พระอาจารย์อธิบายว่าความรู้สึกโล่งใจเมื่อเชื่อว่ามีผู้อื่นรับบาปแทน เกิดจากการมีข้อโต้แย้งเสียงอกุศลที่มาซ้ำเติมความผิดในใจ แต่เป็นการหนีความจริง ไม่ใช่การแก้ไขที่แท้จริง ต่างจากการปลงอาบัติที่ต้องยอมรับผิดและตั้งใจไม่ทำผิดซ้ำThe teacher explains that the relief people feel when they believe someone else has taken on their wrongdoing comes from being able to argue back against the inner unwholesome voice that keeps rehashing their guilt — but it's an escape from truth, not a genuine resolution, unlike proper confession, which requires acknowledging the fault and resolving not to repeat it.
Someone asked the teacher about an interview he'd heard with a young celebrity who had struggled with depression for years, tormented daily by an inner voice reciting every wrong they had ever done, to the point of feeling too wicked to deserve to keep living. They later converted to another religion and went to confess their sins, and were taught that God would take on their sins for them. This left them feeling pure, able to argue back against that inner voice — telling it their wrongdoing had already been taken away — and their depression gradually improved. The questioner wondered how this kind of relief could actually happen.
Why Believing Someone Else Took the Blame Brings Relief
The teacher explained that such problems arise because unwholesome states () drive wrong thought, speech, and action in the first place. Once done, that same unwholesomeness keeps hold of the memory and uses it to accuse and torment the mind again and again. As the self-blame piles up, the mind looks for a way out. Believing that someone else has taken on the wrongdoing gives a person something to argue back with against that inner unwholesome voice — telling it they are no longer responsible. This has to be repeated over and over to hold, but it does bring a feeling of relief. That relief, however, comes from shifting the burden of responsibility onto someone or something else, not from facing the truth.
Why This Is Escape, Not Resolution
He said everyone in the world makes mistakes, and people commonly look for relief by shifting blame elsewhere. But that relief is a false comfort, because it avoids taking responsibility and avoids confronting the truth. Truth can never be found by someone unwilling to accept it. When the same mistake recurs, unwholesomeness simply uses the same tactic again, and the person keeps repeating the same error without end.
Proper Confession in the Buddhist Tradition
The teacher explained that Buddhism also has a practice of confession — monks confessing offenses (pavāraṇā/paṭidesanā) to one another. But genuine confession requires truly acknowledging that one has committed the fault, whether small or serious, and resolving sincerely not to repeat it. This kind of honest confession requires looking back at exactly where one went wrong, and using that as the starting point for genuine self-correction — not shifting blame onto someone else and moving on without changing anything.
He also pointed out something about language: the correct expression when asking forgiveness is the full phrase for "please forgive this offense," not merely "sorry" on its own — because dropping the word "forgiveness" leaves only "offense," which demerit can still use against a person. A genuine request for forgiveness must come together with a real intention to correct oneself — not with pushing the fault onto someone else to carry instead.