Life Lessons From Avatar -The Art of Neutral Jing

Sorry I haven’t posted in a while, life just sorta takes over sometimes and it seems like I can’t really sit down and write a worthwile post sometimes.  Truth be told, I need to write in here more often (as I’m getting graded for it now) and I think that this is really a cool outlet for thoughts and ideas.

One show I’ve been borderline obsessed with recently is a cartoon called Avatar:  The Last Airbender.  When my friend and small group leader Matt suggested that I should watch it, I was extremely wary.  After all, it looked like just a “kids’ show.”  Little did I know that this “kids’ show” had one of the tightest stories ever written, some of the best characters ever drawn/written, and some of the best life lessons ever written.  Avatar centers around a boy named Aang, who is the next Avatar.  In his world, there are four groups of people:  The Water Tribe, The Earth Kingdom, The Air Nomads, and The Fire Nation.  It’s the Avatar’s job to keep the status quo by making sure the nations exist in harmony.  Each of the nations centers around the element in its name and within these nations are “benders,” people who can manipulate the element (with super awesome martial arts moves) at will.  The Avatar is the only person who can learn all four elements.  During the course of the series, Aang tries to master each of the elements, starting with water (he’s already mastered airbending, since he is the titular Last Airbender) in order to stand up to the vicious Fire Lord who has been ravaging the kingdom.

In his quest to master the elements, Aang tries to find someone who can teach him the art of Earthbending.  He searches for his old friend King Bumi in a city called Omashu, which has recently been taken over by the Fire Nation.  When Aang finds Bumi, he is shocked to learn that his powerful friend did nothing while the Fire Nation took over his city.  When Aang asks why, Bumi brings up the concept of neutral jing-the art of listening and waiting (jing meaning power or energy).  This surprises Aang, who has only heard of positive jing (attacking) and negative jing (defending).  He goes on to explain that the greatest Earthbenders were those who stood their ground,waited, and listened for the right moment to act.

This can really hold true for us in our lives.  Too often, we get focused on trying to act a certain way that we forget to slow down and wait for an answer to be revealed.  Too often, by pressing forward and making hasty decisions, we forget that our choices will have ramifications in the future.  Sometimes, we need to wait and listen for our next move, as trying to force something into our will can only end in disaster and defeat.

I can’t wait to finish this series, Avatar has some pretty neat philosophical ideas and some incredible fight scenes to go along with its already stellar story and cast.  I urge you to find some time and watch this series, you won’t be disappointed!

~ by wesrose on February 4, 2009.