▁Am it ā b ha . ▁Nich ir en , ▁founder ▁of ▁the ▁Nich ir en ▁sect , ▁introduced ▁a ▁k u ji ▁prayer ▁derived ▁from ▁chapter ▁ 2 6 ▁of ▁the ▁Lot us ▁S ut ra , ▁where ▁it ▁is ▁utter ed ▁by ▁the ▁god ▁V ai ś ra va ṇ a . ▁ ▁Ne ither ▁the ▁founder ▁of ▁Sh ing on , ▁K ō b ō ▁Da ishi , ▁nor ▁the ▁founder ▁of ▁T end ai , ▁Sa ich ō , ▁mentioned ▁the ▁k u ji ▁is ▁any ▁of ▁their ▁writ ings . ▁It ▁may ▁be ▁assumed ▁that ▁they ▁were ▁un famil iar ▁with ▁the ▁k u ji ▁or ▁only ▁considered ▁them ▁as ▁part ▁of ▁a ▁minor ▁teaching . ▁Reg ard less , ▁the ▁nine ▁sy ll ables ▁of ▁the ▁k u ji ▁have ▁developed ▁several ▁correl ations ▁and ▁associations ▁with ▁religious ▁and ▁philosoph ical ▁aspects ▁of ▁Japanese ▁es oter ic ▁Buddh ism . ▁They ▁are ▁associated ▁with ▁the ▁five ▁c ak ras ▁( 五 <0xE8> <0xBC> <0xAA> , ▁g or in ), ▁the ▁five ▁elements ▁( 五 大 , ▁god ai ), ▁certain ▁directions ▁of ▁the ▁comp ass , ▁colors , ▁and ▁de ities . ▁ ▁Vari ations ▁on ▁the ▁ry ō bu ▁k u ji ▁There ▁are ▁numerous ▁variations ▁of ▁the ▁nine ▁original ▁T ao ist ▁k u ji ▁in ▁Japanese ▁Buddh ism . ▁Most ▁of ▁these ▁variations ▁occurred ▁well ▁after ▁the ▁introduction ▁of ▁the ▁k u ji ▁into ▁Japan . ▁Some , ▁however , ▁are ▁other ▁T ao