The Overall Process

In breath.......Out breath
Being.............Existence
Contraction........Expansion
Evolution...........Involution

I am not thinking in terms of duality or opposites with the above, but rather in terms of a process. With breathing, there is an inward breath (inhalation) and an outward breath (exhalation), Any identified start or end point in the process is arbitrarily set, for one does not actually exist. Neither is the inward breath the opposite of the outward breath, nor is it higher in the hierarchy - both are necessary for the process to continue.

The process of Expansion/Contraction, Involution/Evolution is perpetual - without beginning or end. Existence says, "Start here in the process and end here." In between "start here" and "end here" is an experience of existence, a Realm of Substance. Our current Realm of Substance (in both its physical and non-physical aspects) is called by some, the universe.

The observer is also a necessary part of the process. Where the observer ends and begins is set arbitrarily by the Self. So what is the Self? It is the process. In our example, the Self is the breathing. While in the role of observer, the Self can identify itself as being any part of the breathing process, and the rest of the process becomes the observed.

What is the purpose of the process, if any? There is no way to know while inside the process. The current process may be part of a larger organism or part of an even larger process. The question cannot be answered satisfactorily.

"There are no easy answers with which to satisfy the restless mind."