ADVERTISEMENT

The Universe really does work in mysterious ways. No matter if you’re a super-skeptic who only believes what they see with their own two eyes or somebody who checks their horoscope every morning, you can’t deny that it’s spooky how quickly karma sometimes catches up to people. On rare occasions, it’s nearly instantaneous. And karma loves putting evildoers in their rightful place.

To show you what we mean, we’ve collected some of the best posts from the ‘Instant Karma’ subreddit that prove that Justice (yes, with a capital ‘J’) can sometimes strike like a bolt from the blue. As you’re scrolling down, upvote the pics where you agree with how karma dealt with people and let us know in the comments if you’ve ever seen any instant karma moments in your own life. Be sure to give r/instantkarma a follow if you like what they do.

According to Dr. Alex Lickerman on Psychology Today, Nichiren Buddhism teaches that everything that happens to us is “ultimately due to our own influence.” Whether intentional or quite the opposite. Meanwhile, coincidence is considered to be but an illusion. Or, in short, what goes around really does come around—but with everything that you think and do.

Bored Panda reached out to Lickerman, the author of The Ten Worlds and The Undefeated Mind, and spoke to him about humankind's hardwired sense of morality, as well as the benefits of taking responsibility for all of our actions. Read on for his insights.

If we’re to believe the Buddhist perspective on life, it means that at the end of the day we’re all responsible for what happens to us. However, this doesn’t mean we’re to blame.

For example, we’re not to blame for being born into poverty or for having something awful happen to us. However, we’re responsible for how we deal with the situation, how we respond to things, and what our next steps will be. In other words, we have the power to better our situation and not just be flung about by the winds of fate (or, rather, by our own decisions).

Though some people would argue that morality is something that's learned through experience, Lickerman told Bored Panda that "our sense of morality may actually be neurologically wired into us." However, this doesn't mean that acting morally or responsibly is easy or the go-to decision for most of us.

#4

This Subreddit Never Said Bad Or Good Karma!

This Subreddit Never Said Bad Or Good Karma!

medallionstallion Report

ADVERTISEMENT
#5

Got What He Deserved

Got What He Deserved

Zbiu_YT Report

Lickerman told Bored Panda that we tend to need some sort of push to make us act responsibly. "People, in general, need a motivation to accept responsibility for their actions," he said. That motivation could be pretty much anything, however, Lickerman suggests that accepting responsibility for our actions "may actually make us stronger, more resilient."

He added that it's difficult to say where the limits of our ability to change ourselves to match our own perceptions are. "Research shows our self-perception is a very powerful influencer of our behavior. Can’t say it’s been quantified. It won’t change immutable characteristics, like personality characteristics, but it will change behaviors," he said.

In his first book, The Undefeated Mind, Lickerman explains how research has begun to show that belief in good (what is just and fair) and evil (what is unjust and unfair) may be "far more universal than previously thought." Psychologist Marc Hauser and his colleagues conducted an internet study with 5,000 subjects in 120 countries, asking them to "render moral judgments and to justify them" in moral scenarios. One of them was the infamous trolley problem where you have to choose between killing one person and five.

ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT
#9

Well This Says Something

Well This Says Something

usernametakenexe Report

Add photo comments
POST
bagladyele avatar
EA
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not sure if this is funnier cos of the irony, or when he had to either come out to his congregation to not look like a liar, or apologise to his conversation and look like a total TWAT. Sincerely hope those followers left his church and used the donations to help those in need, rather than pay this guy’s wages.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

Lickerman writes: "The subjects agreed about which actions were moral and which weren’t in most of the scenarios, delineating in the process a set of moral principles that seem to be shared by members of all cultures—namely, that it’s less morally permissible to intentionally harm someone than to allow them to be harmed, that it’s less morally permissible to invent a way to cause harm than to cause harm with an existing threat, and that it’s less morally permissible to cause harm directly than to cause it indirectly. Yet the vast majority of subjects couldn’t name these reasons as their underlying justification for judging the actions in each scenario as they did."

He continues: "When we take moral action, we seem to rely not so much on moral reasoning as on moral intuition and then work backward to rationalize the judgments we’ve already made. (Which isn’t to say our moral intuition can’t and shouldn’t be influenced by reason, but rather that our moral intuition remains the primary driver of our moral decision making.)." However, where our moral intuition comes from is still unclear. However, our conception of good, the desire to provide help and prevent harm might be "rooted [...] in the psychological and perhaps even neurological processes of the human mind."

ADVERTISEMENT
#11

Got What They Deserved

Got What They Deserved

Amygdala5822 Report

#12

Kid Refuses To Move His Legs, Guy Sits On Them Instead

Kid Refuses To Move His Legs, Guy Sits On Them Instead

Supraman18 Report

Add photo comments
POST
ner_diz avatar
Serial pacifist
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

If that's the kids mom to his right, she needs disciplining way more than the kid.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

Meanwhile, becoming responsible for our actions can have the added benefit of making us stronger and more resilient. In his book, Lickerman alludes to a study led by psychologist Kurt Gray where participants would hold up a 5-pound weight, would be given a dollar, and half of then would be given the opportunity to donate it to charity. Donating the money made the participants able to hold up the weight 7 seconds longer than the control group.

"Why? According to Gray, because doing good increases our sense of agency, or potency, a phenomenon he terms moral transformation. (Interestingly, this effect wasn’t seen only with acts of charity but also with acts of villainy.) [...] Which all suggests a reason that action in the moral sphere, whether good or evil, makes us strong: it requires us to be. Or, at least, that’s what we think people who take moral action are: research shows that we’re cognitively biased to 'typecast' people who take such action as resilient—-a bias, it turns out, that affects not only our perception of others but also of ourselves," Lickerman writes.

ADVERTISEMENT

"And when we perceive ourselves to be endowed with a particular quality, we have a tendency to conform to that perception. All of which implies that performing or even attempting to perform moral action may increase our resilience because it causes us to perceive ourselves as more resilient. This then makes us act, and therefore feel, as if we were."

#13

Amazing. Impeccable

Amazing. Impeccable

tinyzenji Report

#14

Instant Karma

Instant Karma

FaustinoXIV Report

Add photo comments
POST
drn_misc avatar
Dr Nostromo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I remember this one. If I recall correctly, the clerk wasn't sure whether to report it as they didn't know if a crime had been committed.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#15

Guy Is A Jerk To A Police Officer In An Unmarked Car

Guy Is A Jerk To A Police Officer In An Unmarked Car

BehindBlueLine Report

Add photo comments
POST
bagladyele avatar
EA
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I LOVE it when a bad driver is caught out. This is a special kind of karma. Overtook me even though I was doing the speed limit? Oh look, speed camera van ahead! What a shaaaame.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu

With nearly 1.9 million members and 8.5 years of getting their show on the road, the ‘Instant Karma’ community is one of the leviathans of Reddit. However, don’t think that they’re just about seeing only unethical people get punished. They also urge their members to post examples of folks getting rewarded for good behavior as well.

Examples of delayed karma or scripted events are, obviously, not permitted on this subreddit. The name of the community is pretty self-explanatory. What’s more, r/instantkarma’s moderators have pointed out that they have no tolerance for calls to violence.

Just because somebody deserves to be punished doesn’t mean that redditors should pour hatred and vile language online. Of course, discussions are encouraged, but they have to be civil. Exactly like people ought to be in real life.

ADVERTISEMENT
#16

I Don’t Know If It Belongs Here!

I Don’t Know If It Belongs Here!

AleyFarooq_ Report

#17

Respect Your Mother

Respect Your Mother

dobbyisafreepup Report

Add photo comments
POST
popapach avatar
troufaki13
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Children need discipline, I don't understand why parents just give in and don't set boundaries

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#18

Gave Him The Express Shipping Option For Free

Gave Him The Express Shipping Option For Free

blackxparty Report

Add photo comments
POST
drn_misc avatar
Dr Nostromo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So glad the driver wasn't charged. As one who was in the delivery business for 30 years, I was in fear of my life on a couple of occasions. Not as easy a job as one my think.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#22

Mayor Dishes Out Karma On Litterer

Mayor Dishes Out Karma On Litterer

Jontolo Report

#24

Reverse Brick

Reverse Brick

gabedavis46 Report

Add photo comments
POST
wendylynnflowers avatar
Flowers
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't think I would be able to stop laughing if I saw that in person.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#25

Oh How The Tables Have Turned

Oh How The Tables Have Turned

BleacherReport Report

See Also on Bored Panda
#29

Anti-Gay Politician Caught Fleeing A 25-Man Orgy

Anti-Gay Politician Caught Fleeing A 25-Man Orgy

Report

Add photo comments
POST
romenriel avatar
dremosley avatar
hedwards avatar
H Edwards
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yup... the idea that being gay is a choice also implies that being straight is a choice. So I think that a lot of the people who throw that idea around are closeted.

Load More Replies...
max_lombardi_mi avatar
Max L.
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Reportedly, he climbed down a sewing pipe, totally naked. Anyone dare asking where they found a small pack of extasy he took away with him ?

sadia-timmermans avatar
Sadia Timmermans
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He was caught running around naked in the street with a backpack with drugs in it! A man walking his dog I think called the cops. Ah justice...

Load More Replies...
gabi0horvath avatar
Gabi
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We Hungarians are still laughing in tears when thinking of this incident.

hornoktibor90 avatar
Tibor Hornok
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Indded. Are we proud of him for this performance, or he's a shame for us :D

Load More Replies...
p_walerjan avatar
Premislaus de Colo
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

For some time there was a plaque in the spot where he was caught (butt-naked) commemorating the end of his career.

christopheferreira avatar
kurisutofu
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Now you know why homophobes keep on bringing homosexuals in all their conversations... They can't think of anything else other than a man's private parts. They just present it negatively in fear they we know they think about sex that often.

wianjama avatar
Rissie
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's what can happen if you tell someone that is gay to not be gay and threathen them with their lives if they think otherwise. Being gay is not a choice, but we are masters of denial.

Load More Replies...
boopiedew avatar
Boopie Dew
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Its always the ones squawking the loudest who are doing exactly what they condemn.

lilla avatar
Lilla Bence
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And he was the one modifying the constitution to include that the mother is a woman and the father is a man (therefore gay couples cannot be parents). The also put in it the definition of family, which basically means that only those count as family, who are married and have children only with each other. So single parents with their children are NOT family, divorced people who married again and have children from previous marriages are NOT family etc...

atlmainiac avatar
Martha Higgins
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

"Me thinks thou doth protest too much" seems apt here. One does wonder if that's true for most of the people who are so against gays, biracial couples, same sex couples, etc.

pterrzsahegyi_1 avatar
Péter Rózsahegyi
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Don't forget that he was wearing only a backpack, full of illegal dugs. Some guys really deserve Karma to take action.

wallicktn avatar
Tracy Wallick
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It seems the louder the homophobe, the further in the closet they are

evyclaessens avatar
Evy Claessens
Community Member
2 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This orgy was in Belgium and it made me laugh so hard, like imagine everyone constantly complaining there are consequences to breaking the rules and then comes along this guy xD

joycedeering681 avatar
Joyce Deering
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Just wow. Through a window, no less! Ha! Ha! Can you say, "HYPOCRITE"?

lurian8 avatar
Pál László
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Somebody wrote he was naked. Nah, I think he wasn't. (Not sure though...) BUT do you guys know how these pipes are fixed to the wall by chance? Just imagine... climbing barefoot... even worse, naked... those pipes. It must have been painful. Not to mention the disgrace and humiliation after. I'm not pitying him. He worked really hard to be hated like this.

kthompson645 avatar
Kelly Von Tee
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Are orgies illegal there? I'm assuming they were arrested for gathering during Covid.

lurian8 avatar
Pál László
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Everyone's favourite right wing party from Hungary. (We were literally laughing our asses off.) The thing is, the law that discriminates gay people in the Hungarian public life was written on this man's tablet, by him. He should spit in his own face for that.

jaybird3939 avatar
Jaybird3939
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The ones who are the most viciously homophobic usually have a couple or more skeletons curled up in their closets.

lucy_hill121289 avatar
Lucy Hill
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Was the Christian leader whose house was destroyed by floods featured earlier in the thread, also at this party?

marneederider40 avatar
Marnie
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fear anyone who makes a career or livelihood of complaining about things that hurt no one.

nawlinsladies avatar
Jenifer Halpern
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

These politicians these days are all hypocrites! Get rid of them all!

pluckplk_1 avatar
pluck plk
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Since Covid, world has lockdown parties, here in Belgium we have lockdown orgies.

zeljkoklaric78_1 avatar
Bernd Herbert
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

brilliant! But again, not a surprise: The loudes so-called conservaties and homophobes are often hypocrites

dinastavola avatar
BabaBizzle
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So he’s anti himself and the 25 other men. I wonder if they knew his policies before he was let in?

idrow avatar
Id row
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Most outspoken anti-gay men are gay, this is completely unsurprising.

caleighmoffett avatar
Bruh
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

😔 I am sorry but I have to do it..... HAHAHHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAH and Karma bitch

kjellbergh avatar
Kjell Bergh
Community Member
3 years ago

This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

Bored Panda always have the homophobic post of the day

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#32

Politicians Get A Taste Of Their Legislations

Politicians Get A Taste Of Their Legislations

Penben99 Report

#34

This Is Venice City Hall Right After The Approval Of A Climate Change Denial Amendment

This Is Venice City Hall Right After The Approval Of A Climate Change Denial Amendment

LorenzoBagnato Report

#35

Karma

Karma

Report

Add photo comments
POST
dremosley avatar
Dre Mosley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This jerk and his jerk brother tried to capitalize off the pandemic by buying up all the sanitizer supplies they could find to sell at a profit until Amazon and eBay forbid it.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
See Also on Bored Panda
#37

Order Them To Stop

Order Them To Stop

Master1718 Report

Add photo comments
POST
jameskramer avatar
James016
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's becoming more and more apparent that lawmakers think that their laws don't apply to them

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
#39

Block An Electric Charging Station... Get Towed

Block An Electric Charging Station... Get Towed

kevinowdziej Report

#40

Firefighters Had To Smash The Window Of This Illegally Parked Vehicle On My Street

Firefighters Had To Smash The Window Of This Illegally Parked Vehicle On My Street

snips4444 Report

#45

Woman Tried To Acid Attack Her Former Lover

Woman Tried To Acid Attack Her Former Lover

Rekz160 Report

#46

Guy Parks On Stripes To Avoid Freezing Rain, Happens To Be Under A Leaky Pipe

Guy Parks On Stripes To Avoid Freezing Rain, Happens To Be Under A Leaky Pipe

tnick771 Report

Add photo comments
POST
ner_diz avatar
Serial pacifist
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I kinda feel sorry for this one. He just wanted to get out of the rain and didn't really obstruct any free passage.

View More Replies...
View more commentsArrow down menu
See Also on Bored Panda
#47

Just Remember The Quote, “ If I Get Corona, I Get Corona. It’s Not Gonna Stop Me From Partying”

Just Remember The Quote, “ If I Get Corona, I Get Corona. It’s Not Gonna Stop Me From Partying”

reddit.com Report

Add photo comments
POST
pusheenbuttercup avatar
pusheen buttercup
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

it's not even about if you get corona- what about the people around you?!

View more commentsArrow down menu
#49

Taxi Driver Took A Much Longer Route Than We Agreed To. We Told Him To Stop The Car And Let Us Take Another Taxi. The Police Immediately Saw Him Stop And Fined Him

Taxi Driver Took A Much Longer Route Than We Agreed To. We Told Him To Stop The Car And Let Us Take Another Taxi. The Police Immediately Saw Him Stop And Fined Him

walkq Report

#50

No Title Needed

No Title Needed

reddit.com Report

Note: this post originally had 52 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.