muinuddin, Khwaja. (1b)
ki: A suffix indicating the possessive case. (N7)
ki jai: Literally, victory to. Used in the sense of "Hail to". Jai in a greeting is used in the sense of calling on the name of the Avatar, or in remembrance of the Avatar; e.g., "Jai Baba!" "Jai Ram!" (N2) -Hindi. (Du)
(see also ki and jai independently. Ed.)
kirtan: Singing in a loud tone in praise of God, accompanied by music, interspersed with explanations on spiritual subjects. -Hindi. (Du)
The singing of devotional songs, accompanied by music, interspersed (with stories from the lives of the Avatars and His lovers, and also (N4)) with explanations on spiritual subjects. (N2)
A performance glorifying God or the God-Man through songs and stories. (N6)(L)
Koli, Tani and Nana: Nana Koli and his wife, Tani, were old servants and had been working at Meherabad since its establishment in the 1920s.Unlike most of the hired help, they worked out of love for Baba, and continued to do so for many years. (Ka 2291 )
Koran, the (also Quran): See under Abraham; Muhammad, the Prophet. (1b)
The holy book of the Moslems containing the Messages given by God to Mohammed. (Gr)
The Holy Book of the Moslems. (L)(N4)
Krishna: The Avatar whose history is told in the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata. Whose discourse to the warrior Arjuna just before battle is known as the Bhagavad-Gita. (1a)
The Avatar (q.v.) whose history is narrated in the Hindu epic the Mahabharata and whose teachings come to us through Hinduism. His discourse to the warrior Arjuna just before battle against the Kauravas is known as the Bhagavad Gita. See also Radha – Krishna. (1b)
The Avatar whose history is told in the Hindu epic poem, the Mahabharata. Whose discourses with His disciple Arjuna before battle are told in the Bhagavad-Gita. (Gr)
The Avatar famous in literature with His consort Rhada, associated with India, dates unknown. (L)
kroda: Anger. -Sanskrit. (Du)
Kumbha Mela: One of the largest fairs (melas) in India. (N4)
kundalini: Literally, coiled. The vital force, or power, residing near the base of the spine, represented symbolically as a coiled cobra. -Sanskrit. (Du)
The vital force residing at the base of the spine, symbolically represented as a coiled serpent. (N5)
kusti (also kasti): A flat, hand-woven woolen string which is tied around the waist of the sadra at a Navjote. (Da)
A ceremonial thread which is tied around a boy’s waist by a priest (dastur) before his twelfth birthday, and which he wears for the rest of his life. -Zoroastrian (Avestan). (Du)
A sacred thread worn by the Zoroastrians. (N7)
kuti: A hut. (N6)
Kutub: See Qutub. (1b)
la mahdood: Infinite. -Sufi. Vedanta: anant. (1a)
la makan: Literally, placeless; "no" point. The "seed" in the mental sphere where all ideas of time and space converge to a point, and from which the subtle and gross worlds emanate. -Sufi. (1a)
la sifat la surat: Attributeless and formless. -Sufi. Vedanta: nirguna nirakar. (1a)
laddoo: A sweetmeat in the shape of a ball. A comfit. -Hindi. (Du)
Round Indian sweets. (N4)
lahar (also lahari): Literally, a ripple, wave, fancy, whim. The Whim of God which caused Creation. -Hindi, Marathi. (1a)
Impulse; wave, ripple; the whim of God that caused creation. –Vedanta. (1b)
lahut: Perfection. -Sufi. (1a)
lakh: 100,000. -Hindi. Vedanta: laksha. (1a)
langoti: A small triangular piece of cloth, like a loin cloth, but smaller. (Gr)
lassi: Yogurt shake, either sweet or salty. (EBF)
leela (also lila): The "Divine Sport" of Creation. The "game" which God plays, which manifests the universe. -Vedanta. (1a)(N2) -Sanskrit. (Du)
Literally, sport. (N4)
Literally, playful activities...(N5)...in a general sense, playful activities. (N6)
(Quite possibly, see also Leila and Majnun. Word derivation questioned. -Ed.)
Layla: See Majnun and Layla. (1b)
Liberation: Release from the cycle of births and deaths (reincarnation). See also Freedom. Sufi: Najat. Vedanta: Moksha; Mukti. (1b)
llano: A plain. -Spanish. (Du)
lobh: Greed. -Sanskrit. (Du)
lungi: A loincloth. (N2)
A colored cloth wrapped round the waist, reaching the ankles. (N3)
(see also dhoti. Ed.)
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