It was 2 a.m., and the hospital waiting room smelled like burnt coffee and disinfectant.
Ram sat staring at the vending machine, numb with guilt. Hours earlier, he had snapped at his father over something trivial — and now his father was behind those sterile double doors, fighting for his life.
Was this karma?
Or was this just coincidence, cruel and random?
People like to think there’s a ledger somewhere — that the universe tallies up kindnesses and mistakes and dispenses rewards or punishments accordingly.
It’s comforting, in a way, to believe that life is fairer than it often appears. But was karma truly a force woven into the fabric of existence Or was it something humans invented to make sense of chaos?
Karma as a Cosmic Law — Or a Mirror of the Mind?
In ancient Hindu and Buddhist traditions, karma isn’t about immediate payback. It’s the quiet unfolding of consequences — sometimes across lifetimes. Plant a seed of anger today, harvest sorrow years later. Sow generosity, reap unseen blessings.
Yet modern interpretations often flatten karma into cosmic vending machines: good in, good out. Bad in, bad out. Instant karma. Viral videos showing bullies slipping on ice. It feels neat, satisfying, righteous.
But real life rarely operates on a timetable so tidy. Sometimes the cruel flourish. Sometimes the kind suffer. If karma is real, it clearly doesn’t answer to human clocks or cravings for justice.
Maybe karma isn’t a cosmic courtroom. Maybe it’s a mirror held up to the soul — showing people, again and again, what they’ve planted within themselves.
The Psychological Power of Believing in Karma
Even if the universe isn’t handing out gold stars and detentions, the belief in karma shapes lives.
Researchers at Harvard have found that people who believe in karmic justice tend to behave more ethically. They’re less likely to cheat, steal, or harm others — not necessarily out of fear of punishment, but out of a deeper sense of interconnectedness.
In this way, karma may be less about cosmic retribution and more about the invisible architecture of conscience. A self-regulating compass. A belief that what is sent into the world somehow loops back to touch the sender — in seen or unseen ways.
Whether or not the river carries actions to some cosmic destination, they still ripple the water.
Living As If Karma Is Real
Sitting alone in that sterile hospital corridor, Ram realized something. Whether or not karma was tallying his moments of impatience and love, he didn’t want to live as someone who needed fear to be kind.
He wanted to live as someone who chose love — whether or not it earned him anything. Whether or not it was noticed. Whether or not the universe was keeping score.
Maybe that was the real secret.
Karma is not a system outside of us. It is the garden we tend within ourselves. Every action a seed. Every choice a prayer.
And when people live that way, perhaps it doesn’t matter whether karma is real.
They are.