In the West, we tend to ignore and deny the concept of Karma. There are two primary reasons for this: One reason is that the concept of Karma demands some exposure to the Esoteric dimensions of Life, and in America we deny and ignore the Esoteric dimensions of Life because we celebrate the Left-Hemisphere of the brain and thinking [and this means we voluntarily confine ourselves to the physical realm] while ignoring the Right-Hemisphere of the brain with its "secret" entrance to the Esoteric realms within Man [via the faculty of "intuition"].
The second reason is the influence of Christianity in America. This tradition is strong and Christianity tends to fear anything that cannot be known by thinking.
The unknown reason Christianity fears anything that the brain cannot think about is due to the MIND. By introducing a subtle fear of the Esoteric dimensions of Life, the MIND prevents people from accidentially discovering the Spirituality hidden within themselves that their MINDs cannot perceive, and consequently fears. This is all part of the initial structuring of ones Psychology at the time of ones birth Spoken of here.].
The concept of Karma is truly simple. As one sows [takes an action) this sets in motion a Karmic "due bill" wherein that same action will come back to one in either this very life, or in some future life. This is the "as you sow, so shall you reap" idea of Karma. And this Law was established by God along with the Creation. So every living entity is subject to the Law of Karma and the Law of Karma is an "Absolute" Law. That is, everything in Life supports and works to fulfill the Purpose of Life... which is to complete Karma.
The reason the Law of Karma is so crucial and such a central focus of Life is that the completion of Karma is the way in which each Soul accumulates its Spiritual Evolution. And the completing of Karma and accumulating Spiritual Evolution is the way in which each Soul ascends the "Ladder of Life" [which is an anaolgy that helps one "picture" the Purpose of Life]. I have written a small book entitled: Esochology and The Purpose of Life. And this book explains the Purpose of Life in considerable detail.
In other words, to "complete" some Karma, a person has to have taken an action, and then received that same action taken against oneself, and instead of reacting to the action taken against oneself, one must accept it as "due one"... and of course this rarely happens. So, people keep repeating the same Karma between themselves life after life. Occasionally a Soul realizes that it has been experiencing the same thing over and over, and decides to not react, but to simply accept an action as due one [otherwise it would not have taken place], and this "completes" that particular Karma. And a completion of a Karma triggers a complex Esoteric process within oneself that I refer to as "Esotransmutation", and this means that various Esoteric elements within oneself convert all the experiences associated with this Karma into Knowledge and Empathetic Understanding... which is transferred to ones Apapsyche. Click on Apapsyche to read about this new concept.
The vast majority of Souls exploring and experiencing the Physical plane have all "committed" to Life, and they are perched upon the lower rungs of the Ladder of Life. Only those Souls that have completed a substantial amount of Karma and thus accumulated substantial Spiritual Evolution are perched upon the higher rungs of the Ladder of Life. It should also be noted that only those Souls perched upon the higher rungs of the Ladder of Life have enhanced access to the Esoteric dimensions of themselves and this means they have an active intuition that allows them to perceive the Esoteric dimensions of Man. These Souls currently represent a distinct minority of the population.
It should also be particularly noted that until a Soul has ascended to a certain rung of the Ladder of Life [and thereby awakened to higher relative truths] that Soul will be unable to perceive [intuit] the Esoteric dimensions of Life. This inability to perceive the Esoteric dimensions of Life is not something one can intellectually comprehend, nor is it an ability those incapable of perceiving the Esoteric know they lack. There is also no way to convey this lack to them, since they are incapable of comprehending what they are not "READY" to perceive. This is not an arbitrary lack of awareness, but is one that is Absolute and is automatically altered when a Soul has achieved sufficient Spiritual Evolution that allows that Soul to ascend to the rung of the Ladder of Life where that Soul can intuit the Esoteric dimensions of itself and of Life.
This reality is quite unknown by those Souls perched upon the lower rungs of the Ladder of Life, and they naturally deny the existence of this ability in others. So much so that in various nations at various times those who possess this ability are even killed by those whose fear of the Esoteric dimensions of Man and Life are great. Today those who fear the Esoteric are in positions of dominance so that those Souls who possess an ability to realize the Esoteric are in danger should they reveal this Knowledge. A word to the wise will I trust be sufficient....