The Lord's Prayer and Pureland Buddhism

[Ben Ross]

I've been very fortunate to find a wonderful Congregational Church in my area that I've attended the past few months. One aspect of the service there is reciting the Lord's Prayer. I couldn't help but be struck by the similarities between the understanding of the world it expresses and that presented by Pureland Buddhism. Here's the Lord's Prayer, with my caps added to show what strikes me:

Our Father, who art in Heaven, HALLOWED BE THY NAME. Thy Kingdom come, thy will be done, ON EARTH AS IT IS IN HEAVEN. Give us this day our daily bread, and forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us, and lead us not into temptation, but DELIVER US FROM EVIL. For THINE is the Kingdom, the Power, and the Glory forever and ever. Amen.

I'm not I'm not the first person to bring up these similarities. How do people reconcile Christian faith with Buddhist? Do you see the same similarities in the Lord's Prayer?

[Kaspalita]

Dear Ben - Our Teacher, Dharmavidya wrote about this last year - I have found the post...so here it is:

Similarities and differences between Pureland and Christianity brought out by a short reflection upon The Lord's Prayer. I have been thinking about the ways in which The Lord's Prayer could and could not be regarded as a Pureland Buddhist text...

Our Father
The Hebrew "Abba" that Jesus used to address God is rather close to th Japanese Oyasamma ("honoured parent") that is used to refer to Amida Buddha.

who art in heaven
This is equivalent to "in the Pure Land"

hallowed be Thy Name
The hallowing of the Name is nembutsu practice.

Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done, on Earth as it is in heaven
The work of Buddha's is to create Pure Lands.

Give us each day our daily bread
Nourish us with both physical and spiritual food - but it is at this point in the prayer that a difference starts to enter between the Christian and Buddhist outlook, for this is where the Christian starts to think of God as controlling the universe. Amida does not have responsibility fo our food supply.

and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us
We are all bombu, and it is beings such as we who are the special object of Amida's vow. In Pureland we would not petition Amida in this way. We would know that (a) we do trespass, (b) we are accpted. The issue of judgement and forgiveness is handled differently in Pureland.

And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil
Here again the attitude is a little different, but the difference is not huge. Amida Buddha does deliver us from evil in the sense that if we have faith we pass to the Pure Land rather than circling in samsara reaping the consequences of past karma in confusing ways.

For Thine is the kingdom, the power and the glory
Amida is Amitabha - unmeasureable light

for ever and ever
and Amitayus - unmeasureably long lived

Amen
This word has many suggested etymologies but seems to be related to the word for faith. Of course, it also sounds not totally unlike Amida.

So putting all this together, if a similar prayer were constructed from an Amida Pureland perspective it might go something like this:

Oh Nyorai
Coming from the Land of Bliss
Namo Amida Bu
May your vows prevail
Here as in your precious land
May we who often fail
Be nourished by your kindly hand
We who tempted
We who succomb
We trust in you
We who are bombu
Oh Amitabha
Let your Light shine
Oh Amitayus
Unimpeded, imcomparable, and fine
Namandabu Namandabu Namandabu

So no - you're not the first person to notice this. There are of course real differences between different faiths, but many similarities - Islam and Hinduism, and Sikhism all have practices of reciting the name, for example...

[Ben Ross]

I very much appreciate you passing this on! The elucidation of differences between the perspective in the Lord's Prayer and Pureland Buddhism is especially helpful. Making these connections on the website is a great learning tool, so thank you for setting it up and stewarding it!

[Timothy Jaye (TJ)]

I love the Pureland version of the Lord's Prayer. May I post it on my website? Thanks and blessings, TJaye

[Kaspalita]

T,Jaye, you're very welcome to repost this, if you include a link back to here, and I'm pleased you found this helpful Ben - I think it's important to be aware of the differences between religions and the effect these can have on people and their practice, as well as the meeting points

namo admia bu

[Lisa Winett]

Kaspalita,

I was wondering about the interpretation of the phrase "Give us each day our daily bread." At times I have considered bread to be figurative for many things, knowledge, music, prayer, anything that could nourish. Could there be a different connection with Buddhism if we considered bread something other than food, or were you being figurative when you mentioned Amida does not have responsibility to our food supply?

[Dr Di]

hi Lisa. as a theosophist, I look at the underlying philosophical and psychological aspects of religion, rather than their details and differences. pure `Purelanders` will not deviate from the teachings of the Buddha and at times seem to almost take them literally. however as intelligent people I think that we all realize that the bottom line in every religious teaching is that there is a relative and an absolute in terms of truths, world and realities. some people are more concrete and go for the former and others who are abstract thinkers tend to go for the latter.
hope my input helps and stimulates.