BACKLASHS OF ACTION

The law of action and reaction shows that action has consequences.
This law can be called the retribution of action and is known as the law of Karma (in sanscrit).
This law applies in 4 directions which can be related to the 4 cardinal points.

According to a Treatise on cosmic Fire page 153, it may be said

The directions East-West come from the extension, the second Logos, illustrated by an horizontal diameter. They describe the echo from space or the interaction with the environment, either the welcoming of possibilities and their selection through calling or invocation, either the gift and the sowing. Indeed, the surface of the globe rotates toward the East, as a ship aiming eastward ; its wake is on the West.

The directions North-South come from the Ideation, the third Logos, illustrated by a vertical diameter. They describe an inscription in matter, more or less dense, either a concretion or expression, either an Intent based on abstract values.

Action is rebounding on matter in each of these directions

	West	Gift, giving up, contraction	Expression
	East	Welcoming, call, invocation	Possibilities
	South	Assimilation, maintenance	Resources
	North	Origin, intention, values	Destiny

The backlash from the West corresponds to the usual meaning of karma: deeds of the past which were expressed come back from the outside in order to be refined.
The backlash from the East concerns the instrument, the possibilities which are explored; thus the instrument develops its potentiality through training. The more one plays piano or violin, the easier it is to play with it.
The backlash from the South concerns the means. If one maintains one's shoes, they will be used a longer time, will be more flexible and walking will be more enjoyable. It is the ground of ecology.
The backlash of the North is linked with the law of Destiny, which Alice A. Bailey alluded to in Discipleship in the New Age vol2, page 312-3. This destiny is in affinity with the origin whence we come, the hub around which our experience is turning. Actions from a remote past are digging a furrow of intention which gives direction to the efforts to come.

Link with the initiations

Each direction is linked more specially with an initiation

The four plus one Lives

The 4 directions plus the central life are the "forward moving Lives".

"With this [main] stream, enters that group of active lives whom we call the “Lords of Karma“. They preside over the attractive forces and distribute them justly. They enter, pass to the centre of the sphere and there (if I may so express it) locate and set up the “Holy Temple of Divine Justice“, sending out to the four quarters of the circle the four Maharajahs, their representatives. ...

These five streams of living energy (the one and the four) are the basis of the onward march of all things; these are sometimes esoterically called “the forward moving Lives“. They embody the Will of the Logos."
A Treatise on cosmic Fire, page 1183

More about

A treatise on cosmic Fire, Alice A. Bailey, Lucis Trust
Telepathy and the etheric vehicle, Alice A. Bailey, Lucis Trust
Discipleship in the New Age, vol 2, Alice A. Bailey, Lucis Trust