Chief Priest
The formal position of the Chief secretary of the temple. This title of Bettoshoku came to be used formally as the Otani Mausoleum was templized as the Honganji (Essential Vow Temple). Through the centuries Bettoshoku or the Chief Priest role became the leadership invested with maintaining and transmitting Shinran's teachings.
By becoming Chief Priest of the Otani Mausoleum, Kakunnyo established a heritage of spiritual leadership that revolutionized Japanese Buddhism. For the system of leadership originating with him freed Buddhism from a monastic centered orientation. Honganji leadership became invested within Shinran's descendants, operating by means of what today is recognized as a family tradition. In that manner, Honganji leadership shifted emphasis from monateries to the householder life of ordinary people. Implicit in passing leadership from generation to generation is a Buddhist way of life including raising children steeped in Buddhist understanding, traditions and values. functional position means the chief priest of the temple today. Kakunnyo's bold step freed Buddhism from being the perogative of a monastic class, thereby making its way of liberation accessible to all people.