involuntary thought remorse?

[befriend]

hi everyone,
when one is daydreaming and they think a akusala thought then they stop and catch themselves, should we just ignore it and carry on with whatever were doing or do we feel remorse and become disgusted with it and make an effort to refrain from involuntarily thinkng negative thoughts. thank you. metta, befriend

[daverupa]

Right effort suggests abandoning such thoughts, of course, but remorse is not helpful and can be set aside. Also, disgust and whatnot may be useful for some, but equanimity and disenchantment are perhaps better, or at least potentially less problematic.

[marc108]

i do not believe disgust or remorse in and of themselves will stop involuntary thoughts from arising, but may be useful in helping you be diligent in using skillful effort to remove them. try:

http://www.accesstoinsight.org/lib/auth ... el021.html
MN 18, Vitakkasanthana Sutta: The Removal of Distracting Thoughts