The principle of karma is essentially "what goes around comes around." This means that if you're nice to someone you will have something nice happen to you, if someone is mean to you "karma will get them," etc.

First of all its Karma, and its kind of a bad point/good point thing. If you do good things, karma would supposedly reward you with good things. If you do bad things, Karma punishes you for that

It's the "butterfly effect". It is the belief that what you do and say effects everything around you on a cosmic level. Those that believe in reincarnation therefore, also believe that your karma effects how you will come back in the next life. The important lesson to learn from the concept of Karma is that it isn't really about you at all (as far as you as an individual is concerned) but it has to do with all things, or the universal "you". I know that sounds like a corny, mystic thing, but if you know much about physics, you'll find that it is a very scientific phylosophy. The main thing one should take from it is, in my view, that when one comes to the realization that life effects life, compassion is the only true recourse. If I know that my actions cause an imbalance or pain, and those actions, in return, come full circle and affect my own happiness, then I also find myself more carefull in both word and deed. I discover, therefore, through karma, our interdependence. A man sees an old shoe in the road. It reminds him that he needs a new pair of shows, and, subsequently, decides to drive to the shoe store. While there, he meets the woman he will marry, and have children with. To the guy that threw the old shoe out that was merely a useless item that cluttered space in his closet. However, to the man that met his future wife at a shoe store that day, it was one of many occurances in his life that led to a legacy of love, children, grandchildren, and so on. This is an example of true karma. That's not to say that we should go out and throw away our shoes, but it is an example of how seemingly small, insignificant actions can have monumental effects on the world around us.

Every action has a reaction. if you do something, it affects everything else. eventually it will come back to you. its a big chain reaction basically. well thats my understanding of it.

Every action has a reaction. if you do something, it affects everything else. eventually it will come back to you. its a big chain reaction basically. well thats my understanding of it.

My understanding of Karma is limited. Since Karma has much to do with intention, my intent is to share this definition. This Hindu primer sums up karma as the law of cause and effect. The principle is similar to that expressed by the Christian verse, "As ye sow, so shall ye reap." The word karma means action, and it's used as short-hand for the idea that every action you take causes a reaction in the future. Positive, caring actions will bring positive results back to you, whereas negative, hurtful actions will result in your suffering. Many people believe that both good and bad karma can return to you at any time, even after this lifetime. Hindus believe that the soul is immortal and is reborn in a new body after a person dies. Thus, you have an endless series of lives to work on your karma. In each life, you should strive to do good works and evolve spiritually so your next life will be better than this one. Hindus seek to eventually break free of the cycle of reincarnation and attain eternal bliss of the soul, called moksha. A god does not administer the law of karma. There is no cosmic judge who doles out punishments and rewards, although some suggest that there is a "cosmic accountant" who tracks each person's karma. Ultimately, each individual is responsible for his or her own actions and karma. Siddhartha Gautama, who became the Buddha and upon whose teachings all of Buddhism is based, was born into Hindu society and believed in the doctrine of karma. The Buddhist perspective on karma isn't very different than that of Hindus. Every action you take will have a repercussion in the future, and you have to live with the consequences of your actions. Most Buddhists believe in reincarnation, and their goal is to transcend constant birth and rebirth to achieve nirvana, similar to the Hindu moksha. Buddhism also places importance on the intent of one's actions. For example, if you accidentally step on a bug and kill it, you won't create bad karma. But if you purposefully kill it, you create bad karma. Likewise, if your actions unintentionally benefit others, you do not create good karma. Only when you mindfully do good, do you create good karma. http://ask.yahoo.com/20020912.html

Karma (Sanskrit kárma, kárman- "act, action, performance"[1]; Pāli kamma) (pronunciation (help·info)) is the concept of "action" or "deed" in Dharmic religions understood as denoting the entire cycle of cause and effect described in Hindu, Jain and Buddhist philosophies. Karma is a sum of all that an individual has done, is currently doing and will do. The results or "fruits" of actions are called karma-phala. Karma is not about retribution, vengeance, punishment or reward, karma simply deals with what is. 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 others. In religions that incorporate reincarnation, karma extends through one's present life and all past and future lives as well. It is cumulative.