Lifting The Wheel Of Karma (2012) - Plot & Excerpts
Lifting the Wheel of Karma is essentially about a boy/man discovering why life dealt him a rum hand. It’s a story written from a Hindu perspective and, as such, has a lovely mystical quality to it. Though it’s a fairly simple story, it feels like you’re reading something more complex, because it deals with one of life’s great mysteries—the workings of karma.Tormented by terrifying nightmares and visions, the young Joseph Connell turns to karate in order to cope. Joseph becomes a karate champion, until a horrific accident leaves him a paraplegic. In a bid to find a ‘mind over matter’ technique that would enable him to walk again, he travels to the remote Himalayas of India to live with a sage.Of course, he finds that using his mind to make him walk again is not the simple matter he thought it would be. He learns many things in India, important things, but not what he wanted. Joseph returns to America for many years before returning again to India.His visions eventually make sense when, after a long training in meditation, he sees his existence from the perspective of more than one lifetime. Only then does he heal the negative karma that caused his misfortunes.What I liked about this book was its ability to make us view our own lives through the same kind of perspective. Instead of grumbling at what God has dished out for us, we could see our situation from a larger perspective and put our efforts into moving forward on our path to enlightenment for only then will our karmic slate be finally wiped clean.The story was simply written in the manner of a classic spiritual tale. The main problem for me was the excessive description and character back story in the first 18% of the book. It starts with one of the visions, a powerful scene that grabs our attention, but then we have pages of descriptions of the Montana landscape, details of horse breaking and farming. Any necessary information, like how Billy felt about his brother, could have been shown as part of the action rather than in what is essentially a massive info dump. A great deal of these details we simply didn’t need to know, and I almost stopped reading because I couldn’t find a story. I skimmed pages and pages until the karate tournament when the story finally kicked in. I enjoyed the book after that, even though there were other places in the first half (eg when he arrives in India) where I felt I was reading chunks of background research.The story is written from an omniscient point of view (P.O.V)which enables the author to show us different, though intimately related, parts of the action that Joseph couldn’t have known but that the reader needs to know to give the sense that something greater is at work. One of the limitations of this narrator-style P.O.V is that it keeps readers somewhat remote from characters, and I would have liked to have known the characters more intimately.If you don’t mind extraneous information (all very interesting if you’re interested) in the first 15% of the book, it’s a good read for anyone with an interest in the workings of karma. From page one, it is apparant that the author has a particular fondness for nature. Rolling hills, running streams, wild horses...the works; all are beautifully detailed as we explore Joseph's hometown in Montana. When we meet this young man, we find a troubled soul trying to make sense of the oddities that life has thrown his way...his means of escape, karate. To say he was a black belt would lower his standings...that's how good he was; of course, that's what nightmares about fighting for one's life will do sometimes, push you in real life to be able to handle everything and anything. Unfortunately for Joseph, there is one "anything" he couldn't see coming which leads to a chance meeting, a terrible accident, and the beginning of a journey that would last a lifetime.Admittedly his meeting with Lahiri and the accident that followed, threw me for a loop. His desire to warn him about the impending failure was admirable....but I was left wondering, why? Who was he to him? Why would he show up out of the blue JUST to warn him? Then we have the fated meeting with a GIANT deer.... I couldn't see where the animal fit into the puzzle being revealed. Was it a means to meet an end? Sort of. It's briefly touched on later in the story (thank goodness) and the explanation given makes sense even if it's more philisopical. Once Joseph is confined to a wheelchair, his spirits are dampered....understandably. It takes an unexpected news broadcast about an unusual form of "treatment" to break him from his cycle of self-pity and restore his hope. Hope is a powerful thing; it can move mountains when necessary and in this case, send a lost soul across the globe in search of a new future. His experiences with the sage are intended to heal his body yes, but more importantly his spirit for when balance is achieved in both areas, the soul can be at peace.There were only two drawbacks I experienced during my reading adventure; both small, both connected but both mentionable. First, I didn't always connect with Joseph and his family. It could be the confusion that was abundant in his life from the nightmares to the fight matches but I wasn't always able to stand beside him in his adventure. That being said, the second occurance was a little outburst around page 102. It's so unlike the Joseph we came to know, so out of character that it felt off. I understand he's in a foreign land seeking out an unsual means to conquer his limitations but it simply felt like another person altogether. A strange and at times complex journey, but one that was worth taking. It's not a story to be rushed through despite the short length of the novel. It's a story to be read, felt, and pondered. Does he find enlightenment? Does he ever walk again? Yes and yes but those simple answers will not give you the same satisfaction as following Joseph's journey will. Who knows? You may even discover something about yourself along the way.
What do You think about Lifting The Wheel Of Karma (2012)?
Thought provoking. Read it all in one sitting. I won this book from a Goodreads Giveaway.
—Jennifer
I just won a copy! Thanks Goodreads! :)I'll read it as soon as I can.
—natasha
I received the book for free through Goodreads First Reads.
—AjandJosh
