Within the Tendai tradition, the priesthood stands as the institutional and spiritual custodian of a vast, synthetic inheritance. Priests preserve and transmit the Dharma centered on the Lotus Sūtra, while also upholding the full range of Tendai doctrine that weaves together exoteric and esoteric teachings, Pure Land devotion, and meditative disciplines. They maintain and study the textual and commentarial heritage associated with figures such as Saichō and later masters, ensuring doctrinal continuity across generations. In this way, the priesthood functions as both scholarly guardian and living embodiment of Tendai’s comprehensive vision of the Buddhist path.

At the same time, Tendai priests serve as ritual specialists and spiritual leaders for both monastic and lay communities. They conduct daily services, funerals, memorial rites, blessing ceremonies, and state-protection or prosperity rituals, often drawing on esoteric forms such as fire ceremonies and complex liturgical performances. Through these acts, they engage in merit-making and dedicate the benefits to others, acting as intermediaries between the lay community and the Buddha. Their role in such rites is not merely ceremonial but expresses the conviction that ritual, rightly performed, can support liberation and well-being for all beings.

The priesthood also bears responsibility for monastic discipline, administration, and training. Priests uphold precepts rooted in both vinaya-style and Mahāyāna bodhisattva ethics, and many undertake rigorous practice regimens that include meditation, recitation, and ascetic disciplines. They manage temples and monastic complexes such as Enryaku-ji on Mount Hiei, overseeing the education and formation of new clergy and the organization of temple life. In this administrative and pedagogical work, they ensure that Tendai’s lineages of ordination, ritual transmission, and esoteric initiation remain intact and viable.

Finally, Tendai priests serve as guides who bridge the world of doctrine and ritual with the everyday concerns of lay followers. They offer instruction in meditation and other practices, interpret Tendai’s inclusive teachings for contemporary needs, and provide counsel at key moments of life and death. By holding together scholastic study, esoteric power, ethical discipline, and pastoral care, the priesthood embodies the school’s aspiration to integrate many paths into a single vehicle of awakening. Their vocation, at its best, is to make the depth and breadth of this tradition accessible, meaningful, and transformative for those who seek it.