From the Emerald Cities: Arts of Siam and Burma, 1775-1950 Catalog "May the power of the protective chants always safeguard The king and his kingdom, army, and family. May the assembled monks spread loving kindness And recite the protective chants with undistracted minds. May the gods from the universes in all directions come here And Listen to the Good Dharma of the King of Sages Which grants heaven and liberation." The Lao are Theravada Buddhists and I've been reading a great little guide on Theravada Buddhism published by Simple Guides and when I was reading the first part I learned about a possible meaning to why the monks chant and what they are chanting. People have asked me about what the monks are chanting andI think the following paragraph taken from the book adds insight to the monks chanting you see in our videos. "After the Buddha died there was a meeting of his disciples which was called the First Council. And at this First Council one of the Buddha's chief disciples, Ananda, repeated all he could remember of the teaches. Ananda's recollections were then learned by rote by many of those present, and these people subsequently passed on their recollections word-for-word to others. This method then became the accepted way of preserving the Buddha's teachings, and what evolved were the repetitive chants that can still be heard today in Buddhist monasteries and temples." Also, what some people have told me is that the monks are chanting sutras to honor the Buddha <b>...</b>