From the 8th century, kami worship and Buddhism were thoroughly intertwined in Japanese society. While the emperor and court performed Buddhist rites, they also performed others to honor the kami. Tenmu for example appointed a virginal imperial princess to serve as the "saiō", a form of priestess, at the Ise Shrine on his behalf, a tradition continued by subsequent emperors. From the 8th century onward up until the Meiji era, the "kami" were incorporated into a Buddhist cosmology in various ways. One view is that the "kami" realised that like all other life-forms, they too were trapped in the cycle of samsara (rebirth) and that to escape this they had to follow Buddhist teachings. Alternative approaches viewed the "kami" as benevolent entities who protected Buddhism, or that the "kami" were themselves Buddhas, or beings who had achieved enlightenment. In this, they could be either "hongaku", the pure spirits of the Buddhas, or "honji suijaku", transformations of the Buddhas in their attempt to help all sentient beings.