Karma and reincarnation are related beliefs that have been popular in India and surrounding countries for a very long time. In classic religious terms it's part of Hinduism, Buddhism and Sikhism for instance.

Karma means action. The idea is, at it's simplest, that good is rewarded and evil punished. Or more practically put: selfishness is punished and unselfishness rewarded. The Dalai Lama puts it even more radically: From the perspective of karma it is selfish to help others, because that will be rewarded.

Belief in karma means that reincarnation follows logically: otherwise the actions done just before death would not have their logical result.

The words good and evil are dualistic: they set up a stark contrast. In daily life however we are often not very concerned with good or evil. We just want to have some fun, make a living, fall in love, have a happy relationship etc. When a relationship fails that's not evil, it's just sad.

The doctrine of karma is therefore usually not explained using words like that. Instead it's more logical on focussing on simple cause and effect. If you break an elastic band: it's logical to get hurt by the snap of it breaking. The band isn't evil, breaking it isn't morally wrong - but the result is still pain.

Similarly: being kind, patient, hard working and learning leads to good results. That is: it's good karma.

Being unkind, agressive and lazy leads to bad results: bad karma.

This may not be visible right away. After all - some selfish people are successful for a while. They may even die successful. But that merely means the bad results are postponed, according to the law of karma, till a next life.

For me the doctrine of karma is mostly about learning. That is: it's karma that if we practice something, we get better at it. Practice patience, and you become more patient. Practice kindness and you become more kind. Practice standing up for yourself, and you will be better at standing up for yourself.

Ultimately - we all want to be happy. The doctrine of karma says: you'll be happy if you make others happy. Very simple - or it sounds simple. But why do we find it so hard to practice consistently?

More by Katinka Hesselink on hubpages.