Element and emptiness

The godai differ from the Chinese wu xing: they are the Indian five elements filtered through Buddhism, culminating not in a fifth material phase but in ku, the void or space that contains and transcends the other four, reflecting the Buddhist emphasis on emptiness. The scheme informs Japanese art, martial and meditative traditions, and funerary practice.

The atlas gives each of the godai its nature, its form in the gorinto, and its place in the ascent. They connect the Indian element scheme with the East Asian Buddhist material under Eastern Systems.