In Jainism and Buddhism, arising within Brahmanism as nontheistic sectarian movements, the Brahman priesthood was sublimated and the Vedic caste and sacrifice eliminated. In their place a monastic system was evolved, with monks and nuns devoted primarily to rigorous asceticism in the quest of perfection and in the pursuit of chastity and truthfulness. Complete detachment from all phenomenal possessions and connections in Jainism (founded by Mahavira in the 6th century bce) made paramount the mendicant life of meditation and spiritual exercises dependent upon the fulfillment of vows of poverty. The functions of the priesthood were sublimated in a process of self-salvation, centred around the purpose of the deliverance of a suffering humanity from the cycles of rebirth. Since in Buddhism tanha (“desire”; literally “craving” or “thirst”) was regarded as the fundamental cause of dukkha (commonly translated as suffering but meaning a sense of uneasiness or unsatisfactoriness), priestly intervention and the sacrificial offerings were considered to be of no avail in the pursuit of the Eightfold Path leading to the passionless peace of nibbana (also spelled “nirvana,” the state in which tanha and dukkha are extinguished).

In the absence of any conception of a deity in Buddhism, the question of sacerdotal mediation could be ignored, though in the Mahayana (“Greater Vehicle”) school and in the Tantric (esoteric) school some elements of the priestly tradition survived. The earliest converts to Buddhism were Brahmans for the most part, and a religious organization in monasteries developed, with various prescribed roles for their inhabitants, with daily routines, certain periods devoted to alms and quests, and periods for sacred learning and the translation of literary and theological works. To these activities were added other functions, such as recitations of the sacred texts at births, marriages, and in sicknesses to keep evil influences at bay. In the temples, shrines were erected to the honour of the eternal Buddha, and the image of the Blessed One on a lotus bedecked with flowers has become the central object of worship in certain Buddhist groups. The recitation of the ancient Pali sutras (discourses of the Buddha) is believed to transmit the merit inherent in the texts.

Buddhism, Daoism, and Shintō in China and Japan

In the Mahayana Buddhist sects, the monks, and those who are popularly known as bonzes, can hardly be said to exercise definitely sacerdotal functions in the temples, monasteries, and shrines. For the most part these functions have been confined to recitations and invocations, which all of the believers share. In China the Daoist priesthood emerged as an organized institution in the 2nd and 3rd centuries ce. Some were celibates and others were married, living ordinary domestic lives. A number were mendicants and some engaged in alchemy and astrology; others were illiterate. There were also those who assisted in ceremonies and collecting revenues. In the 6th century ce, in imitation of Buddhism, the Daoist celibates lived in monasteries with a patriarch as the head and interchanged facilities with their Buddhist counterparts. In Zen, a contemplative sect in Japan that grew out of Chinese Chan (“meditative”) Buddhism (both “Chan” and “Zen” are corruptions of the Sanskrit dhyana, “meditation”), adherents attempted to cultivate themselves through strict discipline and training in quasi-yoga intuitive methods, without priestly intervention or divine grace, in order to attain a sudden flash of enlightenment (satori).

When Buddhism reached China, Japan, and Tibet in the opening centuries of the Common Era, it came under the influence of the indigenous faiths, cults, and social structures, and, reciprocally, it became a most important influence, adapting its beliefs and customs to those already established in these regions. In the second half of the 6th century ce, after Buddhism had acquired official recognition, pagodas, temples, and monasteries were erected with ornamentations of Buddhist origin. Buddhism adapted itself to Shintō, the native religion of Japan, and to its shrines, festivals, and rites. The functions of the four priestly classes (e.g., as ritual experts, diviners, musicians, female dancers, and “abstainers” to ward off pollution) that emerged from the family or tribal cults of Shintō were absorbed by Buddhism.

When Shintō was restored as the national religion of Japan in the 19th century, after a period of decline, the Shintō and Buddhist priests were assigned their respective duties and offices by the State Department of Religion without discrimination, for the maintenance of reverence for the gods and love of country (the truth of heaven and the way of humanity) and proper respect for the sacral emperor (the mikado). This dual sacerdotal combination lasted only until 1875, because Buddhism and Shintō were basically incompatible. This resulted in Shrine Shintō becoming the national faith under the Imperial family, maintaining its divine status, cultic practices, and priesthood, but leaving Buddhism free to propagate its dharma (“teaching”) in its own way. New rituals and ceremonies were composed by the government for use at the Shintō shrines, and the duties and grades of the priests were fixed.