Playing the Scales of Expansion and Contraction

The nature of all things in this plane is that they are transitory. This is true of such expansions, as well. So, the expansion was almost surely followed by a contraction.

 

The next time this expansion-contraction occurs, pay particularly close attention to the felt sense of contraction, to the sensations, emotions, thoughts associated with that contraction. The experience of this transition from expansion to contraction holds the key to the transition from contraction to expansion. In essence, you can discover how to move to the Great Embrace by becoming a student of the Great Shrinkage. The texture of both transitions is the same; only the direction is different.

 

Once you gain an awareness of the texture of these transitions, you can begin to practice them. Don't pretend you can gain absolute control -- the Kosmos and you are far too complex. You can, however, practice the transitions, as a musician practices scales. Picture a musician's fingers moving up and down the instrument, gaining familiarity, comfort, dexterity with each day's practice. With this sort of practice, the musician gains a deepening understanding of the instrument and a greater capacity to make beautiful music with it; seldom moving to perfection, but generally moving more deeply into Beauty.

 

The difference here is that you are the instrument, running scales on yourself, up into expansion, down into contraction. The new music that starts to emerge from you, I suspect, will astonish and delight you.