The American-made anime epic Avatar: The Last Airbender is one of the most profound works of conscious media ever produced.

I was introduced to this show a few years ago when babysitting for my four-year old cousin. I was captivated and spent the next several months watching from start to finish.

This cartoon series encodes deep spiritual principles into a format suitable for a child, while remaining nonetheless fascinating for us grown-up kids.

Real world martial arts are integrated into the various “bending” techniques, reincarnation is introduced as perfectly natural—and the path of the spiritual warrior is presented in an elegant, entertaining style.

Here, Guru Pathik guides Ang (the Avatar) through through the process of opening his chakras:

“You must gain balance within yourself before you can bring balance to the world.”

Obviously the process shown is extremely abbreviated, but the principles are no less valid. For example, “If you are to be a positive influence on the world, you need to forgive yourself.“

In summary,

There are seven chakras that go up the body…

Be warned, opening the chakras is an intense experience, and once you begin this process, you cannot stop until all seven are opened…

First…the Earth chakra, located at the base of the spine. It deals with survival, and is blocked by fear…

The [second] Water chakra deals with pleasure and is blocked with guilt…

Third is the Fire chakra, located in the stomach. This chakra deals with willpower, and is blocked by shame…

The fourth chakra is located in the heart. It deals with love and is blocked by grief…

The fifth in the chain is the sound chakra, located in the throat. It deals with truth, and is blocked by lies…

The sixth pool of energy is the light chakra, located in the center of the forehead. It deals with insight, and is blocked by illusion…

The thought chakra is located at the crown of the head. It deals with pure, cosmic energy, and is blocked by earthly attachment…

This is a sublime summation, distilling ancient, divine wisdom into an accessible, easily understood format.

Here, see how the producers integrated various martial arts styles into the making of the show:

This is truly one of my favorite television programs of all time. I encourage kids of all ages to seek it out and become immersed in the world of the Avatar. Perhaps it will encourage you to recognize the true power that rests within each of us, and guide you towards wielding it effectively.

“The greatest illusion of this world is the illusion of separation. Things you think are separate and different are actually one and the same… We are all one people, but we live as if divided.”

Bonus: Guru Pathik sings.

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Ed: Bryonie Wise