And if our fates are intertwined, then we believe that it is good karma, it is good fortune.

I don't know how many worms were in there, but I've got some heavy karma coming, I tell you.

My grandfather had been a lumberjack in the Olympics, so I have a lot of tree karma I am working off.

Call it karma, call it physics, action and reaction, call it precaution the principle that reminds us that life is too precious to be risked for any profit.

But local officials could not have arranged for Karma to be tried in far away Xinjiang, let alone persuade the central government to ban the brothers innocuous book about their love of nature. Higher level leaders may have taken up the case against Karma persuading their counterparts in Xinjiang to resurrect the old antiques case because he had used his connections in Beijing to complain about the treatment of his brothers by officials in Tibet.

This theory has gained credence because the Communist Party s current leader in the Tibet Autonomous Region formerly held a powerful position in Xinjiang Province. If it is true, the case against Karma suggests that officials stationed in Tibetan areas may be gaining more power, able to reach out beyond their jurisdictions to pursue what appear to be little more than personal grievances.