I like the story, but I feel it's important to mention that the authors stated opinion on Karma is terrifying . Karma is essentially the worst sort of belief, in that superficially it seems to reward good behavior and punish bad behavior. This appeals to a lot of people because of its clear "carrot/stick" mentality and overall simplicity. This is the "Just-World" hypothesis. In reality, this kind of thinking means th…
This is a very superficial interpretation of the idea of karma. What you're describing is just someone rationalizing being a judgmental asshole. Karma is about "paying it forward", not in an attempt to gain the favor of the universe, but because it is the morally correct thing to do. If you believe in karma, you believe that the machinations of the universe will reward and punish justly, but you don't participate in…
If I believe in Karma, arguably I believe that the best thing I can do is to fulfil my station in life as I aspire to break the cycle of rebirth. It's definitely worth remembering that Karma existed in a society that did have, and still does in some ways, a very strong caste system where the good of the society was often seen as a consequence of everyone doing their assigned role. Notably, in the Bhagavad Gita, one of the arguments that Krishna uses to convince Arjuna that he should fight against his own family is because it will fulfil his verdic duties - in this instance his station in life as a warrior.