The Virtual Agora for Occidental Meditation
How to
Reflect
Why bother with a manual on Reflection on how to do it? After all, we surely all know what it is to reflect without need of coaching. For those who do not know it all or who don’t fully see the benefits of reflection, below are pointers that some might find helpful.
At the heart of it
“It is the mark of a civilised person in a situation that is not too fraught that he or she will make time and space to reflect. The more one does it, the better one gets and if it is a habit one’s whole way of life can be transformed.”
Justin Glass, Founder
01 What is Reflection
02 How to Reflect
03 Hear The Founder
04 Explore the Institute
The Foundation
Here are some more suggestions to help you reflect
Consider Other Viewpoints
Consider how people see their ideal place in life in Personal Credos
Challenge Core Beliefs
Consider how advances in SCIENCE may have bearing on core beliefs
Discover our Guiding Principles
Look for relevance to you at the GUIDING PRINCIPES of this Institute.
Articles on How To Reflect Articles
An example of intellectual reflection brought to bear on ruminative reflection
Does one ruminate and allow space for intuition to pop up to the surface of our mind and/or is one disposed to cudgel the brains in a more intellectual way to make sense of ideas and facts that come to one? Inspiration can be a subject of thinking enquiry.
An Underlying Approach to Reflection
Little of what follows is as easy as it might seem.
Reflection is a mental or cerebral state of mind. Mental ...
Further Aspects of the Academic Work on Reflection
The Art of Self-Scrutiny
The act of self-reflection is a ‘spiritual act’ by taking time out to connect the ...
Further Reflections on Reflection
We can think about why we think what we think and think how best we can think. The best means to the best ends begins in the best thoughts. Watch the observer – you – and give ‘him’ the best advice you can. The process points up the purpose. It is as true for reflection itself as for anything else.
Graham Gibbs‘ Reflective Cycle
The theoretical approach of reflection as a cyclical model was further developed by Graham Gibbs (1998). This model is based on a six-stage approach, leading from a description of the experience through to conclusions and considerations for future events. While most of the core principles are similar to Kolb’s, Gibbs’ model is broken down further to encourage the teacher to reflect on their own thoughts and feelings.
Learning Cycle by David Kolb
David Kolb proposed that if people become better at using all stages of a learning cycle, notably including reflecting on experience, they will become better life-long learners, and be more successful.
His concept is among many that advocates 'trial and error' (extending to reflection, conceptualization and experimentation) through direct personal experience
Mark Twain’s Thinking on Reflection
Mark Twain once said: Whenever you find yourself on the side of the majority, it is time to pause and reflect.
Reflection techniques; how better to reflect
Eastern Meditation has it's handbooks, it's rituals, it's methods, its's mantras. So too there is advice galore ...
Reflective Practice
Linda Lawrence-Wilkes and Dr Lyn Ashmore, teachers of professional development in higher education, collaborated to publish their research on Reflective Practice for learning, 'The Reflective Practitioner in Professional Education'.
Silence is Golden
What is your favourite popular tune? Mine is an old classic, Simon and Garfunkel’s “The Sound of ...
The Art of the Pause
In a world that prizes speed and constant motion, the pause is often overlooked.
Yet it is in stillness that ...
Ways to Prepare for Reflection
The first time we do it, we may not get very far. If we make a habit of doing it slowly, by degrees, then a feel ...
What can we be sure of?
By J. Glass
Preamble
Leaving aside such hoary pensées as that of Descartes’, ‘I think therefore I am’, how much ...
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Ready to Begin?
Download the free Reflection Manual and start today. No account needed
Do I need any prior knowledge or belief system?
None whatsoever. Reflection as practised here is secular and undogmatic. It draws on Western philosophical traditions but asks nothing of you except a willingness to think more carefully.
Is this the same as mindfulness or meditation?
Not quite. Where Eastern meditation often seeks stillness or transcendence, Western Reflection is active — it is thinking, done purposefully. It is closer to philosophy as a way of life than to a relaxation technique.
How much time does it take?
Reflection can be as brief as ten quiet minutes or as sustained as a long walk. It adapts to your life, not the other way around. No mat, no app, no subscription required.
Who is behind the Institute?
The Institute was founded by Justin Glass, who has spent many years developing the case for a distinctly Western tradition of meditative thought.