How do you know it is the mantra you're remembering? (This isn't a deep philosophical query.) Say your mantra is "potato" and you *hear* yourself repeating "potahto" then you'd be relaxed about that as we are encouraged to allow the syllable to mutate without trying to think it clearly. So the mantra can settle down to being a vague pulse and we're cool. What I was curious about was those advanced techniques. When you learn a new mantra - and with additional syllables - doesn't it require effort to keep reminding yourself that you are repeating the new mantra correctly? So wouldn't it be less effective than the simple bija mantra beginners are given which are chosen precisely because they can be easily forgotten?
(On a related note: does repeating the sidhi mantras not require a more conscious effort than regular TM? - they seem to be repeated with eyes open judging by film footage of hoppers - so I'm guessing TM takes you deeper than samyama.)
