{"id":20,"date":"2010-07-28T16:47:14","date_gmt":"2010-07-28T16:47:14","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html"},"modified":"2010-07-28T16:47:14","modified_gmt":"2010-07-28T16:47:14","slug":"beyond-the-stars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html","title":{"rendered":"Beyond the Stars"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"nightsky.jpg\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

When did
\nyou last go out into the night to gaze at the stars? When did you last take the
\ntime, perhaps lying on an old blanket, supported by the nurturing earth, to do
\nnothing but look into the darkness–your eyes straining to see further into the
\ninky black ocean of sky? Nowhere else to be, you breathe easily and softly as
\nthe wind gently washes over your face. What did you observe? Where did that
\njourney take you?<\/span><\/p>\n

Like many children, I used to love to go
\noutside at night and lie under the stars. As kids, some of us were fortunate
\nenough to be able to have that adventure on a regular basis, and others
\nremember those moments only as rare gems found on the occasional night walk to
\na park or during a weekend camping trip. But the experience is unforgettable.<\/span><\/p>\n

If I close my eyes, I can still see the
\njeweled darkness, patterns and stories scattered across the heavens. I’ve often
\nwondered who else was looking with me. How many generations before me had also
\nadmired this vast display? Did Jesus Christ walk beneath the same night sky?
\nDid Buddha or Mohammed? What about Alexander the Great, Queen Elizabeth, Anne
\nFrank, Lao-tzu, or Steve Biko? Did Galileo help find these stars?<\/span><\/p>\n

Were the pyramids and the Great Wall of
\nChina built beneath this same moon? Was there a young Aboriginal man somewhere
\ndeep in the wild country of Australia sleeping alone beneath this same night
\nsky on his first walkabout, his journey into manhood? Did he wait for that moon
\nto chase away his fears, or did he savor the darkness as the stars surfaced by
\nthe millions? How many stories, births, and deaths took place beneath this
\nmajestic array of lights? And there I was, wondering . . . one more story, one
\nmore set of eyes. Beneath the mystery, I was one more soul pondering what lay
\nbeyond.<\/span><\/p>\n

No matter how far I looked or how hard I
\nthought about it, time and space raced on. What
\nwas beyond the stars?<\/i> There had to
\nhave been a starting point, and what was before that?<\/i> The soaring awareness
\nwas endless, and soon my mind would rest. Below the eternal sky, my thoughts
\nwould grow silent and my heart would open, like the most precious night-blooming
\nflower. Only during thoughs very rarest moments, something would shift, and
\neffortlessly, I’d feel an opening within.<\/span><\/p>\n

<\/span>It’s hard to put that experience into
\nwords, but if you’ve felt it (and most of us have at one point or another),
\nthen you understand. I glimpsed the solitary nature of my life’s path and the
\nfragility of my existence. I knew that no matter what my life would show, in
\ntime it would pass and be forgotten. All my suffering and all my triumphs would
\neventually vanish into the vastness of time. I am a mere blink in the life of a
\nstar.<\/span><\/p>\n

In the same moment, however, there was a
\ndeep, deep peace and a profound sense of connection. No matter how
\ninsignificant I might feel as an individual, I am forever a part of something
\nextraordinary. I share the same air, water, and sky as the highest and lowest
\nof humanity. My breath is distantly intermingled with the exhalation of the
\njungles and great rain forests. My bones and blood are infused with the same
\ncarbon and chemicals found in all the plants, stones, and animals of the earth.
\nSomehow, beneath the night sky, I knew that everything was and is connected. I
\ncould feel the love that all things emerged from and knew that we are all
\nultimately united. Oneness was the feeling. Oneness was the thought.<\/span><\/p>\n

Those precious moments shaped me in subtle
\nyet profound ways. The ability to step back and breathe in the grand design of
\nlife has always helped me weather the storms and seasons of change. I’m
\nreminded not to take things too seriously, to practice humility and the art of
\nletting go. It’s a lifelong process, but the perspective assists my growth
\nimmeasurably.<\/span><\/p>\n

Excerpt from<\/font><\/i> <\/font>Inspiration Deficit Disorder<\/a><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n


<\/span><\/p>\n

Photo credit of Heavealie<\/a><\/i><\/font><\/font><\/font><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When did you last go out into the night to gaze at the stars? When did you last take the time, perhaps lying on an old blanket, supported by the nurturing earth, to do nothing but look into the darkness–your eyes straining to see further into the inky black ocean of sky? Nowhere else to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11,66],"tags":[27,18,49,10,48],"class_list":["post-20","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-finding-meaning","category-personal-growth","tag-inspiration-deficit-disorder","tag-jonathan-ellerby","tag-oneness","tag-personal-growth","tag-reflection"],"yoast_head":"\nBeyond the Stars - Practical Spirituality<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Beyond the Stars - Practical Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"When did you last go out into the night to gaze at the stars? When did you last take the time, perhaps lying on an old blanket, supported by the nurturing earth, to do nothing but look into the darkness–your eyes straining to see further into the inky black ocean of sky? Nowhere else to…\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Practical Spirituality\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2010-07-28T16:47:14+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/07\/nightsky-thumb-200x150-16787.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Jonathan Ellerby\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Beyond the Stars - Practical Spirituality","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Beyond the Stars - Practical Spirituality","og_description":"When did you last go out into the night to gaze at the stars? When did you last take the time, perhaps lying on an old blanket, supported by the nurturing earth, to do nothing but look into the darkness–your eyes straining to see further into the inky black ocean of sky? Nowhere else to…","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html","og_site_name":"Practical Spirituality","article_published_time":"2010-07-28T16:47:14+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/07\/nightsky-thumb-200x150-16787.jpg"}],"author":"Jonathan Ellerby","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html","name":"Beyond the Stars - Practical Spirituality","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/07\/nightsky-thumb-200x150-16787.jpg","datePublished":"2010-07-28T16:47:14+00:00","dateModified":"2010-07-28T16:47:14+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/1e6e315f058fe48ff9fbb7e18623a0ee"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html#primaryimage","url":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/07\/nightsky-thumb-200x150-16787.jpg","contentUrl":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/practicalspirituality\/files\/import\/assets_c\/2010\/07\/nightsky-thumb-200x150-16787.jpg"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/2010\/07\/beyond-the-stars.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Beyond the Stars"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/","name":"Practical Spirituality","description":"Spirituality","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/1e6e315f058fe48ff9fbb7e18623a0ee","name":"Jonathan Ellerby","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/895\/8954139ebab28e38697498462f724370x96.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-content\/wphb-cache\/gravatar\/895\/8954139ebab28e38697498462f724370x96.jpg","caption":"Jonathan Ellerby"},"description":"Featured as an expert in films, print, television, and radio, Jonathan Ellerby, Ph.D., is the author of \"Return to the Sacred\" and the Spiritual Program Director for the internationally acclaimed Canyon Ranch Health Resort in Tucson, Arizona. Jonathan\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s background includes a PhD in Comparative Religion with a focus on health and healing systems, as well as training and work as a hospital chaplain, Interfaith Minister, executive consultant and coach.","sameAs":["http:\/\/jonathanellerby.com"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/author\/jellerby"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=20"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/20\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=20"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=20"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/practicalspirituality\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=20"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}