| Ka'ba | ('Cube') The sanctuary in Mecca to which all Moslems face in prayer five times daily. Contains black stone, thought to be constructed by Abraham and Ishmael. |
| Kabbalah | Jewish mystical teachings; secret doctrine of both practical and speculative nature. |
| Kaddish | ('holy') Jewish prayer closes daily public worship; recited standing and facing Jerusalem. |
| Kahatriya | ('caste') HIndu caste system due to karmic residue of previous incarnations. |
| Kali | Consort of the Hindu God Shiva; black goddess portrayed with a necklace of human skulls and bloody fangs. Goddess of destruction and the Great Mother, giver of life. |
| Kalki | In Hindu tradition, the last avatar of Vishnu who will descend on a white horse, to destroy the wicked and bring the world to an end. |
| Kami | Shinto beneficent spirits of nature which help the processes of fertility and growth. |
| Karma | ('work' or 'action') Hindu and Buddhist law of cause and effect; belief that for every action there are inevitable consequences attached to the doer requiring punishment or reward; Inequitable existence as resultant from Karma from previous incarnations. |
| Kashrut / Kosher | ('fit') Jewish code governing slaughter and butchery that determines the uncleanness of meat; Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 in Tanach are cited. |
| Koan | Zen Buddhist technique of asking pointed paradoxical questions or baffling exercises to induce reflection designed to bring about Satori. |
| Kojiki | Shinto Scripture which is the oldest book in the Japanese language. Legends about creation, founding of Japan and the ceremonies and customs of the Japanese people. |
| Krishna | ('black') Hinduism -The eighth incarnation of Vishnu; prominent in Bhagavad-Gita. |
| Kundalini | Hindu coiled shakti like a serpent at base of spine; when awakened by Yoga it surges through the spine to evoke union and liberation reenacting the sexual union of Shiva and Varuna. |
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