Yes, you are spot on in this.
The Buddha is merely a teacher, he can guide you, but not save you
from your bad karma. If you commit a bad deed and ask the Buddha to
erase your bad karma, that is wishful thinking, as the law of karma
applies to all. Not even the Buddha can erase or eradicate the bad
deeds you committed. You have to shoulder the bad karma you
committed. Like when you are hungry, or in pain, can you ask
someone to eat on behalf of you to alleviate your hunger, or ask
someone to take the place of you to alleviate your pain?
Buddha can only guide you on the path to salvation, but it is
yourself that can obtain liberation through yourself, aka the Noble
Eightfold Path.
I shudder when people sacrifise animals in the name of a god or
ancestor. They do not understand how karma works, and one day in
future, what goes around, comes around.
I remember a tale on sacrifising a goat. Long time ago, there was
this priest was abt to slit the throat of the goat, suddenly the
goat cries out in human words and the priest was taken aback. The
goat explained to him it cried because it was happy and sad. Happy
in the sense that it was its last rebirth as a goat to be
slaughtered, as it was once a priest who sacrifised a goat too in
the name of a god. The goat said it was feeling pity for the priest
as he will be slaughtered, just like him for 500 goat lives to be
killed to be sacrifised. He was relieved that this wil be the last
time he will be reborn as a goat to be slaughtered.
