user471: According to the Lonaphala Sutta, a minor evil deed done by a spiritual novice would take him to hell, while the same minor evil deed done by the spiritually advanced would be barely experienced.
In the sutta, the Buddha gives more analogies like the salt crystal in a cup of water vs the river, the poor thief vs. the rich thief etc. which definitely work as analogies.
But then could anyone explain why is it really like that? How to make sense of it?

"There is the case where a trifling evil deed done by a certain
  individual takes him to hell. There is the case where the very same
  sort of trifling deed done by another individual is experienced in the
  here & now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment.
"Now, a trifling evil deed done by what sort of individual takes him
  to hell? There is the case where a certain individual is undeveloped
  in [contemplating] the body, undeveloped in virtue, undeveloped in
  mind, undeveloped in discernment: restricted, small-hearted, dwelling
  with suffering. A trifling evil deed done by this sort of individual
  takes him to hell.
"Now, a trifling evil deed done by what sort of individual is
  experienced in the here & now, and for the most part barely appears
  for a moment? There is the case where a certain individual is
  developed in [contemplating] the body, developed in virtue, developed
  in mind, developed in discernment: unrestricted, large-hearted,
  dwelling with the immeasurable. A trifling evil deed done by this sort
  of individual is experienced in the here & now, and for the most part
  barely appears for a moment.


user295: If you have a lot of good Karma to be prosperous and then steal then there is little effect while if you have little Karma to be prosperous and steal then you get poor in a later life.
The main point is your store of Karma not abundance of what you have like a poor thieve and rich thieve.
Also it is not any general Karma like you have lot of good Karma to be intelligent but not much to be rich and you steal then you get poor again in the next life unless you use your intelligence to counter this.
Also the interaction of Karma is complex hence no body can say for sure.
In addition when you are contemplating of the arising and passing away of the what had been felt through the 4 foundations of mindfulness, your past -ve Karma looses its power and dissolve away. This happens as follows: A past Karma surfaces and gives it's result as some sensation to which you do not react hence no new fabrications are created multiplying the Karma and then it looses its power as it has already given result through not to the potential it might have snowballed in and non meditating person.

user111: There's a classification of Kamma according to the "priority of effect".

Garuka Kamma: which means either weighty or serious,
may be either good or bad. It produces its results in
this life or in the next for certain. 
Asanna Kamma or Death-proximate Kamma is that
which one does or remembers immediately before the
dying moment.
Acinna Kamma is that which one habitually
performs and recollects and for which one has a great
liking.
Katattà Kamma—Reserve or Cumulative Kamma. Literally,
it means ‘because done’. All actions that are done
once and soon forgotten belong to this category. This is as
it were the reserve fund of a particular being.

So when a virtuous person dies, the chances of a trifling evil deed he has committed coming forward to determine his next life is minimal. Because a virtuous person usually does good weighty Kammas during his life. ex: Attaining any of the 8 Jhanas. That will always come forward to give the next life. Also, when a virtuous person does something wrong, he knows that it is wrong. He doesn't take the false view that the fault he committed is right. Since he is aware of what happens here and now, he sees how it corrupts the mind. So he practices Samma Vayama(right effort) of the noble eight fold path. In this case, it is the effort to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen. So the effect of the Kamma is mitigated and loses it's potency to give a birth. 
On the other hand, an unvirtuous person usually doesn't do any good weighty kammas during his life. There's a high chance of him taking a false view that the bad he has committed is good. And he doesn't practice Samma Vayama to improve himself. This can make the Kamma potent enough to give a new birth, even if it is trifling at face value.

user-1: The answer lies in the mind, i.e. to what degree has the mind been cultivated and purified. 
The more cultivated and purified a mind is, the lesser the chance is that one will continue to make unwholesome deeds or increase suffering for oneself. Ones mind is simply more inclined towards Nibbana.
If we look at the untrained mind or the novice mind, then that mind is not cultivated or developed, meaning that the defilements are much more present here. Wisdom is absent or present in a much lesser degree, than in the trained mind.
An untrained mind is more likely to dwell in e.g. anger, sadness, happiness and other emotions, thereby enforcing them, like in the snowball-effect. The untrained mind will also in a larger degree identify with and take ownership of phenomena, thinking that there is a self or an experiencing entity, thereby creating further suffering for oneself.
The trained and cultivated mind has attained a lot more wisdom, making it capable of seeing reality as it is, without superimposing qualities onto it. The trained mind will not run after pleasant objects and away from unpleasant objects. It has seen the true nature of conditioned existence, i.e. the 3 marks of existence.
So if an individual with a cultivated and purified mind commits an unwholesome deed, then that individual will realize it much faster and be able to "damage-control" by reciting the precepts, use the unwholesome phenomena that has arisen e.g. mental formations or feelings to cultivate insight, go and commit wholesome deeds, increase the work on the paramitas and other options. In other words, the individual with a trained mind is much more capable of dealing with mistakes and turn them into insights. Also this person has a greater storage of wholesome kamma that will neutralize or lessen the effects of the unwholesome kamma that has been created.
This is different for the individual with the untrained or novice mind, since that person does not yet have the right tools to deal with the effects of unwholesome deeds. His faculties are not yet matured and he might be more liable to dwell, identify, take ownership, react and run away from these effects, thereby increasing the suffering (going to hell) for himself.
Lastly, I want to point out that only a fully enlightened Buddha can understand the workings of kamma. So there might be many more reasons for this difference between an experienced and an inexperienced individual, that non-Buddhas cannot yet understand.
Hope this helps. If you have any questions to what i wrote, let me know.

471: <p>According to the <a href="http://www.accesstoinsight.org/tipitaka/an/an03/an03.099.than.html" rel="nofollow">Lonaphala Sutta</a>, a minor evil deed done by a spiritual novice would take him to hell, while the same minor evil deed done by the spiritually advanced would be barely experienced.</p>

<p>In the sutta, the Buddha gives more analogies like the salt crystal in a cup of water vs the river, the poor thief vs. the rich thief etc. which definitely work as analogies.</p>

<p>But then could anyone explain why is it really like that? How to make sense of it?</p>

<blockquote>
  <p>"There is the case where a trifling evil deed done by a certain
  individual takes him to hell. There is the case where the very same
  sort of trifling deed done by another individual is experienced in the
  here &amp; now, and for the most part barely appears for a moment.</p>
  
  <p>"Now, a trifling evil deed done by what sort of individual takes him
  to hell? There is the case where a certain individual is undeveloped
  in [contemplating] the body, undeveloped in virtue, undeveloped in
  mind, undeveloped in discernment: restricted, small-hearted, dwelling
  with suffering. A trifling evil deed done by this sort of individual
  takes him to hell.</p>
  
  <p>"Now, a trifling evil deed done by what sort of individual is
  experienced in the here &amp; now, and for the most part barely appears
  for a moment? There is the case where a certain individual is
  developed in [contemplating] the body, developed in virtue, developed
  in mind, developed in discernment: unrestricted, large-hearted,
  dwelling with the immeasurable. A trifling evil deed done by this sort
  of individual is experienced in the here &amp; now, and for the most part
  barely appears for a moment.</p>
</blockquote>
 295: <p>If you have a lot of good Karma to be prosperous and then steal then there is little effect while if you have little Karma to be prosperous and steal then you get poor in a later life.</p>

<p>The main point is your store of Karma not abundance of what you have like a poor thieve and rich thieve.</p>

<p>Also it is not any general Karma like you have lot of good Karma to be intelligent but not much to be rich and you steal then you get poor again in the next life unless you use your intelligence to counter this.</p>

<p>Also the interaction of Karma is complex hence no body can say for sure.</p>

<p>In addition when you are contemplating of the arising and passing away of the what had been felt through the 4 foundations of mindfulness, your past -ve Karma looses its power and dissolve away. This happens as follows: A past Karma surfaces and gives it's result as some sensation to which you do not react hence no new fabrications are created multiplying the Karma and then it looses its power as it has already given result through not to the potential it might have snowballed in and non meditating person.</p>
 111: <p>There's a classification of Kamma according to the "priority of effect".</p>

<ol>
<li><strong>Garuka Kamma</strong>: which means either weighty or serious,
may be either good or bad. It produces its results in
this life or in the next for certain. </li>
<li><strong>Asanna Kamma</strong> or Death-proximate Kamma is that
which one does or remembers immediately before the
dying moment.</li>
<li><strong>Acinna Kamma</strong> is that which one habitually
performs and recollects and for which one has a great
liking.</li>
<li><strong>Katattà Kamma</strong>—Reserve or Cumulative Kamma. Literally,
it means ‘because done’. All actions that are done
once and soon forgotten belong to this category. This is as
it were the reserve fund of a particular being.</li>
</ol>

<p>So when a virtuous person dies, the chances of a trifling evil deed he has committed coming forward to determine his next life is minimal. Because a virtuous person usually does good weighty Kammas during his life. ex: Attaining any of the 8 Jhanas. That will always come forward to give the next life. Also, when a virtuous person does something wrong, he knows that it is wrong. He doesn't take the false view that the fault he committed is right. Since he is aware of what happens here and now, he sees how it corrupts the mind. So he practices <a href="http://www.vipassana.com/resources/8fp5.php" rel="nofollow">Samma Vayama</a>(right effort) of the noble eight fold path. In this case, it is the effort to abandon unwholesome states that have already arisen. So the effect of the Kamma is mitigated and loses it's potency to give a birth. </p>

<p>On the other hand, an unvirtuous person usually doesn't do any good weighty kammas during his life. There's a high chance of him taking a false view that the bad he has committed is good. And he doesn't practice Samma Vayama to improve himself. This can make the Kamma potent enough to give a new birth, even if it is trifling at face value.</p>
 -1: <p>The answer lies in the mind, i.e. to what degree has the mind been cultivated and purified. </p>

<p>The more cultivated and purified a mind is, the lesser the chance is that one will continue to make unwholesome deeds or increase suffering for oneself. Ones mind is simply more inclined towards Nibbana.</p>

<p>If we look at the untrained mind or the novice mind, then that mind is not cultivated or developed, meaning that the defilements are much more present here. Wisdom is absent or present in a much lesser degree, than in the trained mind.</p>

<p>An untrained mind is more likely to dwell in e.g. <em>anger, sadness, happiness and other emotions</em>, thereby enforcing them, like in the snowball-effect. The untrained mind will also in a larger degree identify with and take ownership of phenomena, thinking that there is a self or an experiencing entity, thereby creating further suffering for oneself.</p>

<p>The trained and cultivated mind has attained a lot more wisdom, making it capable of seeing reality as it is, without superimposing qualities onto it. The trained mind will not run after pleasant objects and away from unpleasant objects. It has seen the true nature of conditioned existence, i.e. the 3 marks of existence.</p>

<p>So if an individual with a cultivated and purified mind commits an unwholesome deed, then that individual will realize it much faster and be able to "damage-control" by reciting the precepts, use the unwholesome phenomena that has arisen e.g. mental formations or feelings to cultivate insight, go and commit wholesome deeds, increase the work on the paramitas and other options. In other words, the individual with a trained mind is much more capable of dealing with mistakes and turn them into insights. Also this person has a greater storage of wholesome kamma that will neutralize or lessen the effects of the unwholesome kamma that has been created.</p>

<p>This is different for the individual with the untrained or novice mind, since that person does not yet have the right tools to deal with the effects of unwholesome deeds. His faculties are not yet matured and he might be more liable to dwell, identify, take ownership, react and run away from these effects, thereby increasing the suffering (going to hell) for himself.</p>

<p>Lastly, I want to point out that only a fully enlightened Buddha can understand the workings of kamma. So there might be many more reasons for this difference between an experienced and an inexperienced individual, that non-Buddhas cannot yet understand.</p>

<p>Hope this helps. If you have any questions to what i wrote, let me know.</p>
