"Karma" is in our vocabulary, but we don't know what it means.

The word is everywhere—not just in alternative spirituality, and among Hindus and Buddhists, but in news reports, ads, sitcoms, sports columns, and the everyday conversations of people who wouldn't know the 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.

This book highlights karmic belief and practice throughout history and how they came to the West, then applies the principles of these ethics to relationships, life decisions, health, death, and all aspects of self-development.

"We're always planting karmic seeds," writes Philip Goldberg.

Karma is a profoundly useful idea, and Karmic Relief is a profoundly useful book. It offers a blueprint for building a fulfilling life and a way to reconcile some of life's most vexing conundrums.