Karma does not refer to the act but the reason for performing that act. Guiding a person towards God is good karma, but to kill someone in the name of the God, like terrorists do, is a bad karma. The cleaner, selfless and pious the act, the better the connection of the soul is with the cosmos.
Alternatively, when the dirt of the selfish acts, acts of cruelty and cheating someone, killing another living being for fun or for taste (like killing animals, plants or flowers) pile on and suffocate the astral body, this communication gets suppressed.
Consequently, the individual encounters huge problems in their life. These problems may be physical, mental, economical or of some other form but this misery seems to have no end. Such person also gets disassociated from God and doesn’t offer or attend prayers. On the contrary, such person says bad things for the almighty and holds God responsible for their suffering instead of introspection to realize the results of its karma.
One should always be aware of the karma one enacts as it is what defines what kind of life and after life the individual has. While it may seem that the people performing bad karma are enjoying life with all the luxuries available to them, this is a perception harboured by onlookers. The person within suffers unbearable adversities with no one to confide in or find resolution with as bad karma always haunts its doer.
Bad karma is like odour on one's clothing that bothers you till you wash the clothing. This cleaning process is referred to as cleansing in the spiritual world. The grace of God is required for one to even be inclined towards spirituality. God is loving of not only humans but all its creations. It gives one the opportunity to cleanse itself by allowing its preachers to provide a path and guide one towards prayers and meditation.
Alternatives to cleansing your karma include reciting hymns. Hymns are divine sounds produced as the astral body and cosmic energies interact and exchange. These sounds are continually produced and observed at very high frequencies by the subconscious and unconscious mind, regardless of one's awareness of it. These hymns are the divine connect one's astral body - one's soul - has in its journey to be with one with the almighty. The type of sound produced differs with the karma of that physical being. The finest sounds produced are those of a sage or saint - a noble soul contributing immensely for the betterment of mankind without reaping any benefits itself.