kukkucca
Worry, remorse
[ kook-KOOCH-cha ]
Seeing it in life
Kukkucca scratches at the mind over past acts. With uddhacca it forms a hindrance, abandoned at non-returning.
In short
Regret over what was done or left undone.
The analysis
Kukkucca scratches at the mind over what was done and shouldn't have been, or what should have been done and wasn't — regret directed at the past, distinct from ordinary reflection because of its agitated, unsettled quality. Paired with uddhacca as one of the five hindrances, kukkucca is abandoned as a hindrance at non-returning.
Where it sits
As a hindrance, kukkucca-uddhacca obstructs both concentration and clear investigation — a mind occupied re-litigating the past has less capacity to meet the present clearly.
Replaying a conversation from days ago, searching for the better thing that could have been said, well past any point where the replaying serves a useful purpose, is kukkucca.
Commonly mistaken for
Healthy conscience or accountability. Genuine ethical reflection that leads to change is different from the agitated, repetitive quality kukkucca names.
Only about serious wrongdoing. It arises over minor, even imagined lapses just as readily.
Abhidhammattha Saṅgaha II; Nīvaraṇa Saṃyutta (SN 46).
Related terms