Do devotions wholeheartedly, with a pure heart. By devotions, we mean chanting, making bows and prostrations, and presenting offerings. People often, particularly when they come to dokusan, prostrate mechanically. Some do it fast to get it over with so they can get on with the dokusan. They don't realize the true significance of these devotions. They aren't just formalities. They truly enrich and deepen our experience of the present moment. Such devotions have always played an important part in Zen training.
— Philip Kapleau, Awakening to Zen by Polly Young-Eisendrath, editor, Rafe Martin, editor