To a question by a Missionary friend whether he followed any spiritual practices, Gandhiji said:
"I am a stranger to yogic practices. The practice I follow is a practice I learnt in my childhood from my nurse. I was afraid of ghosts. She used to say to me: 'There are no ghosts, but if you are afraid, repeat Ramanama.' What I learnt in my childhood has become a huge thing in my mental firmament. It is a sun that has brightened my darkest hour. A Christian may find the same solace from the repetition of the name of Jesus, and a Muslim from the name of Allah.¹ All these things have the same implications and they produce identical results under identical circums­tances. Only the repetition must not be a lip expression, but part of your very being."