Quote Originally Posted by Xelbair
Buddhist may be found cruel by someone, because thanks to their belief in karma they wont help anyone poor/starving/troubled, because they think that's punishment for past life/lives, but they are expecting the same from others.
I thought that was the case for Hinduism, but not Buddhist. Then again, there's so many schools of Buddhism, the existence of an extremist school of thought should not be surprising. As much as they believe in Karma, they also believe in helping people break out of the karma cycle. According to them, our souls cycle through 6 levels of beings (hell ghosts/humans/animals/gods etc), and are constantly locked in such a cylce of life and death. Where we end up if affected by previous lives' actions.

Only through enlightenment can we be free of these bonds and not suffer the pains of reincarnation (the omnipresent being called Buddha).

/exhausts Buddhism knowledge