Problem
I'm seeing some mention of karma and it's important to point out that Buddhist thoughts about karma are not like those in Hinduism or as imagined by most Americans. Even in Hinduism, it's not like any sort of immediate justice. You may not get punished for two or three more lifetimes for some great wrong committed in this lifetime. And you may not be rewarded for a life of service for a few more lifetimes. In Buddhism, all types hold that there is no individual self. We saw that earlier in the textbook. Those five Skandhas separated death (O'Brien, 2019; 2020) and then somehow combine with those from other people before being reborn in a new individual. There is no individual self moving from life to life to receive any sort of karmic punishment or reward. It makes their beliefs about birth and reincarnation difficult to wrap one's head around.
The general idea is that if you are following the precepts and the eightfold Path, then you don't need to worry about it. Is that really a better way to live?