This blog is adapted from a daily talk given at reflectivemeditation.org/dailyonline. Sessions run 9–10am PT and include a short talk, silent meditation, and group reflection.
How a name reshapes practice
Back in 2017, we changed our name—from Recollective Awareness Meditation to Reflective Meditation. We announced it with an e-journal, “Reflective Meditation: A Creative Path for Mindful Practice,” and invited our worldwide sangha to contribute. Names change for many reasons: spiritual naming, marriage, cultural reclamation, gender transition, or simply because a name no longer fits. In our case, changing the name helped us name what we were actually doing together.
A creative time (that I almost forgot)
The e-journal gathered songs, paintings, sculptures, poetry, academic prose—creative takes on the Dharma, woven with short talks. Looking back, I realized I had remembered the dukkha of change and the sukha of what emerged, but I’d forgotten how creative that period was for us. Creativity wasn’t a side project; it was essential to how the practice came alive.
The birth of “short talks → meditation → reflection”
The journal marked a shift for us—from long, conceptual Dharma talks to shorter, creative prompts that lead into meditation, reflection, and shared experience. What we now call “the practice” largely formed there: a rhythm that makes room for discovery without forcing it.
Why we didn’t call it “creative meditation”
An LA Magazine piece once called creative meditation “hot.” Tempting! But we didn’t choose that name because Reflective Meditation isn’t only for artists. nāma-rūpa. We don’t keep a tidy inner zoo; we meet a living ecosystem, uncaged and interdependent, and learn to care for its wildness.
Naming and form: a gentle orientation
In Buddhist teaching, nāma-rūpa (name and form) speaks to how mental and physical processes interdependently shape experience. Naming can be helpful—like setting a provisional placeholder that opens learning and context. Sometimes just saying “fear” relaxes something because it brings space and awareness. Naming doesn’t solve a problem; it helps us stay with experience with a bit more curiosity, kindness, and wakefulness.
The limits of names
Names can also tighten too much. They can lock a fluid experience into a fixed identity, over-orient us, or give a false sense of certainty. In Reflective Meditation we try to use names gently—as pointers and suggestions, not hard definitions. They carry associations and history, but they’re never the whole story.
Choosing and protecting a name
Eight years into using Reflective Meditation, we decided to trademark it—not to make the practice exclusive, but to clarify what’s distinct here and protect it from confusion. Over the years we toyed with many names—contemplative, stream-of-consciousness, integrative, interlistening, free-form, inquiry, calming, creative. Reflective Meditation became a spacious container that could hold these without boxing any one quality in too tightly.
Would a different name have changed our path?
We still wonder: with another name, would our practice have evolved differently? Would it have drawn different people with different intentions? Names orient belonging, history, and direction. They’re not everything—but they do shape how we step onto the path.
Ritual of Reflection
If you’d like, take a few breaths and notice what the name Reflective Meditation evokes in you. What qualities or intentions does it invite? You might carry this into your next sit and see what thoughts or feelings arise.
