Yes, it will be held against them.

That is, if they hold it against themselves. And really - we tend to hold a lot against ourselves.

As you're into yoga, I trust you recognize that the idea of karma is basically 'cause and effect.' It is not that something is 'hold against' someone, as it is a fulfillment of "as within, so without." That is why in the Yoga Sutras of Pantanjali it is mentioned that the thoughts are important and not just the actions. Such as:

2.34 Improper thoughts and emotions such as those of violence- whether done, caused to be done, or even approved of- indeed, any thought originating in desire, anger or delusion, whether mild medium or intense- do all result in endless pain and misery. Overcome such distractions by pondering on the opposites.[my emphasis]

Of course, I don't agree with the idea of overcoming all desire any longer as I once did. Nonetheless.

(Right)Now, the 'within' can be changed. When that happens, the circumstances have to change too. Let me suggest a different wording. Instead of thinking of it being held against them, consider it as being held within them. That is more true to the case. And if it can be let go...well then it is no longer within. And what is not within cannot be without.

So - it needn't be held against them. But for so long as it is held within them it will continue to cause undesired circumstances in their life. That is just how our Universe operates.

I think Liam has said it very well here.

I think also your question highlights what happens when you start with faulty initial assumptions and then try to build a framework on them...you end up with all sorts of inconsistencies and contradictions and then you need to patch them up with more and more invented rules and regulations.

For example, your question (which is assuming the faulty assumption of Karma as punishment/reward) immediately raises questions like...

• Exactly how much good do you have to do to overcome a certain amount of evil that you have previously done? (I know people who actually do a certain amount of bad since they feel they've done enough good recently to compensate, and vice versa!)

• Who is making the decision about what is a crime or is hurtful to another? What happens if that being (the one making those decisions) does something hurtful? Who punishes him/her/it?

• What is the point of having punishment/reward without telling you that such a thing exists? If Karma is educational, shouldn't it be more obvious? Isn't it a bit sadistic to torture people this way?

• When does your Karmic punishment actually come? There are lots of people in this world who don't stick to the rules and live seemingly happy lives. When are they going to be punished? Isn't it, in fact, more upsetting (punishing) to those good people to see the bad people thriving?

• Why do so many religious people (who are among the most ardent rule-following and traditionally good people that I know) live such unhappy lives? Why punish people who are heading in the right direction? Just how long does their misery have to last? Were these people really so bad previously that they need to suffer like this?

I wrote these questions in about the time that you've just taken to read them. And I could probably go on for a lot longer (if I could be bothered) coming up with more and more inconsistencies and contradictions.

So is it that Karma really is such a massively complicated (and non-understandable) system...or is it that it just doesn't work (or even exist) like people think it does?

In conjunction with this, you may also wish to consider the principle of Occam's Razor...the simplest explanation is usually the correct one.

See also Reincarnation: Has it always to be Karmic? if you still want to read more of my annoying ramblings about why Karma doesn't exist :)

someone said "at our core we are all good, some of us just forgot along the way that we are"