Karma (Sanskrit: kárma, kárman- "act, action, performance"; Pali: kamma) is the concept of "action" or "deed" in Indian religions understood as that which causes the entire cycle of cause and effect (i.e., the cycle called saṃsāra) originating from Hinduism and described in Jain, Sikh and Buddhist philosophies.

The philosophical explanation of karma can differ slightly between traditions, but the general concept is basically the same. Through the law of karma, the effects of all deeds actively create past, present, and future experiences, thus making one responsible for one's own life, and the pain and joy it brings to him/her and others.

(Source: Wikipedia)

CJStone describes it as follows in his hub Instant Karma's Gonna Get You:

"The problem with this is that it treats karma as like some sort of a cosmic bank-account. I put in my moral cash, as it were - my good deeds - in order to receive my moral interest. Or, if I overdraw on my cosmic credit card - bad karma - I am likely to get my soul repossessed. Something like that.

Which leaves us with the question: who do we think the banker is?"

Well, in my view there is no banker. Nor is there an account. This approach treats Karma as if it were a simple matter of keeping a balance book. Life is not about giving and taking. There's no such thing as a deposit that you can withdraw from. Knowing that (your) life can end right here and right now, what's the use of creating some moral piggy bank? Karma is not about investment. It's about doing the right thing now. Period. Don't do the right thing in order to be rewarded. Do the right thing. Whether there will be some moral interest or not doesn't really matter, does it? Doing the right thing matters. Anything you do or say (even think) has an effect. To be aware of that is to be aware of Karma.

Traditional Hindu philosophy is often interpreted in a way where your Karma will get back to you in a future life. Which is then taken to extremes and - mistakenly - turned around. The idea that Karma will determine your future life is used to explain the current situation. It's just not that simple. We tend to interpret cause and effect much the same way as action causes reaction. We try to look at it as we look at the law of gravity: something that can be measured. If you're born under the worst circumstances in an underdeveloped country, then you must have done something in a previous life to deserve that. Karma is not about settling the score. Karma is (again) about being aware that anything you think, say or do will have an effect.

pgrundy says:

"A popular version of the concept of Karma making the rounds now is the "Law of Attraction" nonsense--You know, you attract what you put out there, so if you're having a crappy life, you must be asking for a crappy life, because if you were asking for a wonderful life, the benevolent Universe would just give you one. The Universe as Tooth Fairy. What? You didn't get your shiney quarter in the morning? You must not have put your tooth under the pillow! It's your own fault!

The power of positive thinking is, well, powerful, but its also true that sh*t happens. I don't think sh*t happens necessarily because in this life or a past life you did anything at all. If you're under the piano when it gets shoved out a ten-story window, is that because you bad-mouthed some piano as a small child? What garbage! Or, how about the people with cancer who are responsible for their own illnesses because they don't think positively? More garbage!

People like to feel that the world makes sense from a people perspective.

I think it clearly does not."

There are at least two mistakes in the Law of Attraction view. First, there's more than Karma. There are six billion people living on this planet, so it's naive to think that you and you alone are responsible for the circumstances you live under. You can, if you want, look for one single cause (be it some divine entity, a universal source of energy) for your situation. If there is such a source, this source will not be about dealing and trading. It's human nature to trade. It's not natural, it's human. You won't find animals or plants trading. There may be mutual benefits from some kind of behavior, but this behavior is not displayed with the intention to trade, it's only displayed because it comes naturally.

Second mistake is to turn things around. "if you're having a crappy life, you must be asking for a crappy life". It doesn't work that way. If you hold a lit match next to the drapes, they will catch fire. But if you're drapes are on fire, that doesn't automatically imply that you held a lit match next to them. To get back to karma: if you act badly towards other people, these people will usually not respond in a kind manner. That doesn't mean that if people are unkind to you, you must have been unkind to them. You could just be dealing with unkind people.

In my view and experience Karma is. Karma is not about reward and punishment. Reward and punishment require judgement. Karma doesn't judge. To judge is a human trait. Karma is nature. Nature doesn't judge.

We shouldn't try to grab it, define it in order to be able to control it, because we can't. Sometimes Karma will be instantly, sometimes it will take longer before the effect shows. That shouldn't concern us. For me, Karma is about the confidence that if I think, say and act good (which is a very personal and subjective concept), that will work out for me at some point in time. We shouldn't look at Karma narrow-mindedly. An eye for an eye is a very limited interpretation of Karma. The relationship of what you think, say and do and what happens to you in return is not one on one.

Karma is not like a boomerang either. Years ago I helped an acquaintance of a friend with her tax returns. She had cancer, wasn't into numbers and accounting, so a few years I filled out her tax forms for her. I have never seen this woman. I never received anything, nor did I charge her. I never bragged about this either and I don't mean to brag about it now. I'm just using it to illustrate Karma. I never received anything directly for doing what I did. Yet I do believe it was the good thing to do.

Karma is not calculation, Karma is not something we can blame or use as an excuse. Karma just is.