  A period of slow contraction with equation of state w > 1, known as an
ekpyrotic phase, has been shown to flatten and smooth the universe if it begins
the phase with small perturbations. In this paper, we explore how robust and
powerful the ekpyrotic smoothing mechanism is by beginning with highly
inhomogeneous and anisotropic initial conditions and numerically solving for
the subsequent evolution of the universe. Our studies, based on a universe with
gravity plus a scalar field with a negative exponential potential, show that
some regions become homogeneous and isotropic while others exhibit
inhomogeneous and anisotropic behavior in which the scalar field behaves like a
fluid with w=1. We find that the ekpyrotic smoothing mechanism is robust in the
sense that the ratio of the proper volume of the smooth to non-smooth region
grows exponentially fast along time slices of constant mean curvature.
