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efforts and do the work. Rituals have no place in early
Buddhism when it comes to achieving spiritual goals.
However, as mentioned before, rituals have a social
value. Rituals bring order to our social and individual
lives. Rituals also facilitate a smooth transition through
life-changing events such as marriage and a death of a
family member. Early Buddhism does not deny these
useful aspects of rituals.

Most people including Buddhists engage in rituals Delivering teachings at Nalanda Buddhist Society,
Malaysia, 2019
with superstitious beliefs or mindlessly without
understanding or reflecting on the meaning behind them.
But it is also possible to perform rituals with meaning or
create meaningful rituals to help people to bring order to
one’s life and move through challenging life-events.

Would you regard chanting, especially that of
parittas or protective verses, as a form of rituals?

Chanting is an important part of the Buddhist practice.
We can chant Buddhist discourses as a way to recollect Participants of a meditation retreat at Buddhist Maha Vihara,
Kuala Lumpur, 2023
the teachings of the Buddha. Chanting can also be a
form of recollection -meditations. We can also perform
chanting as a way of blessing. Such performances of
chanting can be viewed as rituals in the broader sense
since they are done following a previously prescribed
pattern and order. When we chant the Buddha’s
discourses for the purpose of blessing, we call them
parittas. In such occasions of chanting, an act of truth
or asseveration (saccakiriyā) is done at the conclusion
of the chant. Monks or any other reciters of paritta
Giving a talk on Buddhism at Mangala Vihara, Singapore, 2023
make a strong wish or determination saying, “If these
chanted words are truthful or reveal the truth of the
world, by the power of that accuracy, may there be
to focus, there is no harm in using one. We need to
wellbeing to you.” Such a wish is done with a strong
understand such things as simply tools and not as
sense of loving kindness. Hence, paritta chanting
miraculous items.
utilizes the powers of truth and loving kindness beside
the influence of sound vibrations. Is there a standard form of ritual during a funeral
that modern Buddhists can follow?
Many Buddhists use a string of beads to help them
focus during worship. Is this practice found in the
Buddhist funeral rituals are different from country to
early teachings of the Buddha?
country. They are mixed with local cultural practices
and sometimes with superstitious beliefs. Yet, we can
We do not find any evidence in early Buddhist sources
find truly Buddhist practices within these different
for using such a string of beads for meditation or
kinds of rituals. We should identify these practices and
chanting. If such a string of beads helps someone
follow them with an understanding of the meaning