Karma can be defined as the doctrine of inevitable consequence.  The energy that we put out into the world, will be the same type of energy that we will receive in return.  There are other sayings related to this philosophy, such as you reap what you sow or the law of cause and effect.  As I was contemplating this altogether I recalled a lesson I learned from my grandmother who was a very big influence in my life as I was growing up.  When I would go with her to the store or to help her pay bills (there was no online banking then), it seemed almost inevitably that we would always run into someone that would be asking for change.  My grandmother would always search through her purse and put together coins to give to whomever was asking her for it.  She always had a lot of change in her purse so when she gave someone any money it was always close to a dollar or more in total.  At first I used to tell her how these people were capable of working and getting free money for nothing was just a scam.  My grandmother would simply look at me and promptly ignore me, while giving the people the money anyway.  It wasn't until many years later that I realized what the lesson she was trying to teach me was far more important than what I was observing.  My lesson was to give unconditionally and intention of our actions was not to be measured by an immediate result.  It was not until I was much older and in college that I actually got  to comprehend all of this better.  As I looked back in how she helped raise me, she never expected anyone to pay her back and she never asked anybody any questions about why they may have needed the money.  She simply gave with a pure heart.  The results that I saw as time went on, was how much people gave to her on a continuous basis.  We lived in an agricultural area and she always had someone she knew drop off fresh fruits or vegetables that were part of an excess harvest.  The people that she knew would come to say hello and were part of a vast amount of friends that walked in and out of our house leaving her with warm regards and something she could use in her kitchen.   She left this world many years ago and left me with this, along with other many valuable lessons.  As I think about what I was taught, I realize that the world would be far more balanced if we could learn to give of ourselves unconditionally and with no strings attached.  I try as often as I can to replicate what my grandmother taught me and I can only hope to achieve at least one quarter of what she was able to impart to me while I was being taught in her masterclass.