The Meaning of the Little Lotuses

As I have explored the endless uses of my little glowing box, I have come to a startling realization: Most of you seem to speak to me from an entirely different world, if I may state it so. You are not in the Spirit World, I can see that much, but you are not in my world either. Yours is not a world of benders, it seems. Yet I read with interest about your nations and continents, your cultures and your histories, and I find that we are no different in our humanity. How it is that my little box has connected me with you, I cannot say. But I am delighted to have found this strange magical bridge through which I may meet so many new friends!

I bend flame and heat with my very chi; none of you can do that, I guess. It is sad. I wish that at least some of you could feel the energy of fire flowing through your limbs, finally manifesting itself as living flame! I wish you could meet Avatar Aang in person. But oh well. In every way that really matters, we are the same. We are all human: a blessing and a curse, as they say, heh.

So perhaps what I have to say may be of benefit to your nations, as well as our four nations here. I wish you all success in implementing our plan. Maybe you will be more successful than us! But I must tell you our plan first, mustn't I? And that would require that I first explain a bit of the meaning of the little lotus story. Ha ha, yes, so on we go.

The Garden is the world. That is obvious enough, I suppose, ha ha. But that is what the ancient commentaries say, that the Garden is the whole world. Whether it is my world or the world I see through my magic box, it does not seem to matter. For the little lotuses of the garden are humanity, so we each may liken them to ourselves. In the original, eighteen-scroll version of the story, many other plants of the Garden are described, which represent all the different orders of living creatures and even different spirits! But for now I think I should focus our attention on the lotuses. On ourselves!

And now we come to the point that makes this story such a treasure to my friends and me. Every lotus is different, just as every person is different. And yet, they all fall into distinct orders or classes, after a manner of speaking. Some lotuses open none of their beautiful petals to the outside world. Some open one, some open two, and some open three. And then there are other lotuses who open even more petals than that to the universe, but I will wait before describing them, heh heh.

These different orders of lotuses do not represent different nations, or different professions. They do not represent rich or poor, clever or dull. They represent human nature itself.

When I say "human nature," I am referring to the way people work, the way our minds and our hearts work. I am speaking of the most basic reasons why we each do what we do. Oh, what is that you are saying? There is only one sort of human nature? Maybe you didn't say that, ha ha, but let us pretend! Because that is what I had always believed. I believed that human nature was a constant; it was the basic instinct of us all, and it has never changed. People are people, regardless of their time or place.

But it turns out that this is not the case. As I have looked at history with a fresh eye, I have seen now that this old legend is correct: There have always been a few completely different kinds of human nature at work in the world! The different lotuses signify these very different human natures.

The lotuses that bare only a single petal to the world represent a rather mean kind of human nature. A single-petal lotus is driven by pure self-interest, nothing more. That is their human nature: selfishness. This kind of nature ends up producing very interesting results, heh, but for now I will just describe the basics for you, yes?

One-petal lotuses cheat, they lie, they even burgle if they think they can get away with it. They do absolutely anything if they believe it will benefit themselves. They may even appear quite pleasant or law-abiding, if they believe it will benefit them to be so. But it is their motivation that matters. If it appears profitable to a single-petal lotus to be kind, then they will be kind. And if it appears profitable for them to betray you, then they will do that. Their deepest nature is simple self-interest.

Single-petal lotuses like to say that everyone is like this. My brother said that quite frequently. If they can get other lotuses to believe that, then they may convince them to become single-petal lotuses too.

Fortunately, there are other kinds of lotuses in the wide garden. The two-petal lotuses are perhaps the most common in my world, and they seem quite common in your world as well. They were not always so common, and I think they will not always be. But yes, a two-petal lotus is driven by a different deepest desire than mere self-interest.

Two-petal lotuses desperately desire to be liked, to be loved and approved of. This is different from mere self-interest because, though a two-petal lotus certainly cares for its own interests, it will sacrifice those interests in order to be a good friend. Their desire to belong is deeper than their self-interest. It is not so simple as the brazen selfishness of single-petal lotuses. They do not seek friendship for any self-serving motive: friendship itself is its own reward for them. Pain, humiliation, and noblest sacrifice are all worth it for the sake of friendship.

You see, a two-petal lotus has everything a single-petal lotus has. A two-petal lotus has just as much self-interest, but it also has a whole other petal that changes its deepest reasons for everything it does. Single-petal lotuses may think that the self-sacrifice of a two-petal lotus is foolish, or weak. My brother enjoyed calling it a herd mentality. But I think it is better than that. It is love, not mere instinct. It is the courageous recognition that others are so very wonderful, that it is worth opening oneself up to pain and betrayal if it means we can have real friends. A two-petal lotus’s deepest motive is to be accepted and appreciated.

Now, it turns out that it is indeed more profitable to be a two-petal lotus! It is more profitable to work with others instead of against them. People working together are more powerful than those same people working apart. But that is not what drives a two-petal lotus. They don't seek friendship because they calculate that it will be more profitable to them. They seek it for its own sake. It is deeper even than their self-interest, and they will defy self-interest for the sake of their friends.

Of course, these little two-petal lotuses can be rather cliquish, heh heh. They love their friends, but they dislike any who seem to oppose their friends. Two petal lotuses argue a lot, not because they are selfish, but because they want to stand up for their friends. Also, they can be a little...uh, flighty, ha ha ha! They will change their passions with each passing fad. They want to be accepted, you know.

Anyway, next we have the great three-petal lotuses. The legend tells us that the three-petal lotuses were the wisest and the noblest of all the lotuses. At least that is what the lotuses thought, heh heh heh. A three-petal lotus seeks to do whatever is truly right. Their deepest motivation is the self-respect that comes of honor, discipline, and obedience to wisdom. Three-petal lotuses love to have friends, but they will bear the disapproval of others in order to do what is right. They are not flighty. They stick to what they believe in, no matter what anyone says, and no matter what it costs them. They will suffer and die for truth and right. That is their deepest nature, deeper than selfishness and even deeper than friendship: the desire to do what is really, truly right.

A three-petal lotus cannot be bribed or threatened. They will stand strong against such stunts. You see, their deepest human nature is simply different. They do not think the same way that single-petal lotuses or two-petal lotuses do. Their deepest desire is to do what is right, even more than their desire for personal safety or acceptance.

This is why three-petal lotuses make excellent, honorable leaders. They cherish the laws and rules that they believe in. But this also means that they can be rather rigid, you know. They do not approve of those who follow different rules from themselves. Because they want to be honorable, they can be quite harsh indeed against those who do not follow their rules. They can be a bit prejudiced at times, though not as much as their two-petal friends.

Three-petal lotuses follow the rules no matter what. However, that makes them a little predictable. It is not uncommon for a clever single-petal lotus to take advantage of this and manipulate a three-petal lotus, especially if the three-petal lotus is not a very clever one, heh heh. Nevertheless, three-petal lotuses are full of love, honor, and an anxious desire to always be the best they can be. What could possibly be better than a three-petal lotus?

Ha ha, yes, you and I both know that there is more! The little lotuses are wrong: Three is not the highest number. So what is a four-petal lotus like, you want to know?

Four-petal lotuses are quite rare, compared with the other kinds...

But wait! I almost forgot! I did not explain the lotuses that bear no petals at all. These little buds represent an uncommon sort of person whose human nature is below that of even the single-petal lotuses. No-petal lotuses are driven by pure instinct, pure emotion and immediate desire. That’s it, ha ha ha! There’s nothing more to them. They are not even wise enough to seek their own calculated self-interest, as single-petal lotuses do. Like the legend says, they may riot one moment and then lounge about the next, ha ha ha, depending on their unbridled emotions. They are rather uncommon, but they do exist, especially in some sadder pockets of the Garden.

But yes, my apologies. I left you on the edge of your seat as I was about to describe the four-petal lotuses. You were on the edge of your seat, weren’t you? Of course you were. So on we go.

Four-petal lotuses are a bit rare compared with the other kinds. Because they have three petals plus one more, they possess all the attributes of a three-petal lotus, plus more! Their most basic nature is different. A four petal lotus honors rules, yes, but rules are not enough for them. They see that the universe is quite complex, quite complex indeed! Rules, on the other hand, have a way of being simple when compared with nature. “There are no straight lines in nature,” as I like to say, heh heh. Only manmade things are so simple. Yes, nature is governed by simple principles, but those principles yield fabulously complex results, every day all around us! Four-petal lotuses seek this complexity. They want to do whatever is really truly the best thing to do, and they see that simplistic rules are simply not enough to accomplish such a feat!

Four-petal lotuses are driven by a delightful hunger to find whatever is truly real. They want to do what is best, after all, so they must find out what it is! They are ever hungering to learn. They are ever open to the unfamiliar, and ever seeking deeper into that which is already known to them. A four-petal lotus is eager to listen to all, especially those with whom they disagree, in the hope that they can learn something new. They try to see from all others’ points of view, seeking any wisdom that may lie hidden within even the most nonsensical of beliefs.

Four-petal lotuses are no less honorable than three-petal ones, but they will not let honor get in the way of truth and reality. If they find that one of their beloved rules is false or otherwise hurtful, then they will cast it away in their search for reality. And then, if they find later that the rule that they abandoned is in fact true after all, then they will go right back to it! They do not seek to rebel, nor do they seek to conform: they just want to find whatever really is, so that they may do whatever is truly best.

These four-petal lotuses are clearly quite difficult to manipulate! How do you trick someone who is seeking the truth from all angles? How do you take advantage of someone whose highest allegiance is not to rules or to the laws of men, but to the laws of nature and the universe itself!

Four-petal lotuses are not at all selfish, but nor are they selfless. They seek whatever is best for everybody, themselves included. They are not rigid...how could they be, if they want to find real truth? And while they appreciate the value of good manners, they do not get overly bogged down by decorum, heh heh heh! Four-petal lotuses seek to find and appreciate all good things. They love good rules, yet they recognize the limits of simple rules. They love a good time, but they also love good hard work. They will not hesitate to fight when necessary, regardless of rules or laws, but they much prefer peace. They do not soil themselves in the mire of argument, but sometimes they will speak up in order to teach.

I am sure that all this sounds very nice, but in the real world, not many people like four-petal lotuses. Oh, we like them very much when we see them from far away; we like them when we read about them in history scrolls. But most people do not like four-petal lotuses up close. Perhaps it is because they do not always abide by rules, and rules make the rest of us feel secure and in control. This, I think, is one reason why the other lotuses in the story decided that four-petal lotuses must be some sort of two-petal lotus, because two-petal lotuses do not always follow the rules either. But as always, it is the motivations that matter: A two-petal lotus does not follow all the rules because it is too concerned with fitting in with its friends. A four-petal lotus, on the other hand, seeks to learn and follow all the true Rules of the universe itself, and therefore recognizes that the rules of men are usually inconsistent. No one can follow all the rules of men and all the Laws of the universe at the same time. The rules of men are just not that perfect. A four-petal lotus will endure being called a traitor, heathen, or heretic if it means doing what is really, truly right.

But because four-petal lotuses often make people uncomfortable, many of them habitually disguise themselves as three-petal lotuses when in public. In private they seek complexity and reality, but in public they do not wish to spook others who find solace in the simplicity of rules.

Being a four-petal lotus is hard, much harder even than being a three-petal lotus, but it is so very much worth it! It is difficult to be called a traitor. It is difficult to be called lazy, cowardly, or foolish. But it is better to be truly brave, even if the simplified definitions of men may think you cowardly. It is better to be truly diligent, even when rigid lotuses do not understand the work you are doing while you sit and think and play Pai-Sho, heh heh. And the endless treasures of wisdom that come are such a joy that they are more than reward enough for even the cruelest slander.

All that difficulty builds character, and it also makes you into quite a character, ha ha ha! Four-petal lotuses delight in the world. They enjoy people, they enjoy humor, and so they love a good practical joke, ha ha ha ha!

Anyway, I am going on a bit about the four-petal lotuses, aren’t I? They are such a misunderstood group, though. But yes, a four-petal lotus operates by a completely different kind of human nature from any of the others: their deepest drive is to find the world, to learn of it, to enjoy it, and to do whatever is truly best. No pain, no slander, and no shame can divert them from this glorious journey. And though we may glorify four-petal lotuses when they are far off, we tend to villainize them when we actually meet them. They are not dangerous like single-petal lotuses. They are caring, thoughtful, loving, and seeking only what is best for everyone. We may be spooked by their tendency to break rules at times, but we can trust that a four-petal lotus only ever breaks a rule when that rule conflicts with the complex true laws of the universe. When a four-petal lotus breaks a rule, we are all better off for it.

But yes, I should be moving on, shouldn’t I? Yes. The original version of the legend speaks at length about the behavior of each different type of lotus, and then there are hundreds of ancient commentaries about them, but I suppose I should save all that for later, heh heh.

As for the five-petal lotuses, and their six-petal and seven-petal friends, I think I should delay an explanation of them for now, as well. If people tend to have such trouble understanding four-petal lotuses, then I want to be careful describing anything more than four! I will simply say that five-petal lotuses operate according to a whole other, even higher form of human nature than the four-petal lotuses do. They retain every good aspect of four-petal lotuses, plus more! They are even more loving, more noble, more wise, yet they do it according to a whole different, higher way of living. Completely different.

You see, each additional petal results in a revolutionary change in human nature that affects every last aspect of existence. In the legend, remember, the other lotuses declared that if there was ever to be a lotus with more petals than three, then it would simply look like a really BIG three petal lotus! Heh, that is the way that such people think. In their minds, the only thing better than a noble rule-abiding three-petal lotus is a three-petal lotus that obeys the rules even more! A really BIG three-petal lotus! Just more of the same. They do not consider that there could be a fundamentally better way of living overall. They do not consider that there could be higher things in this universe than rules.

They decide that, for instance, if reading ancient wisdom for an hour a day is good, then reading it for two hours a day must be even better! A really BIG three-petal lotus! If regular fasting and meditation is good, then even more frequent fasting must be better! If three hours of practice is good, then six hours must be even better! That is the way they think, just more of the same. And all it does is result in imbalance. Those who follow yin rules become more and more imbalanced against yang, and those who follow yang rules become more and more imbalanced in the other direction. Only a four-petal lotus lives in the completely different way that is able to seek the complexity necessary for true balance, which is so very much better than extreme magnification of rules.

I have spoken with so many good people who want to be more loving, more noble, more wise and strong and good, but they seek to do it without changing their deepest nature. That will never do. All it will cause is imbalance. If we wish to change then we must truly change, all the way down to our deepest core. If we want to become better, then we must truly become better, all the way down.

So yes, as I was saying, five-petal lotuses follow a deepest drive that is utterly, thoroughly different from that of any lesser-petaled lotus. It is thoroughly different. And I must say, it is a magnificent sort of human nature that they have! Likewise, the six-petal lotuses live according to even more wondrous treasures of wisdom, and the seven-petal lotuses even more than that!

But like the legend tells us, the other lotuses can be very cruel to these great lotuses, very cruel indeed. So yes, I will avoid explanation of them for the time being. Perhaps later, I hope. Jeong Jeong does not think you will ever be prepared to hear of these greater lotuses; would you like to help me prove him wrong? Ha ha. We shall see.

For now, though, I think it is safe to tell you the plan that our Order has developed, our plan for putting these principles into action. If we are successful, then human existence will be changed forever. We shall see. But first I must tell you how the old legend ends, mustn’t I? And when I tell you that, then I will be able to explain the best part of all this. Just you wait, ha ha ha! Just you wait...

Coming Out of Retirement

I never thought I would say this, heh, but Pai Sho is not enough. Each victory of mine in the good old game reminds me of what I could be doing outside of my teashop. Each clever combination of tiles causes me to consider how I might combine real-world opportunities to cause unprecedented good. I have played Pai Sho almost every day for more than three years, ha ha! But now I feel that I have a responsibility to apply my capacities to real people. If I do not contribute my winning strategy to the world, who will?

The war against my brother Ozai is over. Aang, our Avatar, fulfilled his responsibility and saved the world from that danger. He did not do it in the expected manner; he did not use the tried and true method of Avatar-scale combat. He did not defeat his adversary in the usual way. After all, combat usually leads to combat again at some later time. But Aang made use of ancient wisdom to truly end the conflict in a way that none of us foresaw. Such a new kind of victory is needed again, I think, to solve problems that have never before been resolved.

You see, the real war is not over. The Fire Nation's war of conquest lasted a hundred years, and some began to believe that it would never end. But it did. The Avatar did what had never been done since ancient days, and the world changed. There is another much subtler war, which has continued for eons in the hearts and minds of individuals everywhere, in every nation and time.

Until recent years, I believed that this inner war was doomed to be an eternal struggle. After all, is that not what humanity is? Are we not the constant clash of light and darkness? Are not the demons of our darkest nature eternally at war with the angels of our brightest potential? How can the war in the heart of man ever come to an end? How can it even make any progress, for good or bad? Aren't people always the same, generation after generation?

No.

But I used to think so. It was only two years ago that Jeong Jeong unearthed a more complete version of the ancient Tale of the Blooming Lotus Garden, a legend that I admit I had paid rather little attention to before hearing of Jeong Jeong's discovery. But now, in its complete and quite lengthy form, we realized that a treasure of unforeseen value had been gifted to us!

We each studied the tale, and we shared our thoughts with our Order through many letters. Every day, it seemed we learned a new lesson that none of us had ever considered before! As our understanding of this ancient wisdom grew, we all came to see what unprecedented change it could bring upon the world. If only it could be put into action.

I was actually ready to end my retirement there and then, ha ha, but Bumi pointed out that we did not yet have enough of a plan to accomplish anything of substance. And so we waited, learning more and more with each day. At least we could implement the lessons of the old tale into our own lives. Pakku suggested that that alone might be sufficient, that perhaps we should not seek some grand plan whereby we might offer others what we had found. I hope he does not mind me telling you that part, heh. In the end, though, we all perceived that the Spirits intended something different. Something grander.

And now, it is time. Time for me to move this particular Pai Sho tile into the active portion of the board. It is time for you to hear the lessons of the Blooming Lotus Garden, and decide for yourself what you will do with them.

I am going to begin slowly, and we will see how the rest of the board responds, shall we? Firstly, then, I will tell you a brief summary of the meaning of the Tale of the Blooming Lotus Garden. And then I will let you in on our plan, which will require that I tell you the happy ending of this little legend, ha ha.

The Tale of the Blooming Lotus Garden

Longshot wants to hear a story. I can tell. Ah, so what story should I tell him? He wants to hear an old story, one about life and growing. I can tell. I have a way of seeing these things. Yes, that is the kind of story he wants.

Aha! And I have just the tale for him! Everyone, come, listen! It is no great secret now that the Order of the White Lotus lives on, and that I sometimes tag along with them, heh heh... So today I am going to tell you an old White Lotus legend, the Tale of the Blooming Lotus Garden.

There was once a gorgeous Garden of lotus flowers. It stretched from east to west, and encompassed the north pole and the south. Never before had such a Garden been seen!

But these were no ordinary lotuses. No, not ordinary at all. They were each different from one another. And nearly all of them were closed like a newborn bud, with only a few petals opened to the light of the world.

Some lotuses opened two petals to the world. These lotuses were friendly and kind, though maybe a bit forgetful, ha ha.

Some lotuses opened only one petal. These were not so kind, and sometimes they were simply mean to the other lotuses. Sometimes.

There were a few lotuses that opened no petals at all to the light around them, but those little buds did not do very much.

And then there were some lotuses who opened three petals! Those were the wisest, the noblest, and the most kind of all the lotuses in the Garden. Almost all the leaders of the lotuses throughout the Garden were three-petal lotuses. Three was the greatest number of petals that a lotus could bear.

Life was peaceul in the Garden. Peaceful enough, anyway, heh. The two-petal lotuses had fun with one another. They went to plays and markets, and parties. The one-petal lotuses tried to cheat or cut corners or even burgle, and sometimes they got away with it. The no-petal lotuses merely lounged or rioted, depending on their mood at the time, ha ha! And the three-petal lotuses did their best to be the finest little lotuses that they could be. The three-petal lotuses strove to follow every law, every rule, every honorable guideline and every worthy ideal, at least the ones that they knew. They tried to make the most out of their lives in the Garden. Of course, sometimes this meant that the three-petal lotuses could be a bit rigid, heh heh, but that was quite worth it in order to live the best way they could. Three was the greatest number of petals that a lotus could bear.

But sometimes in the Garden, a strange lotus would turn up that opened four petals to the light of the world. The other lotuses did not know quite what to make of these four-petal lotuses. They could see that a four-petal lotus was somewhat like a three-petal lotus, yet not quite alike. But since a four-petal lotus was just about as different from a three-petal lotus as a two-petal lotus was, most of the lotuses decided that these odd four-petal lotuses must simply be another sort of two-petal lotus. Yes, that was it. After all, what else could a four-petal lotus be? Because three was the greatest number of petals that a lotus could bear.

Now there were a great many four-petal lotuses among the wisest leaders of the lotuses, but they nearly always dressed themselves like three-petal lotuses. They knew that the other lotuses preferred three-petal lotuses, and they did not want to cause unhelpful difficulties. Three was always the greatest number of petals that a lotus could bear.

But sometimes the Gardeners would plant other lotuses in the Garden. Sometimes they would plant a lotus that bore five petals to the world! Sometimes they would plant a lotus that bore six petals, or even seven petals! These lotuses were very strange to the other lotuses, very strange indeed! They were not like the three-petal lotuses at all. And that could mean only one thing: If they were so unlike the three-petal lotuses, then that must mean that they bore very, very few petals indeed, because they were so far from the three-petal lotuses, and three was the greatest number of petals that a lotus could bear. Therefore these strange five-petal and seven-petal lotuses must actually have very, very few petals. Three was the greatest number of petals that a lotus could bear.

The five-petal lotuses, and the six-petal lotuses, and the seven-petal lotuses each tried to explain to the other lotuses that they were not contemptible, but that in fact they had more petals than a three-petal lotus! But the other lotuses all shook their heads, replying that if there ever were a lotus with more petals than three, then obviously such a lotus would simply look like a really BIG three-petal lotus. Obviously. Because three was the greatest number of petals that a lotus could bear.

The one-petal lotuses, and the two-petal lotuses, and the three-petal lotuses were not very kind to the five-, six-, and seven-petal lotuses. Not very kind at all. They insisted that any lotus that bore a number of petals so different from three must be a very low number of petals, because three was the most any lotus could have. This meant that, because the five-, six-, and seven-petal lotuses clearly had so fewer petals, they must be very bad lotuses indeed.

The other lotuses punished the five-petal lotuses, and the six-petal lotuses, and the seven-petal lotuses. They told cruel stories about them. They passed along reckless rumors about them. They tried to put them in prison, and sometimes they even killed the five-, six-, and seven-petal lotuses.

Even the three-petal lotuses, who were in truth good and wise lotuses, were equally mean to the five-, six-, and seven-petal lotuses. This was because the three-petal lotuses wanted to protect their fellow lotuses from such bad lotuses as the five-, six-, or seven-petal lotuses. Three petals was, after all, the greatest number of petals that a lotus could ever bear.

Why is Longshot looking at me like that? It's a little scary... Don't you like this story?

Smellerbee says that Longshot did not want to hear a story anyway. He was looking at me because he wanted help cleaning the dining area. Clearly, she just does not understand Longshot. Oh, well. The legend has a very happy ending, but perhaps I must save that for another time.