karma

The word means "action" but according to the doctrine of Brahmanism, Hinduism and Buddhism, amounts to "as you sow, so  shall you reap". It is related to the concept of reincarnation, wherein everyone passes through a number of lives and in each life atones for the errors of the previous one. What actually occurs after death varies a little with different theologians. According to Hindu and Buddhist doctrines, a system of rewards and punishments starts immediately following death. Those who have led an exemplary life will enjoy a brief period of joy in paradise. Those who have been wicked will suffer any one of a number of hells  of varying torment, depending upon the transgressions. But these serve only as reminders of what has been done and for tastes of what is to come. Eventually all are reborn and again either rewarded or punished in the new life, depending upon what they had done in their previous lives. They experience a succession of lives until the slate has been wiped clean.

The concept of karma in Witchcraft is somewhat different. There is a belief in the "threefold law" the law of threefold return. Do good, and good will be returned, either three times or at three times the intensity. Do evil, and that too will return threefold. But these returns will be within the current lifetime. There is no putting off one's rewards or punishments; they come back about in this life. Obviously, with this belief, there is no inducement to do evil.  It is, therefore, a corollary of the Wiccan Rede: " an it harm none, do what thou wilt." by consciously harming none as you live your life, you will not invoke any negative threefold return upon yourself.

In the Hindu and Buddhist doctrines, the point of reincarnation is to return, in other incarnations, in order to expiate one's transgressions. When the slate has been totally wiped clean, there will be no further incarnations. In Witchcraft, however the purpose f reincarnation is different. It is for experience. One goes through a number of lives on this earth in order to learn and to experience all things. Only when everything has been learned and experienced will the cycle cease. But each individual life is not dependent upon the previous life, as it is in the Hindu and Buddhist doctrines. ..

My own personal beliefs are varied, this is I feel because I was raised in a Catholic/Protestant home, with a wide variety of views. Understanding karma and threefold law can be confusing for many, because you are not just basing it on customs taught over many decades and centuries, but you are also fine tuning it to your own personal beliefs.
Because of this, we get many variations of what karma actually is. I am one who feels one should always follow their heart, and they will find the answers.