Actions are the cause and the happening is the effect. That is why both the action and the happening is called karma. Happening being Sigma karma is FATE. The choice of next action is FREE WILL. The Sigma of all these instantaneous actions are the next momentary FATE.
Of course the cycle need not roll second by second. Karma or action is not necessarily a physical action alone. The lesser mental involvement in a physical action, the faster is the karmic response. If the eating is not wise, there is a tummy-ache. If the action constitutes an emotional decision, the karmic response would take longer to fructify. If it was an intellectual decision alone, the aftermath may take lifetimes; there may be none at all if it was dharmic.
Since FATE is an effect, it is always perfect. Imagine a giant clothes-hanger with many people hanging from the bottom wire. Depending on where they are positioned, the tilt of the hanger keeps changing. As the people shimmy about (individual actions), the tilt of the hanger is determined perfectly by laws of gravitation and the physics of balance and is a resultant effect. They either go up or down depending both on their own position on the hanger and the hanger's tilt. Similarly, in life, individual fates may vary. The person can choose to shimmy to the higher end of the hanger; that is his free will. But in spite of his effort, he may still be down because of the actions of all others. He who understands this physics, does not blame FATE, viz the hanger, for his plight.
