Karmic Relief

The origin and truth of comic justice—for our times.

Both historical and practical, this book highlights the principles of karmic belief and practice throughout history and how they came to the West, then applies the principles of karma to ethics and morality, relationships, work and career decisions, mental and physical health, grief and death, and all aspects of self-development.

When Donald Trump was indicted in March 2023, reporters asked Yusef Salaam, a candidate for New York City Council, for his response. Salaam, one of the exonerated Central Park 5 whose execution Trump had called for when they were tried for rape and attempted murder in 1989, had a one-word answer: “Karma.” What was most notable was not Salaam’s use of the term, but that no media outlet found it necessary to explain what it means. That’s because karma has entered the common lexicon and every literate person seems to know what it means.

The word crops up everywhere—not just in yoga studios, academic journals, and alternative spiritual circles, and among Hindus and Buddhists, but in news reports, ads, sitcoms, sports columns, and the everyday conversations of people who wouldn’t know Upanishads from Us Magazine. Stephen Colbert invokes the term on TV, and Taylor Swift summons it in song (iTunes in fact lists more than 150 karmic song titles).

In short, karma is a profoundly useful idea, and Karmic Relief is a profoundly useful book. It offers readers both a blueprint for building a more fulfilling life and a way to reconcile some of life’s most vexing conundrums.