Mahavatar Babaji: The Nightingale’s Song

Mahavatar Babaji quote of the day:
When time is no more as you know it, your heart will leap with joy at the sight of a rose in bloom, a baby taking its first breath, and a nightingale’s song. Now is the time to practice Atma Kriya, your sadhana, to bring you to this place of peace and rectitude. – Babaji -- (rectitude – righteousness, morality, goodness, correctness, decency, integrity, uprightness). http://atmakriya.org/mahavatar-babaji

Birds As A Spiritual Symbol of The Divine

Since ancient times, because of Birds' connection to the sky, they have been thought of as a supernatural link between the heavens and the earth. Middle Eastern and Asian cultures often speak of birds as symbols of immortality.

In East Indian traditions, every bird in the world represents a departed soul, and in Christian art, birds often appear as saved souls. The Nightingale is synonymous with love and longing for the Divine. The Crane is a symbol of long life and immortality. The Eagle typifies power, resurrention and generosity. The Falcon signifies, "A Light that Shines in the Darkness". The Owl represents death and darkness; yet it can also bring wisdom, insight and virtue. The Peacock hearlds spring, birth, new growth, longevity, and love. And the tiny Sparrow represents the love of God for even the "least" in creation.

Nightingales are named so because they frequently sing at night as well as during the day. The name has been used for well over 1,000 years, being highly recognizable even in its Anglo-Saxon form - 'nihtingale'. It means 'night songstress'. Early writers assumed the female sang, when in fact, it is the male. The song is loud, with an impressive range of whistles, trills and gurgles. Its song is particularly noticeable at night because few other birds are singing. This is why its name includes "night" in several languages. The nightingale is a migratory insectivorous species breeding in forest and scrub in Europe and south-west Asia. Nightingales nest on the ground within or next to dense bushes. It winters in southern Africa. In the Rhineland (Germany), the breeding habitat of nightingales agrees with a number of geographical parameters present in Germany.

Babaji recommends that we find the peace and recitude within--that which makes our heart leap in joy when hearing the nightingale's song. Spiritually, the nightingale is synonymous with "Love and longing for the Divine".