Five Elements in the White Beryl
The White Beryl (Vaidurya Karpo) is a seminal text on Tibetan divination, composed by Sangye Gyatso in the 17th century. Tibetan astrology and divination shares the paradigm of five-element (wu xing) theory with the Chinese, while the pharmacology of Tibetan medicine features the five-element (pancamahābhūta) theory of the Indians. The co-existence of two distinct five-element paradigms with context-specific application is unique to the medicine and astrology of the Tibetan plateau.
Khenpo Troru Tsenam, root teacher of my Tibetan medicine teacher, Dr. Phuntsog Wangmo, considers the Indian and Chinese five-element theories to be “complementary” rather than contradictory. He describes the Indian five elements as having a “compositional” emphasis and the Chinese five elements as having a “dynamic” emphasis.