Within Tiantai, ritual and devotion are gathered around the Lotus Sutra as the touchstone of practice. Central is the recitation and chanting of the Lotus Sutra itself, often focusing on key chapters, together with copying the text as an act of reverence and merit-making. This scriptural devotion is complemented by lectures and study that treat the sutra as a living ritual of teaching, not merely as a text to be read. In this way, scriptural engagement becomes both contemplative and ceremonial, expressing trust in the sutra’s capacity to reveal inherent Buddha-nature.

Meditation is framed in Tiantai as a disciplined integration of calming and insight, especially through the zhiguan (“stopping and seeing”) method. Here, sitting and walking meditation are not isolated techniques but are embedded in a broader liturgical context that may include chanting, repentance, and dedication of merit. The contemplation of the three thousand realms in a single thought-moment and the “perfect and sudden” approach to the threefold truth are treated as concrete meditative orientations rather than abstract doctrines. Extended samādhi practices, whether in constant sitting, constant walking, or mixed forms, function as semi-ritual retreats that embody Tiantai’s vision of comprehensive cultivation.

Repentance rites occupy a prominent place, serving as structured ceremonies of confession, purification, and inner transformation. These may be performed individually or in assemblies, often drawing on meditative repentance methods that unite ethical reflection with contemplative insight. Through such chanfa, negative karma is addressed not only through verbal confession but also through a reorientation of mind, aligning conduct with the bodhisattva ideal. Precept ceremonies and ongoing moral cultivation are thus woven into the same ritual fabric as meditation and scripture recitation.

Devotional practices directed toward Buddhas and bodhisattvas further deepen this integrated path. Invocation of Buddha names, especially Amitābha, and visualization of Buddhas and Pure Lands are welcomed within a Tiantai doctrinal framework, harmonizing Pure Land elements with Lotus-centered faith. Guanyin devotion, inspired in particular by the Lotus Sutra’s Universal Gate chapter, involves chanting the bodhisattva’s name and relying on dhāraṇī for protection and healing. Offerings of incense, flowers, lamps, food, and the dedication of merit, together with Dharma assemblies, memorial services, and other ceremonial observances, all become expressions of the One Vehicle teaching: diverse practices converging on a single, all-encompassing path to Buddhahood.