Help with Mantras

[Sharpshoey]

So I need some help with my mantras. I am currently working on the MILD technique and I need a mantra. So is it possible I can use one mantra to say when I do RC's in the day, before I go to sleep while doing my MILD, and just throughout the day at random times? Or would I need a separate mantra for each one? Also, what mantra would you recommend I use? And when saying the mantra during RC's, would I say it multiple times throughout the RC, or would I say it once when I finish the RC? Finally, do I have to say the mantra out loud, or could I just say it in my head?

[ThreeCat]

There is no hard and fast rule for this. I would use some mantras and see what happens! I would say the most important mantra is the one you use during MILD. Any other mantra is just extra, in my opinion. Once again, concerning how often to say the mantra, use what works for you. After you successfully induce a few times, you will get a feel for what it is that leads you to become lucid. Then do that until it needs to be tweaked. You do not need to say a mantra out loud. I actually think it would be best to say it mentally, while visualizing yourself becoming lucid. Some people on these forums do not believe visualizations help, but I think that they can assist in focusing your intention. Let us know how it goes.

[Sharpshoey]

Thank you for the help. And I really don't know what I'm supposed to say for a mantra, I know that it can be different things but is there a thread that has different mantras listed so I can get some ideas? And also, could I make my own mantra and still have it be just as effective?

[blazingnyancat]

Yes, you could as far as I know I don't have much expierence but you should be able to and you have to belive it works.

[Zangetsu]

The mantra should be something that makes sense to you. The wording isn't really important as long as the meaning is there. You want to have a good idea of what you want the mantra to help you accomplish. I've heard many people say to avoid using the future tense and using negative words like "not", but I've yet to see a hard fact to back it up. My first mantra was something like "I will wake up without moving" (DEILD mantra but it's the best example I have). Up until that point I thought mantras were kinda wacky but it worked like a charm. You'll want to say it enough probably so that you have a general belief in the idea. Subconscious is all about the semantics . Also I usually say the mantra in my head but sometimes I mouth the words for a little more emphasis. Visualizing the mantra also seems to help me get the point across.

[Memm]

I hope people don't jump at me for saying this but I think mantras for LDing are nonsense. The original MILD technique doesn't say anything about mantra, it works completely on prospective memory and mnemonics / visualisation. What you're doing is simply setting an intention, you don't need a mantra for this and I actually think a mantra is bad for setting a proper intention. Take this for example: If you need to wake up at 8am, you simply know that you need to wake up at 8am, even if you don't set an alarm, you will most likely wake up around 8am depending on the urgency. Think about all the times that you really had to get up early and you ended up waking up well before the alarm, or just do an experiment, decide that you're going to wake up at some time in the morning of your choosing but don't set an alarm for it, just know you need to wake up. Most of the time you will, it might not be 100% accurate but you'll likely wake up either right on time, before or at most an hour after (unless you're especially tired and you don't feel like it's important). The trick is not to use a mantra and not to simply wish for it. You need two things: 1) Don't "hope"/ "wish" etc... know that you want / need to do this. 2) In the book The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep (Google it) they describe what they call "sending a wish" The intention is like an arrow that awareness can follow during the night, an arrow directed at lucidity in dream. The Tibetan phrase we use for generating intention translates as "sending a wish." We should have that sense here, that we are making prayers and intentions and sending them to our teachers and to the buddhas and deities, promising to try to remain in awareness and asking for their help. They talk about sending the wish to deities and teachers but that's not necessary, a better way (in my humble opinion, sorry yogis) is sending the wish to yourself. Now, I just said previously that you don't want to "wish" so let me explain: "sending the wish" is a trick of the mind, what you're really doing is setting yourself a reminder that will come back to you at a later time. Have you ever set an event in a calendar for yourself? It's like that. What you want is a boomerang effect, you set your intention now but the goal is for it to come back to you. When you're setting an intention the most important thing (again, in my humble opinion) is to feel it. You can start off by saying a "mantra" but do it only once, something like "I'm going to wake up at 8am" and then capture the feeling of what you just said, afterwards just concentrate on feeling that you need to wake up at 8am. Or that you want to be very alert for a dream for the next hour or some time in the morning or whenever. Point is don't mantra it, feel it, know it, set it, plan it, decide on it. Also don't spend an hour in bed setting your intention, trust yourself, do you think your intention will be stronger if you say it once with total conviction, or 100 times while wondering if it'll work / hoping for it? You also want to combine this with a technique like MILD, SSILD, even WILD, or whatever you want for extra kick.

[Zangetsu]

...Point is don't mantra it, feel it, know it, set it, plan it, decide on it. Also don't spend an hour in bed setting your intention, trust yourself, do you think your intention will be stronger if you say it once with total conviction, or 100 times while wondering if it'll work / hoping for it? I like that thought. Definitely makes a lot of sense, especially since I've been known to get stuck on repeating the words without any meaning behind them at all. Also makes sense that the subconscious would rather have the feeling of something than a worded representation of that feeling. I actually tried this last night in my WBTB. It was easier and seemed to have more effect than repeating a mantra. Also, once you have the feeling that something will happen, it's easier to remember that feeling and conjure it up later.

[Sharpshoey]

these are good ideas...I especially like Memm's idea. It does seem easier. Thank you for all the help.

[FOATL]

I hope people don't jump at me for saying this but I think mantras for LDing are nonsense. The original MILD technique doesn't say anything about mantra, it works completely on prospective memory and mnemonics / visualisation. What you're doing is simply setting an intention, you don't need a mantra for this and I actually think a mantra is bad for setting a proper intention. Take this for example: If you need to wake up at 8am, you simply know that you need to wake up at 8am, even if you don't set an alarm, you will most likely wake up around 8am depending on the urgency. Think about all the times that you really had to get up early and you ended up waking up well before the alarm, or just do an experiment, decide that you're going to wake up at some time in the morning of your choosing but don't set an alarm for it, just know you need to wake up. Most of the time you will, it might not be 100% accurate but you'll likely wake up either right on time, before or at most an hour after (unless you're especially tired and you don't feel like it's important). The trick is not to use a mantra and not to simply wish for it. You need two things: 1) Don't "hope"/ "wish" etc... know that you want / need to do this. 2) In the book The Tibetan Yogas of Dream and Sleep (Google it) they describe what they call "sending a wish" They talk about sending the wish to deities and teachers but that's not necessary, a better way (in my humble opinion, sorry yogis) is sending the wish to yourself. Now, I just said previously that you don't want to "wish" so let me explain: "sending the wish" is a trick of the mind, what you're really doing is setting yourself a reminder that will come back to you at a later time. Have you ever set an event in a calendar for yourself? It's like that. What you want is a boomerang effect, you set your intention now but the goal is for it to come back to you. When you're setting an intention the most important thing (again, in my humble opinion) is to feel it. You can start off by saying a "mantra" but do it only once, something like "I'm going to wake up at 8am" and then capture the feeling of what you just said, afterwards just concentrate on feeling that you need to wake up at 8am. Or that you want to be very alert for a dream for the next hour or some time in the morning or whenever. Point is don't mantra it, feel it, know it, set it, plan it, decide on it. Also don't spend an hour in bed setting your intention, trust yourself, do you think your intention will be stronger if you say it once with total conviction, or 100 times while wondering if it'll work / hoping for it? You also want to combine this with a technique like MILD, SSILD, even WILD, or whatever you want for extra kick. wow

[Runeword]

Here's a pretty simple one that has worked for me. "I'm aware that I'm dreaming...I'm aware that I'm dreaming...I'm aware that I'm dreaming..." It's self hypnosis. Make up your own that makes sense to you. Try to keep it in the present tense; for example "NOW I have many lucid dreams", NOW being the keyword.