Jesus Prayer and the Nembutsu

Abstract

As a Shin Buddhist of the Pure Land tradition, I find the practice of Jesus Prayer in Eastern Orthodox Christianity fascinating, because so much of it resonates with my own experience in the saying of Nembutsu or the Name-NAMU-AMIDABUTSU. 1 One calls on the Name of Jesus, and the other on the Name of Amida, the Buddha of Immeasurable Light and Life. Both may be called the Way of the Name.2 Some appreciation of the Jesus Prayer may help us understand the depth of Nembutsu experience, for the similarities are striking, but there are also fundamental differences.