The Lion Turtle

Avatar Wan was, in fact, the very first avatar. A great lion turtle gifted the powers of the elements to him. The lion turtles are the creators of everything when the spirit world and this world were still one. The humans began to have many problems with the spirits attacking and the humans would attack the spirits in return. Wan searched for an answer to keep both sides safe, but was at a loss. While he was away from the village, a lion turtle gave him powers of the elements to protect him from the spirits. Wan was to return the powers to the great lion turtles before going back to the humans, but Wan began to think of a way to keep both sides safe. Wan kept the powers over the elements and separated the humans from the spirits and created another world, the spirit world. Here, the spirits would reside and be safe from the humans. In the human world, Wan's people would be safe and no longer under attack by the dark spirits. In the beginning, the spirits were angry with Wan for betraying them. They had gifted Wan his powers and he used them to remove them and the rest of the spirits from this world. The lion turtles understood the wisdom behind Wan's decision, though. When Wan finally went forward to the lion turtles to return his powers, the lion turtles told him he would keep them. The two worlds would need someone to be a bridge between them. While the separation would keep both sides safe, spirits cannot continue without the humans and the humans need the spirits to keep the world in order. The spirits protected the world and kept balance in life. The lion turtles decided that Wan would be the avatar and when he died, he would be reborn into another human and the cycle would continue. The lion turtles trusted Wan, because he thought of how to protect and save both sides, not just the humans like him. The great creators were humbled by his acts and knew he had made the right choice in changing the world they had created.

After Avatar Wan finished, Aang sat there in amazement at the tale of the avatar origins. Through this story, Aang learned that there is always an option to protect both sides and restore balance to the world. He just hoped he could figure out what the answer was now. The Fire Nation had holds all over the world. Separating them from the rest of the world wasn't really an option and Aang didn't think it would solve anything. If only he could find a great lion turtle to seek wisdom from...

Author's Note:

I based this story off of parts from Avatar the Last Airbender and Avatar Wan from The Legend of Korra, the sequel to Avatar the Last Airbender, and the story from Krishna where Krishna humbles Brahma. I focused on the Epified videos of Krishna for this story. I was really intrigued about how a creator god was humbled by another, because in most western religions, the creator god is all powerful and is not humbled by any. In the original story, Brahma is amazed to see Krishna sharing food with his cowherd friends. Brahma thinks it is strange that a god would share with cowherds. Brahma tests Krishna by disappearing with all of the cows and his friends. Krishna discovered it was Brahma who did this, so he decided to play a trick, as well. Krishna replaced all of the cows and friends with his own self. When Brahma returned, he was first confused by seeing that everything was fine. When he looked closer, he saw that everything was Krishna. This act of creativity and power humbled Brahma. I wanted to keep this idea of humbling a creator in and find some similarity in the Avatar universe.

During the final season of Avatar the Last Airbender, Aang encounters a lion turtle who teaches him a way to defeat the Firelord without killing him. Throughout the show, Aang is able to converse with his past lives at times when he needs extra advice. In The Legend of Korra, the avatar is shown the story of the first life of the avatars and how benders were created. I thought these points in Avatar were themes I have seen in many stories, including the Indian Epics we read. Great leaders look for advice on what is right and question which path to take and also recognize when someone else has done great things. In my story, the lion turtle is Brahma and the avatar is representing Krishna.

Image Sources:

• Header: Turtle, flickr
• Meditation, flickr