Yesterday, an aunty of mine who is getting interested in the occult told me that she heard of someone asking a tantric to take their bad karma, and to put it on someone else. Then, she asked me if such a thing was even possible, which led me to this subject.
The answer is yes, but it’s more complicated than it seems. Getting rid of bad karma is not just difficult because it is difficult for you to pay back your debts, but also, because your karma includes a lot of burdens that you are attached to. Getting rid of your bad karma involves making serious behavioural changes, and paying back certain debts. The paying back of debt can be put on someone else, and it’s not uncommon. In fact, this is the role that Jupiter, the guru, plays.
When someone decides to take on the role of teaching another person, they are helping this person see what they’re doing wrong. Usually, when someone teaches you a skill, and you’re doing something wrong, they imitate you to show what is wrong, and then they show you the correct way, to create the contrast, so it becomes more clear to you. This basic level imitation is a sort of reflection of them taking your karma and cleansing it. The act of teaching itself is full of karmic exchanges that can cleanse the karma of the one who is being taught.
More so than human gurus, it is the gods who play this role very strongly. In Buddhism, there are two major paths, first being the theravada system, which is largely atheistic, and is based around individual practitioners working to cleanse their karma and to attain moksha. The second path is the Mahayana system, which is more theistic. According to the Mahayana mythology, the god Avalokiteshwar had the option to gain moksha, but chose to stay on Earth, and help the humans who remained on Earth to attain Moksha. He is considered the first being to do this, but many others came after him, becoming embedded in the Buddhist theology.
Avalokiteshwar, and the deities that followed his path are actively choosing to remain on earth, and to absorb some of the bad karma of the people who worship them, so that they may attain moksha. This is why the Gods even exist.
However, there are consequences even to the gods taking away bad karma, which is exemplified in the story of Kali and Raktabeeja. The asura Raktabeeja was blessed by Shiva, and had the power to create many Raktabeejas through one drop of his blood falling onto the ground. In a way, this power represents the endlessness of the karmic cycle, where one single act can create a multitude of consequences for the person doing the act. The end for Raktabeeja came through the actions of Kali, who prevented the creation of more Raktabeejas by drinking his blood before it could fall on the ground.
This was not an action that was free of consequences for Kali. According to some folklore, this act increased her bloodthirstiness, and after she slayed every Raktabeeja, she went on a destructive rampage to destroy the entire world, and only stopped when she accidentally attacked Shiva, her husband, and stepped on him. This calmed her down, and she stuck out her tongue in embarrassment. After she calmed down, her form changed, and she became a more gentle goddess, as compared to a fierce one. This is symbolic of Shiva absorbing her bad karma as well, through him being attacked by her.
When we think about the implications of this story, we come to understand that when your bad karma is taken away, it is not as simple as just your debts being erased. Bad karma being erased means being completely destroyed as a person and, either attaining moksha (as Raktabeeja did), or being so completely transformed that you become unrecognisable.
For anyone who has to take responsibility for someone else’s bad karma, such people become your guru, and your god. They become the person who has power over you to an extent that anything they think of you becomes true for you. Not just that, but such people, when they take this burden willingly and are judicious with the power it gives, are especially blessed and beloved by the divine, and for such people, the debt that was insurmountable to you becomes a very small matter.
So, to answer my aunty’s question… yes, such a thing is possible. But, also, it’s completely pointless when the gods exist to willingly take your karmic burdens away from you, and will be far more kind than any human who gains the power to destroy you in that way.
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