Ṛta, ritual and Buddhism

Not "clinging to rites and rituals" is one of the three requirements to become a Sotapanna. But in creating a Sangha with strict rules (especially given the extensive permutations within the Tripitaka), the recitation of the Patimokkha etc, do followers of the Dhamma and Vinaya inadvertently accept the usefulness of ritual? Was the Buddha's warning more specifically against any practice that is not grounded in empirical experience? And given that the Noble Eightfold Path establishes a concrete method and practice for the attainment of the goal, did the Buddha embrace [Ṛta](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E1%B9%9Ata) - the natural order of the Universe or Truth - if only in its most stripped down, empirical form?