ABSTRACT
Swami Nirmalananda talks about the importance and meaning of the mantram or sound vibration that can be used in meditation. He makes clear that the mantram is an expression of one’s inmost being, one’s essential nature, and so its repetition in meditation is a path back to that essential nature. He also points out that the tradition of the mantram can be found in all the different religions. At this point Swami Nirmalananda changes his focus, from the universality of the practice of meditation to the universality of that inner being or consciousness, that inner light. Drawing upon his own background and experiences, he makes a long and impassioned plea for the recognition of that universality and for the tolerance among faiths that would be a natural accompaniment of such a recognition. It is a plea for an ecumenism based not on formal or dogmatic adjustments, but upon actual inner spiritual realization.
