Begin Reflecting

The Virtual Agora for Occidental Meditation

A road map for
clearer thinking

Reflection is the Western tradition of meditative thought — a practice for sharper decisions, deeper understanding, and a more considered life. No dogma. No incense. Just thinking, properly done.

Begin Reflecting

Hear from the founder

Justin Glass speaks on the Scarlett Deva Antaloczy radio show

01

What is Reflection?

Get started with a simple guide to what Reflection means and why it matters — and how the West has its own rich tradition of meditative thought.

Read More

02

How to Reflect

Learn practical techniques with our Reflection manual — written for beginners and the experienced alike. Free to download, no sign-up required.
Read More

03

How it can help you

Clearer thinking, peace of mind, better decisions. Read about the practical dividends of making reflection a regular part of your life.
Explore

The Institute

Four areas

The Institute has four main floors. Downstairs, our homepage where you are now, is the entrance hall which leads to other areas with Break-out rooms for discussing tangential or side issues. On the first floor is the library, which has all the articles and links in this website. Upstairs is a Science faculty which is for discussing the philosophic implications of scientific discovery.

In the grounds of the institute is The Practical Workshop and a Sanctuary for learning and contemplation.

P

The Practical Workshop

Reflection is not simply about gazing at ones own navel, one purpose of reflections should be achieving success in the outside world.
Visit the Practical Workshop

L

The Library

Articles on Philosophy, Society and Science — the intellectual range of the Institute.
Browse Articles

U

University

What great thinkers believe. Personal credos, spiritual perspectives, and ideas worth sitting with.
Visit the University

S

Sanctuary

A place to be still. Music, audio, and a virtual retreat — including an orchestral piece composed for the Institute.
Enter the Sanctuary

Reflection is…

A boon of civilisation is thinking and learning for recreation. Why not try to fathom our place in the world if we have a modicum of time to slake a natural curiosity. Why not always take real care to think about the best way forward in any context? The right habits help us do this effectively. Balanced thoughts, unless watered by reflection, are vulnerable to the guiles and the foghorns of the influencers. Intolerance breeds chickens that come home to roost – a bane to us all – and those hencoops now are jam-packed! Reflection in Western traditions helps us reclaim an entitlement to our own thinking, with peace of mind as a bonus. Proper reflection will hugely improve the chances of getting answers spot-on for ourselves and for society. Why be laidback and just assume you know all about it?

Every day is an Open Day to wander round this institute. Please sample what speaks to you.

“We are what we have thought.
We should think again.”

The Institute of Reflection