For Zen students, the day begins with 108 prostrations (bows). In the Korean tradition, there are 108 Buddhas and Bodhisattvas. Another explanation is that human beings have 108 kinds of delusions and we bow in order to cut them off. More generally, it is taught that we are not bowing to Buddha, but to ourselves. Our small 'I' (ego) bows to our big 'I' (unity of self and all) until it disappears

Our minds have a way of wandering around and being distracted by random or impulsive thoughts and feelings. Repeated prostrations have the effect of focusing our minds on a physical activity and helping us attain our true selves. Prostrating each morning quickly awakens the mind and brings it into focus with the physical act of moving.

Chanting meditation means keeping a not-moving mind and perceiving the sound of your own voice. Perceiving your voice means perceiving your true self or true nature. Then you and the sound are never separate, which means that you and the whole universe are never separate. Thus, to perceive your true nature is to perceive universal substance. With regular chanting, our sense of being centered gets stronger and stronger. When we are strongly centered, we can control our feelings, and thus our condition and situation.

In line with the traditional forms of Buddhist meditation that arose in India, China, Korea, and Japan, the Kwan Um School emphasizes sitting meditation, or "sitting Zen." However, we cannot sit Zen twenty-four hours a day, so during our meditation time we learn how to keep a not-moving mind that we can take with us throughout our everyday lives. In order to keep a not-moving mind, we need to learn to put down our opinions, conditions, and situations, and be in the moment. This will help us attain the way of great love, great compassion, and the Great Bodhisattva Way.