The Buddha discouraged attachment to rites and rituals. Nevertheless, all of the Buddhist traditions engage chanting of liturgical texts. To chant the texts is to concentrate the mind and to send a powerful vibration into the atmosphere surrounding you. Chanting in a group can be a very powerful experience. In Tibetan Vajrayana practices, chanting rituals can last for hours. Traditional Buddhists will chant mantras and sutras for the accumulation of merit.

The Triple Refuge Chant is popular in many traditions. You recite the phrase, “I take refuge in the Buddha, I take refuge in the dharma, I take refuge in the sangha” three times.

Chanting sacred texts can help to secure a favorable rebirth, and families with this belief will enjoin a Buddhist monk to recite sutras at the time of death. These texts will be heard by the deceased in the bardo state. The monk will chant from the classic text the Bardo Thodol (The Liberation Through Hearing in the Intermediate State and popularly known as the Tibetan Book of the Dead). The bardo is an intermediate state, a way station of sorts that will determine the place of the dead person's rebirth. What happens during this forty-nine day period is believed to be crucial for the rebirth. So, too, the moment of death is crucial for what comes next, so the Tibetans undergo a great deal of preparation for this moment. The Bardho Thodol and practices such as Powa are detailed field manuals preparing for this moment.