In English
God Transcends All Elements
Of all the (five elements), earth is the most gross. It has five qualities of , , , and (smell, taste, form, touch and sound). It is the heaviest and cannot be lifted. The next basic element is water which has four qualities of the earth except the smell – good or bad. Water has the characteristic of mobility unlike the earth. It always flows downward. The third basic element is fire which is bereft of the qualities of smell and taste. It has the other three qualities of form, touch and sound. Its special characteristic is upward movement. The fourth element is air which has only the qualities of touch and sound. It has the property of moving up, down, forward and backward. The (sky) is the subtlest of all the elements and it has only the quality of sound. It pervades everywhere like God. But God is present in all the elements and also transcends all elements. The expansiveness of the elements differs according to the qualities they possess. As the number of qualities decrease, the expansiveness correspondingly increases.