She decidedly believes

in Karma which I think is unhealthy. Once she became a little bit "Americanized" her saying was: "what comes around

goes around", a saying she learned from her workmates in a low-paying job. For the downtrodden (not that I think you

are, I think the opposite of you), that philosophy helps them to cope but doesn't really get them anywhere better.

To her and other believers of that, they feel as if their station in life has nothing to do with ability but rather

luck, or lack of it and that the tide will eventually turn but you and I know it really never does unless we do

something to better ourselves.
Karma means nothing more than "action", essentially.

You don't have to

believe in reincarnation to believe in karma; though you can, and the ideas go together well. You have to modify the

term with something like "past life" karma to specify that context.

Nor is it "what goes around comes around".

That too is a popular misconception.

In a bare bones sense, karma has to do with the biggest picture around ones

actions -- all the conditions, preconditions, consequences, internal states, etc. Actions have a follow through to

them that is bigger than most understand. When I act I change myself and the world forever. I even change my own

future actions. All these changes can be considered part of the act itself, and should be, if you accept the

Buddhist principle. That big picture is closer to the idea of karma than any western cliches you typically

hear.

We now return to our regularly scheduled program.