The ‘Statement of Principle’ below is followed by some ‘Considerations’ about reflection.
To see how Academia views reflection, please scroll down to the relevant Landing Box below.
TWELVE CONSIDERATIONS
FOR REFLECTION
1) Thinking quietly on one’s own is to be encouraged.
2) ‘How we think’ is a subject worthy of study. We should make a point of taking time out to think. Like anything else (as the Victorians said) ‘Practice makes (almost) perfect.’
3) There is value in thinking as deeply as possible about the far-reaching questions in our lives, viz: What can we know for sure – in as far as it is possible to know anything for certain? What are the questions and beliefs that truly matter? Do scientific discoveries impact on some of them?
4) Meditation and its goals need not be taught – but learned. We should try and coach ourselves.
5) Do all of our cherished beliefs or habits withstand scrutiny? It should be or become a habit to query what we read or hear about the topics that matter and to cultivate a healthy disrespect for prevailing assumptions – including our own.
6) Profound truths may be simple and accessible – but overlooked. First pare down the focus to the fundamental assumptions. From acorns do oak trees grow.
7) Unemotional open-mindedness should characterise reflection.
8) In calmness lies self-awareness. It is the breeding ground in which to try to coax insights that may have lain disregarded in the subconscious to the surface of the mind.
9) Reflection and Intuition – after due consideration – should feed through into practical outcomes and enhance Practical Wisdom.
10) A constant refrain can be: ‘What is the right way forward?’
11) We should be as true as possible to our better selves and try to refashion ourselves so as to reach all worthwhile goals. Fulfilment, empathy, compassion, happiness, success and more should characterise a well-balanced life. ‘Know thyself’! Be true to yourself.
12) ‘Straggle-growths’ in the mind can be trimmed. Undue emotions and ‘mind-clutter’ should be studied not blanked out, then outfaced with clarity, honesty and independence of mind.
FURTHER CONSIDERATIONS
A list such as that above is rarely the whole story. Ideas of relevance can crop up in general conversation or in reflection – or in pointers throughout this website.
The word ‘meditation’ seems to have acquired a capital ‘M’. It can imply an orientation towards the oriental. Westerners have a vantage point on cogitation that has been long in the brew. We all can borrow from the best of both traditions. Some Buddhist or Tao principles, for instance, can be buttressed by Western scientific discovery. In a world rife with serious problems, the hard-won hallmarks of civilised thinking should be ‘grappled to the bosum with hoops of steel’.
An aim of this virtual institute is to help create a level of consciousness that is a benchmark of civilised standards that can influence, for instance some of the political decision-making in the long-term. Go to politicos of today with some of the prescriptions in this institute and it is likely that many of them will not spare the time of their pressurised day to consider or act on them but, overall and over time, the Geist changes. It becomes clearer if decisions are taken in the light of outmoded geostrategic thinking.
There is an appetite shared by many people including those living full, active lives to wonder about the Big Questions. There is no call to shelve them. An ability to multi-task and to plan for exigencies of the day need not make a pipedream of taking time out to think things over.
A rational, clear-minded, serene and detached look at how much we truly know and at what we as individuals and as a society should do, can go hand-in-hand with spirituality, ‘finding oneself’ – one’s true self – and lateral thinking.
Scientific breakthroughs bear on what we now know about the often intangible world that arguably actuates us – and many Faiths.
How best to hone basic conceptions so as to be in line with what is best for each and all of us? We may be surprised at what emerges perhaps from unlikely quarters. It may lurk in our own mind. It is time is to refresh some age old, wise – and maybe not so wise – precepts.
The best habits of mind are rarely a quick fix. Reflection is a natural fallback position and should be given attention.
Anyone may have interesting, fresh ideas in spheres ranging from the practical to the profound and the insightful. What of value may be lost if many ideas in a community where each of us can have our say within reason share the fate of the proverbial rose that blooms only to wither unseen. Experts even where they agree need not be sole judges of what holds true in contexts impacted by their specialisms. We are free to be our own gurus or pundits.
This forum is a meeting ground and a platform to showcase ideas that may have traction in the wider world. The fruits of homespun philosophy should have the best cultivation before being set out on a stall in the global village.
This approach ideally should reinforce an understanding of our place in this world and what might be the Hereafter and help to constructively query insufficiently thought-through ideas that permeate society. We can see more perceptively when discarding the dross. The process enhances personal fulfilment, peace and happiness.