A student asked whether the case being discussed was similar to changing one's name.

Pra Ajarn explained that changing one's name is a strategy of the unwholesome. Because the unwholesome knows its own turn is about to run out, and once it ends the wholesome is due to take over exactly then, the unwholesome seizes that moment to convince people that changing their name is what made their life improve — when in truth it was simply the wholesome taking its scheduled turn to look after them. Those unaware of the truth mistakenly credit the improvement to the name change, which prevents them from ever understanding the truth about truthfulness and karma.

Pra Ajarn recalled someone he knew (left unidentified) who changed names so often that even he lost count of how many times. Sometimes life improved afterward, sometimes it didn't, because this person never seriously studied merit, demerit, or the Dhamma. Whenever a problem arose, the easy solution was to consult a fortune-teller; if dissatisfied with the reading, they would simply move on to another fortune-teller, and another, until they heard what they wanted to hear.

Pra Ajarn observed that people caught in this pattern are those who refuse to accept the truth and never seriously study the Dhamma — holding only beliefs unaccompanied by wisdom or reason, believing whatever anyone tells them. This becomes its own karmic result, making them ever more prone to being easily misled. He noted that this category of behavior tends to include spirit possession rituals, various curse-cleansing ceremonies, reliance on fortune-tellers, and repeated name changes — all forms of preoccupation with things lacking wisdom, rather than turning to study and accept the truth of merit and karma as taught in the Dhamma.