On Firebending

ISSUE #120

For those watching Avatar and The Legend of Korra—both of which I've finished for the first time—here is a playlist series on bending earth, fire, air, and water. It should be said to the skeptics that these are not inalterable divisions, these four primal states of being, but inventories that show us the tools we have available and how we can best employ them. Four faces of the universe that help us witness ourselves.

All matter contains energy, crouched and waiting to burst. Fire is crackling potential erupting to visibility, life's secrets spilling forth into physical expression. It spouts out of nowhere using only what was hidden, like imagination surging through the borders of reality and appearing in the form of dance, song, or play. It is the manifestation of existential courage. The inward becomes outward, we are at presence alone—the past is nothing, and the future is ash.

Only firebenders can generate their own element. It is an expression of sheer will, a force of life, the releasing of all this tension—which is why it is so tied to emotion. Fire in bloom is glorious; fire worn down is pitiful. It does not get the luxury of simply being. It must always expand, needs constant fuel, and often at the expense of others: applause, attention, love, dependence, emotion, energy, laughter, tears. The more it takes to feed itself, the more destruction left in its wake. It sees only victory, or self-destruction.

The prudent ones know that desire is a curse. "It forces those of us burdened with its care to walk a razor's edge between humanity and savagery," says Jeong Jeong, The Deserter, who taught Aang that power lies in restraint. The constant search for fuel brings never-ending stress. Urges overwhelm us in concentrated barrages. Disappointment tugs at us, skin crawling with regret in the long and restless night. Our discontent can wage wars of attrition against everyone in our way. Like Katara, this is how people you love get burned.

Desire itself is empty, a vessel to be filled with purpose. Therein lie the dangers of doctrine. When we believe we can have whatever we want—that we truly deserve it—then rationalism's merely a tool for justifying conquest. There are many paths logic can lead to get where you want to go, and violence is almost always the shortest. "The people of the fire nation have desire and will, and the drive to achieve what they want." When Iroh says this to Zuko, the world is heavy with their nation's imperialism. This is will driven by rage, hatred and anger. If left to itself, it consumes all.

This is the importance of training good firebenders. Through control of breath, our simplest fuel, we quell emotion and make judgement sound, yet keep ourselves burning with will. "Pride is not the opposite of shame, but its source," says Iroh to Zuko, again. "True humility is the only antidote to shame." Without it, there is no judgement day for evil, no balancing of the scales, no justice without fire of our own. The heartbeat is the flicker of a tiny flame. It is the sun inside us all—fire not of destruction, but of life.