You Have a Right Not to Be Negative
Reflections on Inner Work and Negative States
We often believe we have every right to be negative.
We feel justified in our resentment, self-pity, jealousy, or bitterness — especially when others have truly hurt or disappointed us. And yet, as Gurdjieff and Ouspensky’s teaching reminds us, there is another possibility: we have a right not to be negative.
That simple shift in awareness changes everything.
In this teaching, negativity is not viewed as a moral failure but as a mechanical state — something that happens automatically within us, fueled by habit, emotional injury, and conditioning. These states are so familiar that we mistake them for truth. But when we begin to see them consciously, something new becomes possible.
The Work Begins with Internal Attention
Self-observation is the beginning of inner work.
Instead of watching others and reacting to their faults, we turn attention inward to see what happens in us — the subtle flickers of irritation, jealousy, fear, self-importance, or grievance.
This is not about repression or forced positivity. It’s about seeing clearly. When you begin to notice your inner reactions — without immediately justifying or acting on them — you begin what Gurdjieff called “cleaning the machine.”
He used the image of a garden:
Someone asks, “What should I grow in my garden?” But the garden is full of weeds. The first task is not to plant, but to clear — to stop nourishing what depletes life.
In the same way, before we can cultivate peace, joy, or compassion, we must stop feeding the inner weeds of negativity.
Negative Emotions as Inner Dirt
Maurice Nicoll wrote that the greatest filth within us is negative emotion — not as a moral judgment, but as a practical truth. Negativity clogs the inner system; it distorts perception, drains vitality, and feeds on itself.
A person who habitually thinks unpleasant things about others, lives in grievance or self-pity, and feels perpetually mistreated becomes, in this framework, a “dirty machine.” This isn’t condemnation — it’s an invitation to see how much of our suffering is self-created and self-sustained.
Every negative state wants to take hold of us and feed upon us. The more we indulge it, the more power it has to dominate our experience.
The Inner Right
To feel that you have a right not to be negative is to take your inner life seriously.
It means you recognize a part of yourself that can stand upright among the mess of negativity and not be taken under by it.
When you remember this right — I have a right not to be negative — something shifts inside. You momentarily step out of the pull of reaction and into consciousness. You begin to see that negativity is not inevitable. It’s a choice — or more precisely, a chain of inner habits that can be interrupted.
Lifting to a Higher Level of Being
This work is not easy. It requires daily effort and self-honesty. But each moment of awareness cleans a small part of the machine. Each refusal to indulge a negative state loosens its grip. Over time, a different quality of being begins to grow — one that is clearer, lighter, more compassionate, and less identified with the endless inner commentary.
Real change begins not with external rearranging, but with inner attention. As you learn to observe your negative states rather than believe them, you begin to reclaim your own energy, dignity, and freedom.
You have a right not to be negative.
And remembering that right may be the first true act of self-care.
By Ellen Pace, LMFT-S, LPC-S
Reference:
Adapted from Psychological Commentaries on the Teaching of Gurdjieff and Ouspensky, Vol. 1, by Maurice Nicoll (pages 160–162: “Note on Negative Emotions”).