The Wisdom of Uncle Iroh: Why It Matters

one of the greatest aspects of fantasy stories like avatar The Last Airbender is that they are so incredibly real despite the fact that none of the characters ever existed none of the Nations can be found on a globe and the Very way that the world works is made up it is still very much real it exists not in any tangible way of course but in our minds all fiction is a product of a person's brain or many people's brains a creation made possible by the human imagination in creating these fantastic worlds and characters we cannot help but draw from our own life and experiences who we are informs what we create and the wonderful thing is we do not and should not put our full flawed and broken selves into these stories there's a huge difference between letting your life influence the story and just inserting yourself into what is supposed to be a work of escapism and thus making it all about your own ideas or views or what have you instead the best stories are ones that borrow particular bits and pieces of their Creator's experience and wisdom chosen carefully and purposefully fluidly fitting into the world and narrative if done well the audience won't even notice the influence of the author on his creation at least not until they really dig deep truly good stories stand on their own Merit the characters are beloved for who they are not for who wrote them I have absolutely no clue who inspired Uncle iro whether he is based off of a father figure in the life of one of ata's creators or is an amalgamation of wisdom they have collected over the years I couldn't begin to tell you maybe you know I purposefully did not research it because well it doesn't really matter to me iro may be a fictional character in a fantasy world but the words he speaks and the wisdom he offers are real and today I'd like to reflect on some of the General's wise words think about them go deeper into what they mean and understand how we really can learn to be better men and women from a side character in a children's TV show okay Avatar is really more of a family show but it's written to be digestible by children so you get my point anyhow point being iro may not be real but his words are so let's listen to some of them pride is not the opposite of shame but its source true humility is the only antidote to shame if you've been around my channel for a while you'll know that I love talking about virtue and virtue to ethics so naturally we are going to start by breaking down this quote beginning with the first word pride what is pride well pride is not the feeling of self-satisfaction at a job well done nor is it the feeling that one is capable intelligent or any other good quality it can be those things if taken to an extreme but more so it is a sense of dominating self-importance the belief that our needs and our desires are Paramount that our good often the good that we want even though we shouldn't is the ultimate good at least that's how pride is when fully realized most of us are not completely consumed by this Vice okay so how does pride lead to shame how does thinking that you're the greatest and the most important person in the world produce this feeling of self-contempt easy pride is fragile if you want proof look no further than Zuko's tendency to fly off the handle at the slightest provocation if you want an example of that we need only visit the show's very first episode in which Zuko berates his uncle for refusing to teach him Advanced firebending techniques before he has mastered the basics in Zuko's mind ao's hard one wisdom and experience count for nothing the prince thinks that he knows what is best for himself and his quest and he angrily quite naturally expresses that assumed knowledge in no uncertain terms so what happens when our pride is damaged when what we thought we knew about ourselves is proven to be false when our failures continue mounting when what we always wanted is continuously just Out Of Reach do we as prideful people Shug our shoulders say ah well and move on with our lives now we wallow in shame and self-pity it is so much easier to swing from one end of the pendulum of Vice to the other than it is to land in the middle in the golden mean of virtue Pride says this is who I am this is who I must be and when that self-image fades into nothingness we hate the reality staring back at us because we lack humility what then is humility you could come up with any number of definitions and quotes to describe it but the one I keep coming back to is this line from CS Lewis humility is not thinking less of yourself it's thinking of yourself less although apparently that line isn't actually from Lewis I found that out while writing the script but it does capture the essence of what Lewis actually wrote regarding humility do not imagine that if you meet a really humble man he will be what most people call Humble nowadays he will not be a sort of greasy smarmy person who is always telling you that of course he is nobody probably all you will think about him is that he seemed a cheerful intelligent chap who took a real interest in what you said to him if you do dislike him it will be because you feel a little envious of anyone who seems to enjoy life so easily he will not be thinking about humility he will not be thinking about himself at all in one sense shame is the opposite of pride and yet at the same time humility is the opposite of both those vices and the cure to both both pride and shame are inherently inward-looking as we focus our attention and energy on ourselves our self-perception and whether or not we are having our needs and desires met humility by contrast must be outward-looking focusing on the good of others rather than obsessing over our own shame is not driven Away by feeling better about ourselves or even accepting our lowly pitiful state but by taking on a humble selfless nature that is centered on our neighbor not ourselves that movement from Pride to shame to humility is of course the defining trait of Zuko's character Arc and I'm now going to move backward a bit in that Arc to revisit words that iros speaks to Zuko when his nephew is nearing his lowest point you must never give in to despair allow yourself to slip down that road and you surrender to your lowest instincts in the darkest times hope is something you give yourself that is the meaning of inner strength in my video about Theoden I quoted Gandalf telling rohan's King no counsel have I to give to those that despair both Zuko and Theoden are at these points in their arcs struggling with who they are what their duty is and how they could possibly Escape their current darkness and in both cases they need someone to encourage them to trust in hope I love finding parallels between stories and characters so I just wanted to point this out despair is so incredibly tempting because it's it's easy if we just give up proclaiming our circumstances hopeless then we don't have to struggle or fight we can just do nothing that I believe is the lowest instinct to which Ira refers the inclination toward complete and total inaction and passivity even if we are making mistakes we are still acting still trying still on some sort of path the basest lowest most pitiful thing we could do is simply stop and refuse to move forward backward or any direction at all and while it's easy to see from the outside that such behavior is unhealthy in the moment choosing in action can be such a relief if we look at all the horrors of the world and the stresses of our own lives and just say you know what screw this it takes a great weight off of our shoulders if we don't try we can't fail if we don't care we can't get hurt if we just stay still we won't run into any more obstacles the problem is of course that life simply isn't meant to be that way giving up and doing nothing isn't living it's just surviving and like the great philosopher of the Axiom says how then do we emerge from our present Darkness well I can't tell you every step in detail and no one could everyone's life is unique but I do know as iro says that step one is to Hope sometimes life is like this dark tunnel you can't always see the light at the end of the tunnel but if you always keep moving you will come to a better place you can give yourself hope you can choose to believe that one day things will be better and you can choose to work toward that new and brighter day no one else can do that for you they can help but at the end of the day it has to be you you have to find within yourself the strength to Hope and what's wonderful about Ira's wisdom is that it is entirely consistent the advice he offers to Ang Mires the wisdom he shares with Zuko earlier in the same book keep moving forward never give in to in action and passivity give yourself the ability to believe that you will reach the end of whatever tunnel you find yourself in and the will to Simply put one foot in front of the other in pursuit of that end however it is important to remember that we cannot entirely rely on ourselves while it's always best to believe in oneself a Little Help from others can be a great blessing again there's a spectrum here on one end we have everything is hopeless and I'm pathetic and useless while on the other hand we have I can do everything on my own and don't need a damn thing from anyone else obviously neither of those is remotely true asking for help is difficult especially if you're like me and really pride yourself on being competent and useful in every situation naturally being capable and skilled is a good thing but everyone has their limits and we all should work to know where ours are we're all called to sacrifice for one another but that's not a limitless calling sometimes you really might just get stretched too thin and need an extra hand that's okay everyone has a point physical emotional whatever past which they just can't go on alone and while everyone certainly has experienced reaching the end of their rope I can hardly think of a class of persons who experience this more than mothers moms give and give and give caring for their children endlessly even when they have just nothing left in the tank it can be lonely and the feeling of have to do this I have to be enough can dominate a mother's psyche but and this lesson is for all of us not just those who have birthed a child there's nothing wrong with letting people who love you help you if you're the type of person who has trouble accepting help ask yourself this question if someone I love asked me for help in the same fashion that I would like help but I'm too proud to ask for it would I resent it the answer will be no I hope from my experience the people who are the most giving are off often the worst at receiving it's surprisingly tough to let someone love you sometimes because that means admitting that You're vulnerable weak and insufficient in some way that sucks to admit but if we cast aside our pride we'll see that doing so will only improve our relationship with that person who greatly desires to love us and love is of course why we do what we do or at least it should be Perfection and power are overrated I think you're very wise to choose happiness and love so this line has me thinking is there such a thing as happiness without love I guess that would depend on how you actually Define love in its truest sense love is Desiring willing and working for the good of another but we also use the term in a far more General sense I'm quite comfortable saying that I love pizza and ice cream for example but do those things really make me happy sure they make me feel good I love the taste of my favorite foods I said love again they comfort me and satisfy me playing an enjoyable video game makes me happy while watching a great show makes me happy but I can overindulge in food gaming or any other Pursuit hobby or activity and then I won't feel good though to be fair you can overindulge in personal relationships as well like I talk about in my Kratos video freya's failure as a mother comes not because she loves too little but because her love is so strong that it warps her perception of what is truly the ultimate good love needs to be properly ordered in order to actually produce happiness is what I'm saying sometimes we might take actions that are seemingly out of love but are in fact selfish or overindulgent just because we are acting on the behalf of another or at least believe that we are doing so does not mean that our actions are truly loving even if they come from a place of Desiring and wanting to love anyhow that's a bit of a tangent from the actual point of this quote which is quite simple the point of all this is love love is what makes the struggles and suffering worth it love enables us to do great Deeds love love is how we find happiness the point of Our Lives is not to accumulate power and wealth it's to love the modern world largely insists that money brings happiness we have this attitude of Desiring more and more no matter how comfortable our current circumstances I know I fall prey to this mindset if if I just have the the next thing then I'll be satisfied but I never am we never are naturally money can remove stressors and make life easier allowing time and energy for more fulfilling Pursuits than simp survival but at some point we have to realize that we are inherently broken that not all our problems can be solved by having more cash on hand I mean just for one example look at the divorce rate in Hollywood what is it like 217% all of that money and so few happy lasting marriages okay so why am I talking about money in context of this quote well because money is power plain and simple the reason that the love of money is the root of all evil is because the love of money is really a love of power of the ability to Simply get what one wants whenever one wants it without having to sacrifice and what is it called when you think that your desire supersedes all other Goods oh yeah Pride we've come full circle so how do we choose Love Simple at least in theory we live for others and not for ourselves I want to clarify what I mean by that because sometimes it gets taken to mean that we should just forget about our own well-being entirely and just give give and give until we have nothing left I don't mean that we should allow ourselves to be dmats who only live to provide for the every need of someone else and don't attend to our own needs at all there's an important qualifier when we talk about living and sacrificing for another Prudence is still required if you're in a relationship in which you put in all the effort and the other person doesn't remotely reciprocate that is unhealthy and possibly even abusive and of course you are not called to continue giving without reservation but finding a relationship in which you can comfortably give totally of yourself and know that your self gift will be returned with a full and open heart isn't that what we all hope for power is fragile and fleeting it can all too easily be ripped away leaving us destitute love is secure if built on a solid foundation of trust and respect it is unshakable and lifelong why wouldn't we choose that one last thought before I go well one more of io's thoughts anyway it is important to draw wisdom from different places if you take it from only one place it becomes rigid and stale in other words no human being knows everything not even iro somehow it seems that despite the vast number of sources of information available to us so many of us tend to hold one set of beliefs or another opposing set of beliefs talk about rigid and stale there is knowledge and wisdom to be gleaned from every corner of the internet and from all kinds of people and yet we tend to stick to a small circle that just tells us what we want to hear and Views current events through the same lens that we look through we're far too quick to discard someone's entire perspective or argument on the basis of disagreement on a single point believe me I see the sentiment all the time in the comments human beings are wonderfully diverse that is we all live different lives that affects how we see the world and those infinitely varying perspectives provide an opportunity for every one of us to learn and grow to better understand each other and thus to be better friends neighbors and people if only we would actually make an effort to listen to each other and not cram every person we run across into one box or another I know I'm hardly blameless in that sense I struggle to live up to all of these standards that I describe in these Reflections I'm prideful I struggle with inaction and laziness I'm entirely too self-reliant and I am always chasing the next thing but I'm trying and while the words of iro are hardly the only ones I keep in my mind I can hardly express how much I love that this show which has been a part of my life for over a decade is still relevant the values inherent in it truly Timeless and the wisdom of its wisest character perpetually helpful like I said at the beginning even though iro isn't real his words are they have meaning beyond the story of Ang Zuko and the others io's wisdom is one of the many reasons why avatar The Last Airbender is a story that really matters The Saga that keeps me coming back for more even after countless viewings and a tale that millions of people simply cannot get enough of apparently you are one of those people I'm glad thank you for being here and listening to my pseudo philosophical ramblings I hope you enjoyed it I know I did I mean who doesn't love talking about Uncle iro but all good things must come to an end and so I will put an end to this conversation for now please let me know your thoughts down below and I will do my level best to converse with you guys like I said I love talking about iro and the wisdom he has to share so please leave a comment thank you again for watching and I will see you in the next one

Channel: Master Samwise

Views: 64,529

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Id: dxgxuIsYtsc

Length: 18min 11sec (1091 seconds)

Published: Mon Jan 08 2024