Korean Seon is not limited to silent meditation; it is woven together with a range of rituals and ceremonies that shape the rhythm of practice and give it concrete form. Daily life in a Seon monastery or temple typically includes morning and evening ceremonies (yebul), in which practitioners gather for chanting, bowing, and prostrations. These services often involve recitation of core Buddhist texts such as the Heart Sutra, along with homage to the Buddha, Dharma, and Sangha, accompanied by instruments like the wooden fish and bell. Repetitive prostrations, including sets of 108, function as both devotional acts and methods of purification, expressing humility and reverence through the body. In this way, chanting and bowing are not seen as separate from Seon, but as complementary disciplines that steady the mind and cultivate a devotional atmosphere conducive to insight.

Communal rituals around food and daily routine also play a central role. The formal bowl meal, or baru gongyang, is a carefully structured ceremony in which practitioners eat in silence, following precise etiquette in the use of nested bowls, the order of serving, and the cleaning and repacking of utensils. This meal is treated as a mindfulness practice, emphasizing gratitude, non-attachment, and attentiveness to each movement. Morning and evening bell and drum ceremonies, using large bells, drums, and other instruments, mark the transitions of the day and symbolically “awaken” beings to the Dharma. Such practices create a shared rhythm that supports both individual meditation and communal harmony.

There are also more explicitly ceremonial observances that mark key moments in the spiritual and communal life of Seon. Ordination and precept-taking ceremonies for monastics and lay practitioners involve formal vows, chanting, and ritual confession before images of the Buddha and the gathered assembly. Memorial services for deceased relatives, benefactors, or teachers include offerings of incense, food, and water, along with sutra chanting to transfer merit. Seasonal intensive retreats (kyolche) are framed by opening and closing ceremonies, with the Seon master offering formal addresses and practitioners collectively vowing to practice diligently. Dharma talks (seolbeop) and structured tea ceremonies further embody the teaching in ritualized form, turning listening and even the sharing of tea into occasions for mindfulness and insight.

Within the meditation hall itself, Seon maintains a refined ritual etiquette that shapes how meditation is approached. Sitting meditation and walking meditation are conducted according to established forms, with specific postures, breathing methods, and sequences of bowing before and after practice. Entry and exit from the hall follow formal procedures, underscoring respect for the practice space and for fellow practitioners. In some contexts, private interviews with the Seon master, especially in connection with gong’an (koan) practice, are conducted according to fixed protocols of bowing, question and response, and departure. Taken together, these rituals and ceremonies do not stand apart from Seon meditation; they are its living framework, training body, speech, and mind to move in harmony with the path of awakening.