9th Day of Ridvan celebration podcast

I've done a special podcast to celebrate the 9th Day of Ridvan. It's a 12-minute devotional podcast, with readings and sounds. The theme of the programme is the Spirit.

I have obtained the audios of the sounds from the amazing site, the Freesound Project: http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/index.php. It allows you to download sounds for free so long as you attribute them.

The principal sound I have used is of the nightingale but I have also used electronic sounds of birds. Baha'u'llah often used the image of the nightingale singing in the rose garden to refer to his own voice calling in the spiritual realm. This is the image I have tried to capture.

Download the 12-minute MP3 audio of the 9th Day of Ridvan podcast

Or play it here:
{sstreamtalk}http://whoisbahaullah.com/blog/wp-podcasts/spirit.mp3|250|9th Day of Ridvan|#5192CA{/sstreamtalk}

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9th Day of Ridvan podcast programme

All quotes are from Baha'u'llah apart from the two from the Bible.

Nightingale: Nightingale song 3.wav
( http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=17185 )
by "reinsamba"
( http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=18799 )

"O My friend, listen with heart and soul to the songs of the spirit, and treasure them as thine own eyes." Seven Valleys and Four Valleys, p 37

Nightingale song

"The first call of the Beloved is this: O mystic nightingale! Abide not but in the rose-garden of the spirit." Persian Hidden Words, no 1

"Wert thou to attain to but a dewdrop of the crystal waters of divine knowledge, thou wouldst readily realise that true life is not the life of the flesh but the life of the spirit." Kitab-i-Iqan, p 120

"Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the Kingdom of God. That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit." St John 3:5-6

"But the hour cometh, and now is, when the true worshippers shall worship the Father in spirit and in truth: for the Father seeketh such to worship him. God is a Spirit: and they that worship him must worship him in spirit and in truth." St John 4:23-24

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Melodic Voice: 251102B.mp3
( http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=1106 )
by "Freed"
( http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=600 )

"O My friend, listen with heart and soul to the songs of the spirit, and treasure them as thine own eyes." Seven Valleys and Four Valleys, p 37

Nightingale song

"O son of light! Forget all save Me and commune with My spirit. This is of the essence of My command, therefore turn unto it." Arabic Hidden Words, no16

"Nor shall the seeker reach his goal unless he sacrifice all things. That is, whatever he hath seen, and heard, and understood, all must he set at naught, that he may enter the realm of the spirit, which is the City of God." Seven Valleys and Four Valleys, p 7

"O son of being! Thy heart is My home; sanctify it for My descent. Thy spirit is My place of revelation; cleanse it for My manifestation." Arabic Hidden Words, no 59

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Melodic Voice: 251102B.mp3
( http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=1106 )
by "Freed"
( http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=600 )

"O My friend, listen with heart and soul to the songs of the spirit, and treasure them as thine own eyes." Seven Valleys and Four Valleys, p 37

Nightingale song

"O my brother! Take thou the step of the spirit, so that, swift as the twinkling of an eye, thou mayest flash through the wilds of remoteness and bereavement, attain the Ridvan of everlasting reunion, and in one breath commune with the heavenly Spirits. For with human feet thou canst never hope to traverse these immeasurable distances, nor attain thy goal." Kitab-i-Iqan, p 43

"O brother! Kindle with the oil of wisdom the lamp of the spirit within the innermost chamber of thy heart, and guard it with the globe of understanding, that the breath of the infidel may extinguish not its flame nor dim its brightness. Thus have We illuminated the heavens of utterance with the splendours of the Sun of divine wisdom and understanding, that thy heart may find peace, that thou mayest be of those who, on the wings of certitude, have soared unto the heaven of the love of their Lord, the All-Merciful." Kitab-i-Iqan, p 61

"The valley of contentment: In this Valley he feeleth the winds of divine contentment blowing from the plane of the spirit. He burneth away the veils of want, and with inward and outward eye, perceiveth within and without all things the day of: 'God will compensate each one out of His abundance.' From sorrow he turneth to bliss, from anguish to joy. His grief and mourning yield to delight and rapture.
Although to outward view, the wayfarers in this Valley may dwell upon the dust, yet inwardly they are throned in the heights of mystic meaning; they eat of the endless bounties of inner significances, and drink of the delicate wines of the spirit." Seven Valleys and Four Valleys, pp 29-30

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Mystic Voice: 241102H.mp3
( http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/samplesViewSingle.php?id=1105 )
by "Freed"
( http://freesound.iua.upf.edu/usersViewSingle.php?id=600 )

"O My friend, listen with heart and soul to the songs of the spirit, and treasure them as thine own eyes." Seven Valleys and Four Valleys, p 37

Nightingale song

"O son of glory! Be swift in the path of holiness, and enter the heaven of communion with Me. Cleanse thy heart with the burnish of the spirit, and hasten to the court of the Most High." Persian Hidden Words, no 8

"O son of man! Write all that We have revealed unto thee with the ink of light upon the tablet of thy spirit." Arabic Hidden Words, no 71


Alison's original blog entry...