Exploring Expansion and Contraction in Mindfulness Practice

Expansion and contraction reveal the dance of existence, urging awareness beyond fixed positions and embracing fluidity.

### Exploring the Dynamics of Expansion and Contraction in Consciousness
* 🌳 "The posture of balance and alignment is akin to a tree **reaching for the sky** while **yielding to the earth**, illustrating the fundamental forces of **expansion and contraction**."
* 🌀 The exploration of surface expansion and contraction reveals manifestations that may appear **ordinary or uncomfortable** but are rooted in the **deeper dynamics of consciousness**.
* 📏 The principle of **increase or decrease** allows something to become **more intense or larger**, while simultaneously, it can **decrease in the same dimensions**, demonstrating the **duality of these forces**.
* 💨 Pressure can be perceived as a **force moving in or out**, and recognizing it as a **natural phenomenon** rather than a problem can lead to a **more profound understanding** of one's experience.
* 🌌 Scattering and gripping of attention reflect the dance of space, where both are natural occurrences that can either **limit or expand one's awareness**.
* ⚖ The act of **centering oneself** can bring comfort, yet the experience of being **pulled away from that center** is equally valuable, illustrating the interplay between **contraction and expansion**.
* 🔄 Deep expansion and contraction encompass an **effortless dance of space** that transcends ordinary experiences, offering a glimpse into the **primordial perfection** underlying all sensory events.
* 🌊 Ultimately, recognizing the **cyclical nature of these dynamics** can lead to a sense of tranquility, reminding us that both **expansion and contraction** are integral to the flow of life.

thank you [Music]. Once again, take a moment to stretch up and settle in. The spine is erect through balance and alignment, less through strength and effort [Music]. Like a tree expanding to meet Father Sky, while the whole rest of the body hangs limp and loose, yielding to the contractive force of Mother Earth. This posture is born in between expansion and contraction; therefore, the first Consciousness, a shall shin, sometimes translated as beginner's mind. The first thing you experience when you sit exemplifies the ultimate goal of the practice: to give yourself back to the fundamental forces of expansion and contraction. Okay, we've been exploring what I call surface expansion contraction, meaning manifestations of the source that are available to anyone. Of course, they may not seem like the source; they may seem quite ordinary, sometimes uncomfortable, even problematic. A good doctor can cure your disease; only an extraordinary doctor can convince you you were never sick. Let's review what we've explored so far. We'll begin with the principle of increase or decrease. Something can get more intense.

something can speed up. Something can get larger in one, two, or three spatial dimensions. Nothing special about that. It's expansion, though affirmation, the principle of increase. Something can decrease in the same ways, get less intense for the frequency of an arising, can slow down, or something can shrink in one, two, or three dimensions of space. Let's take a moment to explore expansion and contraction in disguise. You may only be aware of increase or decrease. You may be aware of both at the same time, or there might not be any such movement present, in which case it's actually a form of rest, freedom from those two kinds of change, the expansion and contraction in the sense of increase, decrease, may be in just one part of your being, or in one modality, or one location, or it may be evident broadly throughout your experience, perhaps even a sense that there's always both everywhere, sometimes the expansion contraction can be cyclic. Something expands, then it contracts, or something both simultaneous, simultaneously both expands and contracts, and then they disappear. Sometimes the sense of expansion and

contraction can be abiding. There's an eternal in and out in part or all of your being. It's all good. It's all natural. A certain amount of guessing and groping will be involved if you haven't done a lot of this. Recall that one of the dimensions of mindfulness is clarity, and one of the sub-dimensions of clarity is the ability to detect, and this is a detection skill, a noticing of a commonality that may be subtle. If you wish to label, the labels would be expansion, contraction, both, and rest or none for an absence. Foreign [Music] foreign foreign [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] okay good. Now let go of that, and we're going to explore another manifestation, which is pressure, force. Often it's in the body, but it could be in visual and auditory, both inner or outer. You may have a sense that something's pushing in, pulling in rather, or pushing out, or

doing both at the same time, or there may be no pressure whatsoever anywhere in your being. Instead of interpreting pressure as problematic, we're going to just think of it as a force that's moving out or moving in or moving in both directions at once. If it moves in both directions at once, it might interdigitate, sort of pass through itself, or there might be a clash, an interference. But there's no one to play if the pressure waves just pass through each other, interpenetrating without interfering, like two ghosts walking along a road, move through each other, well done, fine. But if there's a bang, like two cars hitting each other, just have equanimity with that to the best of your ability. If there's no pressure, enjoy the freedom from pressure. It's a rest or a non-situation. Typically, have a sense that we need to do something about pressure, ameliorated in some way, and actually, there can be times when that's useful, appropriate. But for now, we're just going to observe it, but

foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] thank you [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] okay good now let go of that and we're going to explore yet another manifestation of expansion contraction. One which is often interpreted as problematic and indeed is from a certain perspective but from another perspective can be looked upon impersonally and blamelessly. That's just part of the dance of space. You may be aware of your attention scattering or being flooded. Your will do more than one thing at the same time, pulled in and out at the same time, or pulled to many places in your body or pulled to your mind and your body or your mind goes to many places scattering. We'll consider that to be a form of expansion or you may be gripped and held by something. It won't let you go. Often we interpret it as I won't let it go and that can be a valid interpretation but we're going to think of it differently now. Your space is being limited, held

it's nothing personal about it. There's no blame. Scattering is this part of the dance of space. Gripping is part of the dance of space. So, if there's no scattering or gripping, great. Enjoy that as a rest date of freedom from this aspect of expansion contraction. But if there is yield, let yourself be spread to the six directions or let yourself be nailed down without fighting, just taking it to be the flow of space. Seems like it's scattering and gripping forces, but actually, it's just the curvature of space. It's actually an interesting metaphor from general relativity, a little different way to think about things. [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] so [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] okay good. Now we're going to explore one more ordinary manifestation of expansion contraction, but I'll give you a little heads up. There's some subtlety involved in this.

one we like to get comfortable by resting in some center. Maybe we're enjoying thinking about a certain something, or we're comfortable in a certain sensory environment. We settle in, or quote, gets centered. It's comfortable. It's ordering to be centered somewhere moment by moment. If we get ripped away from whatever our center might be, or if we get knocked off-centered, that's interpreted as disorder, but it's often uncomfortable. Then we may scramble to get back to center. There's nothing wrong with being centered, but there's something good about becoming free from the need to be centered, to have a fixed position, even for a fraction of a second. [Music] This next exercise will probably involve a considerable amount of guessing and groping, and that's perfectly okay. Thank you. Notice that as soon as you might find a center, something is going to knock you off that center, pull you to the right or to the left, or in front or behind, or above or below, or in all directions at once. The pull might be visual, auditory

somatic. All of them would be inner, could be outer, but as soon as there's a centering, there's a decent rate. Who's responsible for the de-centering? Who gives you that gift that sets you free? Is expansion something expands somewhere, and it could be very, very slight, incredibly subtle, but there's a force to pull you off wherever the comfortable lighting Center may be to decenter. Alternatively, it knocks the center away or causes a gone or a partial gone of wherever the comfortable Center might be. Thank you. When you're aware that your Center is being tugged or the rug is being pulled, that's expansion doing that, and the actual collapse of the center, the slipping of the rug under your feet as a form of contraction. The center will not hold; it dissipates. We'll consider that to be a form of contraption. It's very subtle. It's counter-intuitive in one way. Having a center itself is contraction; in another way, the gone of the center is contraction. Expansion prevents you from getting fixated.

leaving you with the prospect of learning about a new ordering principle, becoming that authentic human that has no fixed position. The Disappearance of the center, however, is contraction; the force that causes it is expansion. Those forces are a primordial ordering principle that can never be disordered, and to the extent that you have one foot firmly placed in each, you can travel effortlessly back and forth between Heaven and Hell with impunity. [Music] [Music] If you're aware of your Center being even slightly messed with, interpret that as contraction and let it happen. Don't hold on, move on, but also notice that's happening because of expansion. You're simultaneously expanding and contracting, and it's a liberating dynamic. [Music] I fully appreciate that the words I just spoke may seem utterly inscrutable. That's okay; just explore in five minutes, five years, 15 years, 15 minutes before your death. They may be very significant. [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music]

[Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] here [Music] [Music] thank you. Okay, good. So far, all of the aspects that we've been looking at are ordinary. Something gets more intense or speeds up or larger. There's an outward pressure force or a scattering force or a force that pulls you out of a comfortable position in consciousness. For something decreases or slows down or gets smaller, or there's an inward pressure force or a gripping force or a disappearance of the ability to hold a center, decentered, knocked off center. Associated with all of the above may be an awareness of deep expansion, contraction, or not. Deep expansion and contraction is a sense of space effortlessly spreading, effortlessly collapsing, or doing both at the same time, or being perfectly still, no movement from or towards. Deep expansion and contraction lies around, behind, within all of the ordinary things we've been looking at, sort of hidden. The reason for looking at surface expansion contraction is it directs your attention to possibly detecting.

the effortless dance of space that is the primordial great perfection that proceeds, unfollows each sensory and motor event, and actually, if you understand deeply, you'll realize it pervades each sensory and motor event from the good back to the good without ever leaving the good. It is to live at the source, to live near fauna. Now, let's explore the possibility, certainly not the certainty, but the possibility that something like that might be available to attention at this time. Recall it will be associated with the ordinary stuff. Something gets more intense, there tends to be a spreading. Something speeds up, there tends to be a spreading. Something gets larger, obviously, there's a spread. But sometimes, the pressure can cause a spreading. The scattering is definitely a spreading, and likewise for the converse. So, sort of letting go of the sensory content and becoming fascinated with these Spirit Contour, let's just explore the possibility as a that there you might be able to detect at this time the Deep version, and if that's not available, that's perfectly okay. Just choose one or a combination of

surface expansion contraction to attend to [Music] [Music] [Music] foreign [Music] [Music] sometimes deep expansion contraction is cyclic. There's a both and then a god of both of them, both rest, both rest cyclically. Typically, small pieces of experience are born in those small cycles, an itch here, an image there. But sometimes, the awareness of expansion and contraction is eternal. It's always both, peppered by an absolute tranquility. It's always not the reason. It's always both and always gone everywhere because of all those little cycles. They sum up to an eternal efflux and reflux, a formless fountain of youth, a formless spirit womb whose peristalsis births self and World Moment by moment. It may just be an idea for you at this time. That's fine, but let's explore the possibility of an experience foreign [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] now in a moment. We'll transition from formal practice to a bit of discussion. Decide how you'd like to practice.

intentionally, if at all during the discussion period, you could maintain formal practice. You're good. Have something sort of going in the background. You could pepper it with micro heads or just suspend the involvement and enjoy the conversation, but make it a clear decision. It's all good. Recall that the goal is to maintain formal practice at all times, other than the possibility of during talks and discussions and such. [Music]

GUIDED MEDITATION of EXPANSION & CONTRACTION ~ by SHINZEN YOUNG

Shinzen Videos

The practice emphasizes the balance between expansion and contraction, mirroring the forces of nature.

Surface manifestations of these forces may seem ordinary or uncomfortable, yet they hold the key to deeper understanding.

The exploration of expansion and contraction can be subtle, cyclic, or abiding, and mindfulness plays a crucial role in detecting these movements.

Pressure can be viewed as a force moving in and out or in both directions, with the potential for interference or smooth passage.

Scattering of attention and gripping sensations are part of the dance of space, and can be seen as impersonal and blameless.

Observing these manifestations without judgment allows for a different perspective on expansion and contraction.

We often seek comfort by centering ourselves, but getting knocked off-center can create discomfort and a scramble to regain balance.

The process of centering and decentering is a dynamic interplay of expansion and contraction, with each force playing a crucial role in our growth and learning.

Embracing this dynamic can lead to liberation and the prospect of becoming an authentic individual without a fixed position.

The discussion explores the ordinary aspects of intensity, speed, and size, highlighting the outward and inward pressure forces.

Deep expansion and contraction, which involves effortless spreading and collapsing, is suggested to be hidden behind these ordinary events.

The talk encourages directing attention to the effortless dance of space, which is seen as the primordial great perfection that pervades all sensory and motor events.

Expansion and contraction can be cyclic, with small experiences emerging from these cycles.

There is an eternal awareness of both processes, creating a sense of tranquility.

The cycles of expansion and contraction contribute to a continuous flow of existence, birthing self and world moment by moment.