turquoiseb: > "If the meditation practices you suggest use mantras, > where would they come from?" > The source of the "bija" mantras used in TM and in the Tibetan Dzogchen have the same source: the Tantric Tradition which was established in India during the Gupta Age.
The bija mantras used in Tibet and in India come from the tradition of the Nath Siddhas - from Nagarjuna, Tilopa, and Naropa. This tradition probably got it's start in the Swat Valley, and hence Kashmere, then to Tibet and to South Asia. Some of the same bija mantras used in Tibetan Buddhism are used in Hinduism. For example, the bija mantra for Tara is the same bija for Saraswati - in fact, Tara is Saraswati. But, it all depends on your definition if "mantra". In fact, anything can be a mantra - it does not have to be a sound. There are many objects that can be meditated on, such as the breath, the Sri Yantra, (which has a clear connection to Tibetan iconography in the form of Mandalas).
