Whether it's the throb of a shaman's drum, the smooth melisma of Gregorian chant, the monotone syllables of Buddhism's Prajnaparamita-sutra, the call of the muezzin from the minaret of the mosque, or the beat of the santeria drum, nothing so perfectly characterizes a religion as the unique rhythms of its liturgies. In our rituals, we believe we have found the beat of the universe, the pulse of God.
— Gary Eberle, Sacred Time and the Search for Meaning