Learning Mindfulness from Bumi and Toph

Several months after he emerged from ice, Aang, having mastered water-bending returns to the Earth Kingdom city of Omashu to get his friend King Bumi to teach him earthbending, only to find it under occupation by the Fire Nation. Desperate to save his friend, Aang goes in to rescue him, only to discover that Bumi doesn't need or want to escape! He is simply waiting for the opportune moment to take back his city. He tells Aang that that is the key to earthbending and that Aang's teacher would be someone who waits and listens before striking. 

"It wasn't just about fighting. It was
their way of interacting with the world"
From Book 3: Fire - The Firebending Masters

This individual is soon introduced to us in the form of Toph Beifong, a blind girl from a privileged family who,  feeling overprotected and stiffled ran away from home and when lost and scared in a cave was found by the original earthbenders, the badgermoles (just go with it), who, also blind, taught her earthbending. 

"I see with earthbending... I feel the
vibration in the earth, and I 'see' where
everything is"
From Book 2: Earth - The Blind Bandit

Although most earthbending humans in the Avatar universe use earthbending as a blunt instrument of action and attack, Toph, by necessity, uses a much more immersive approach, listening to the air around her and feeling the earth beneath her. Without the easy out of vision, she must be mindful of the world around her in order to survive. 

Mindfulness comes from a pali word "sati", which is an essential aspect of the Eightfold Path of Buddhism, the steps which, according to Buddhist doctrine, are necessary for achieving nirvana (more on that in a later post). This "version" of mindfulness, however, is actually based on the "westernized" interpretation of mindfulness which, although also based on present-moment awareness, is directed towards becoming more in-tune with the world (rather than the Eightfold Path's goal of separation from the world). Popularized by Jon Kabat-Zinn, this psychology-based application of mindfulness is used in the west to facilitate cognitive therapy, behavioral therapy, and most of all, stress reduction.

"Taking back my city!"
From Book 3: Fire - Sozin's Comet, Part 2

The concept is, like King Bumi, to not try to escape from your current situation, but to acknowledge it without negativity and open yourself up to prepare for an eventual change, but without forcing it or trying to enact change yourself. And sure enough, a half a year of waiting and listening later, Bumi got the chance he was waiting for!