What is the best way to practice during the mantra recitation?

Question: If one has recited many prayers, praises, offerings, and supplications to the guru in order to arouse and cultivate devotion, what is the best way to practice during the mantra recitation?

Should one, for example, put aside thinking about the qualities of the guru and focus more on maintaining the clarity of the visualization and listening to the sound of the mantra, while resting the mind in awareness, allowing devotion to arise spontaneously? Or, should one actively try to arouse devotion?

Garchen Rinpoche: The deity’s mind and the guru’s mind are inseparable. When you practice the deity and recite the mantra, you should not think about different qualities. The essence of the deity, bodhichitta, is the guru.

The mind is the lama; the body is the yidam; and the speech—the mantra recitation—is the dakini.