Lifting The Wheel of Karma

“Lifting the Wheel of Karma feels like a small miracle. The story itself is fresh, the protagonist well realized. But what really gets you in this book is the way Paul H. Magid manages to bump his main character into insights that invite the reader to reflect on and relate to his or her own life’s meaning, path, and purpose. . . . There are those who believe that karma is simply a tit-for-tat phenomenon or an Asian version of Murphy’s Law. But this book suggests that karma is an integral part of our everyday journeys, stretching far into a past that we cannot recognize, and extending into a future we have yet to create.”

I couldn’t put down this book. If there is such a thing as a spiritual tour de force, Lifting the Wheel of Karma is just such an achievement.

Reminiscent of Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist, this novel is a contemporary adventure of a young man who has lost his way and embarks on a journey to find a mysterious old man atop a mountain who is said to hold the secret of life in his ancient hands.

Joseph has been tortured by nightmarish visions since he was a very young boy. The dreams come from nowhere, for no reason, leaving him emotionally weakened and increasingly despondent. These nocturnal ghosts seem to want to—indeed need to—destroy Joseph; it is as if they know him and are waiting to completely engulf him, making his life their own.

Every solution Joseph tries fails to free him. Then a tragic accident twists his life into an unrecognizable mess. Unable to find comfort in the home he has known all his life, Joseph departs the idyllic foothill mountains of Montana and makes his way to the remote yet majestic Himalayas of India. He believes that at the end of the path on which he has embarked, he will find the old man who will finally help him sleep peacefully and live a life of sanguinity and clarity.

Infused with moments of magic and told in a manner that hints at deceptively simple wisdoms such as those proffered by ancient mythologies, Lifting the Wheel of Karma is narrated in a straightforward yet compelling manner, drawing the reader into the lives of the characters and engrossing us in details so evocative as to bring alive the sights, sounds, tastes, and textures of life from the quiet rhythms of Montana to the tangible potency of the bustling of city roads in India, shared by cows, bicycles, and humans alike. The story is beautifully crafted and delivered, flowing nearly seamlessly from beginning to end, while slyly creeping into the reader’s consciousness as we recognize parts of ourselves in the modern yet universal fiction in which we are immersed.

At the same time that its message begins to emerge, like a mirage glimpsed through undulating dust clouds, Lifting the Wheel of Karma feels like a small miracle. The story itself is fresh, the protagonist well realized. But what really gets you in this book is the way Paul H. Magid manages to bump his main character into insights that invite the reader to reflect on and relate to his or her own life’s meaning, path, and purpose.

The only small quibble I had with the book was a sense that the dialogue was repeating itself, if not in exact words, then in mirrored content. But perhaps there is a point to that as well; perhaps there is a message that I needed to hear more than once.

As Mr. Magid notes on his website, the concept of karma may have originated in India, but it is now pretty much a universally embraced concept. There are those who believe that karma is simply a tit-for-tat phenomenon or an Asian version of Murphy’s Law. But this book suggests that karma is an integral part of our everyday journeys, stretching far into a past that we cannot recognize, and extending into a future we have yet to create.

Lifting the Wheel of Karma is a tremendously thought provoking novel. You’ll wish it had been twice as long.