Acharya Prashant explains that apologizing is often a form of deception. When a person says 'sorry', they are falsely suggesting they had a choice between hurting someone and not hurting them, and that they are fundamentally a good person who simply made a mistake. He asserts that, given a person's conditioning and state of being at that moment, they could not have acted differently. A true confession is admitting that one's current state is 'rotten' and that their actions were inevitable based on who they are. He emphasizes that apologizing is a way for the ego to avoid accountability and maintain its self-image of being 'good'. He further discusses the concept of repentance, stating that it is a fallacy to believe a future action can correct a past one. While the consequences of past actions (karma) must be endured, gaining knowledge or awareness can reduce the suffering associated with those consequences. He critiques religious forms of penance, such as self-flagellation or making donations to temples after committing sins, as methods that actually strengthen the ego. These acts allow a person to feel 'cleansed' without undergoing the difficult process of actual transformation. True change is like a five-thousand-watt bulb lighting up; it is so profound that the entire world can see the person has fundamentally changed, making verbal apologies unnecessary. Finally, Acharya Prashant addresses the difficulty of distinguishing between the discomfort of living in ego and the discomfort of the ego being dismantled. He suggests that in moments of intense discomfort caused by a teacher's guidance, one must rely on faith. Over a longer period, the validity of the path can be judged by observing the actual fruits and impact on one's life. He concludes that the only real 'sorry' is awareness—the profound realization of one's own previous blindness—which naturally leads to powerful, transformed action.
