Wasn't sure where exactly this subject would fall, so I'm posting it here.

I was wondering what experience people here have had with incorporating mantra into their practice? I'm interested in using it a bit more myself. I've had mixed results in previous attempts. At times it's been a massive aid to concentration, while at others I've found it mentally exhausting. And I often fall into the trap of fretting over which mantra to use and stick to.

So what's the DhO's experience? Does it work better mainly as a samatha practice, or can it be incorporated into vipassana (some of the reading I've done on this subject lead me to suspect it can)? If you use a mantra, what's your technique? Do you line it up with the breath, or disregard the breath entirely in favor of focusing on the mantra alone? If the former, do you "say" the mantra only on the exhale, or once on the exhale and once on the inhale, or throughout the entire breath? Do you repeat your mantra all day or only during formal meditation? Have you noticed any particular differences in the use of different mantras? Anything else relevant I haven't mentioned?

Personally, I've found "Shiva" to be a particularly good mantra, quickly blasting my mind of so much clutter and making it feel clear and expansive. "Buddho" is calming and concentrative, but tends to make me feel dour and dogmatic. There's a personal mantra I also use, which I feel somewhat more bound to, but find it awkward as a mantra and thus difficult to maintain.

• Can't speak to that
• yes, yes
• count to one over and over
• yes, sometimes
• yes, rarely, rarely
• mostly sitting
• No
• What is your goal? In what way can you use this information to attain it?

First hand experience is the best teacher....why don't you explore your own questions a bit and get back to us on what you find out?

Thanks for the response, Dream Walker.

Currently I'm just experimenting with different meditation styles, with the aim of mastering access concentration in order to do insight. I've fallen off the cart in terms of regular meditation practice lately, and I'm trying to get back on, but the usual routines have not been particularly motivating, so I am hoping something different than usual will breathe a little life back into my practice. Mantra seems like a good bet at the moment, mainly because of the way it seems to utilize focused thought, etc.

These are all questions I have explored and been exploring myself recently, but I wanted to hear what other people had to say about it as well. I find it occasionally helpful, particularly when I'm getting discouraged, to hear the experiences of others using the same or similar practice.

Find a technique and stick to it. Nobody that I've ever known has unstoppable progress. There's a lot to be said about this or that technique.
Vipassana is a result. One needs to be wise on how to be calm and out of calm on can see clearer. 
A mantra word helped me personally to herd all the minds committee members to the task, or at least most of them. Then I investigate or become concentrated in a frame of reference: body, feeling, mind, dhammas, then using that light to see incostancy, stress, and not self. 
The All (6 senses)is aflame. Aflame with what? Passion, aversion, and delusion. Fire clings to fuel , fuel doesn't cling to fire. So, what are the minds feeding habits? Is there better fuel? Can we release passion, aversion, delusion and still breath? What are "you" trying to "get" out of release/unbinding? How would you feel to stay up all night and all day mindful and alert putting aside greed and distress in reference to the world? And how would you rejoice in victory?