Tiger Woods says he’s “deeply sorry” for straying from his marriage vows — “deeply irresponsible and foolish behavior,” he says, and the jury’s still out on whether or not people believe him. You can read his statement, or watch it, for yourself.

He spoke openly and honestly about his Buddhist roots (and we all remember Brit Humes’ thoughts on that):

Part of following this path for me is Buddhism, which my mother taught me at a young age. People probably don’t realize it, but I was raised a Buddhist, and I actively practiced my faith from childhood until I drifted away from it in recent years. Buddhism teaches that a craving for things outside ourselves causes an unhappy and pointless search for security. It teaches me to stop following every impulse and to learn restraint. Obviously, I lost track of what I was taught.

Cathy Grossman over at USA Today breaks down Woods’ mea culpa in light of Buddhist notions of repentance and returning to the right path:

Buddhism, he said, teaches that “a craving for things outside ourselves” can only lead to “unhappiness and a pointless search for security. Woods said he needed to stop “following every impulse” and “learn restraint.”

Then, with several gulps and a weary, steady sad face, he said he was heading back to continue his therapy.

While his pledge is to return to Buddhist ways, his point-by-point apology was classically biblical — it’s the same “turning” process that Bill Clinton cited, reading from a Jewish prayer, when he apologized for his Lewinsky affair in 1998:

Admit your wrongs, take responsibility for them, express your regrets to all who were harmed, and spell out your path to return to integrity and righteousness.