Karma is intimately linked to the wheel of existence. A person continues through a process of birth, life, and death as do all living things. If the metaphor of a point system is used, the goal is not to get the most points so you win. The goal is to get off of the wheel of existence entirely, and the way to do that is through balance.

This is a difficult concept for Westerners to wrap their brains around, since we are conditioned from birth to think of everything in terms of winning and losing. The "karmic goal" is not to win or lose, but to simply be balanced. Using the point metaphor, you get off the wheel by having zero points; no positive, no negative. If taken further, this presents other interesting philosophical questions, because zero in mathematics is a very tricky a complicated thing.

Once removed from the karmic wheel, the self is able to see though Maya (the veil that shrouds truth) and see the universe as it really is. This is, in one sense, enlightenment. The various yogas are simply paths that can all lead to this ultimate goal.