I haven't really bothered with Mantras in my practice at all and that's due to the fact I still live at home with my brother and dad, I'm sorta the black sheep of the family and I don't like to draw attention to myself when I'm meditating. How do they aid mindfulness though, does it matter what the mantra is?
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Well, mantras can aid focusing and worship, but most are for "worship". From what I understand. From a secular standpoint they aid focus, topic focus, for contemplation more than mindfulness, which is living in the moment. Any mantras I have used take away from mindfulness at least some.
Mantras can be silent. Here is some FAQS I created that may be of use:
http://yinyana.tumblr.com/post/57234975984/buddhist-mantra-faqs