A tutor. Any monk of sufficient learning to act as a preceptor. In the Shingon and Tendai sects a specific clerical rank.
"The abbot was an intimate of the Reizei emperor and had been his preceptor as well. One day, visiting the city, he called upon the Reizei emperor to answer any questions that might have come to him since their last meeting. 'Your honored brother,' he said, bringing the Eighth Prince into the conversation, 'has pursued his studies so diligently that he has been favored with the most remarkable insights. Only a bond from a former life can account for such dedication. Indeed, the depth of his understanding makes me want to call him 'the saint who has not yet left the world.'"
Murasaki Shikibu, The Tale of Genji (10th Century).
Translated by Edward G. Seidensticker.
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