Pathik

"neutral"

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

Guru Pathik was a nomadic old man who seemed to have great knowledge of the Spirit World and its effects on normal humans, as well as the nature of the Avatar and the Avatar State. He was spiritually enlightened and had helped numerous people, as well as animals like Appa, attain their full potential and clear their pain and suffering. He was willing to teach everybody who wished to learn from him. It was unknown from which nation he originated, as he did not seem to hold an allegiance to one or the other, preferring to operate outside of borders.

Background
Born in 50 BSC, Pathik was a spiritual brother of the Air Nomads, and was a personal friend of Monk Gyatso. When the Air Nomads were wiped out, Pathik then took up residence in the Eastern Air Temple. Many years prior to the start of the series, he had a vision of one day helping the Avatar.

Meeting Appa


In the Eastern Air Temple, he met Appa and understood that he was not the person Appa expected. He simply lied back, looked at Appa every so often, and received a growl in return. Eventually, night settled in, and Appa fell asleep. The guru read Appa's spiritual energy, remarked on how Appa was so full of love and trust, but at the same time fear was moving in where trust should have been. He also told Appa of how he had a vision of Aang and Appa years ago, and decided to come to the Eastern Air Temple and wait for the two. He then left Appa to rest, and said how Appa must let the clouds in his mind part and be at peace.

Come morning, Appa followed a trail of fruit made by the guru, which eventually led Appa to the guru meditating with a group of animals surrounding him. Appa decided to leave the man alone, and, after flying around a bit, he came to rest next to the guru at the top of the temple. The guru gave Appa a note, which he tied to his horn, and then proceeded to tell Appa about how much his energy and Aang's were intertwined. As he told Appa this, he placed his hand on Appa's forehead, and told Appa where to find Aang. Appa flew off, heading to Ba Sing Se. However, the guru's note was intercepted by Long Feng, but was later returned to Aang.

Training Aang
Aang eventually arrived at the Eastern Air Temple and found Guru Pathik meditating atop the same pillar he was on before Appa's departure. Guru Pathik introduced himself as a spiritual brother to the monks and a close friend of Monk Gyatso. Aang asked Pathik how he planned on teaching him to gain control of the Avatar State, to which the guru replied that he must first bring balance to himself before he can bring balance to the world. The Guru first asked Aang to simply drink a liquid, which Aang does before he spit it out, as it was a strange concoction of onion and banana juice.



At the Eastern Air Temple, Guru Pathik began Aang's instruction of the chakras, nexuses of metaphysical and/or biophysical energy in the human body. In order to master the Avatar State, Pathik said that Aang must first open all seven chakras of the body. After he determined that Aang had absolutely no knowledge of the nature of chakras, Pathik proceeded with a visual representation. Using a pond clogged with algae, he successfully explained to Aang the concept of chakras. He stated that by removing the clogs between pools, the water was allowed to flow, just as energy was allowed to flow through the body when the seven chakras were opened. There were in total seven chakras within the body, each with a different purpose and type of blockage: An intense sensation results from the opening of them all. Pathik warned that the process of opening the chakras cannot be halted once it has begun - it must be completed in order to succeed. Aang accepted this risk and they began the process.

Guru Pathik successfully guided Aang through the opening of the first six chakras. However, when Aang learned that to open the seventh and final chakra he would have to let go of his feelings of attachment for Katara, he refused. Guru Pathik attempted to convince him otherwise, but when Aang had a vision of Katara in trouble, he left the Eastern Air Temple to rescue her. Pathik's final words before Aang's departure was a warning that Aang risked locking the final chakra and that he would not be able to enter the Avatar State at all.

Abilities
Pathik was a master of Yôga and meditation, and these skills allowed him to live for at least a hundred and fifty years. He had a vast knowledge of chakras, and the ability to read a person's emotions and feelings by reading their chi, as he demonstrated when he read Appa's. He could also sense the connections between people's energies and could enable them to find each other over great distances, as when he showed Appa that Aang was in Ba Sing Se; this appears to be a more powerful version of an ability Aang used while in the Foggy Swamp, in order to find Appa and Momo.

Trivia



 * He was a big fan of sweeping and dusting.
 * A guru is a spiritual expert. The word "pathik" means "the traveler" in Hindi and was a last name that Mahatma Gandhi personally gave to the family of Magan Kumar, a child born to his ashram in 1938. The Sanskrit version of the name is Pathika, which has a wider range of meanings, such as knowing the way or path; as a noun, it can refer to a traveler or a guide. Also in Turkish, "patik" is used to describe a shoe which is knitted from wool and using indoors and wearing on sock to keep feet warm, and the word patika means "small rough path".
 * During one of Aang's hallucinations, he sang "The Chakras Song" and appeared with six arms holding a veena, a trait commonly shown by Saraswati.
 * Guru Pathik resembled a Hindu holy man due to his bare clothes, long, scruffy beard, and belief of "chakras".
 * Guru Pathik was the oldest living human character in the show, and yet seemed to have no health problems. Interestingly, when Guru Pathik introduced himself as a friend of Monk Gyatso, Aang did not seem surprised that he remained alive to this day.
 * Guru Pathik was also the second-oldest living character in the series, human or creature, after the lion turtle.
 * Guru in Malay, Indonesian, Sanskrit, and many Indian languages means "teacher".
 * Guru is similar to the Filipino word "guro" which also means "teacher".
 * Due to the spiritual nature of the guru, and his similarities to the Air Nomads, many have named Guru Pathik as an honorary Air Nomad.
 * Because Guru Pathik was connected to all the energy in the universe, he knew the Avatar had returned when Aang emerged from the iceberg in an explosion of cosmic energy.
 * Pathik was one of five characters alive before and after the Hundred Year War, the others being Aang, Appa, King Bumi, and the lion turtle.