What do supportive chanting and family words mean when a loved one approaches death?

Near death, family can speak kindly and chant beside a loved one, inviting them to follow their faith's deities or Buddhas toward a better place. From a faith perspective, this helps them settle and find direction. Family arguments and disputes over inheritance at that moment can instead add confusion.

In our conversation, someone recalled a grandmother's final moments. She showed no clear consciousness while family whispered to follow the Bodhisattva, and later breathed her last. The experience convinced the speaker that she could still hear and strengthened the importance of kind words nearby.

We also discussed the possibility that hearing is the last sense to fade. Even without a response, family can remain attentive, speak reassuringly, and offer blessings. This understanding of supportive chanting comes from faith and that family memory.