Li Way
Besides being a homophone of leeway, it’s a fitting alternative to The Tao of Li since Tao means way. Like fellow actor Richard Gere, Jet Li is a Buddhist. Back in October, Jet published his first book — Beyond Life and Death: Jet Li Looking for Jet Li. It’s only available in Chinese. It was written before his 60th birthday in April 2023. I say this because he wrote in the preface: “In the blink of an eye, I am about to turn sixty years old. Some friends and publishing houses (at home and abroad) asked me to write a memoir, but I never agreed. Think about it, there are so many brilliant figures in the history of the East and the West, how many can we still remember? On Earth, or even in the universe, we are so small, what does my story mean? The past is past, and the future has not happened yet. Just as the Buddha said in the Diamond Sutra: The past mind cannot be grasped, the present mind cannot be grasped, and the future mind cannot be grasped. There seems to be no reason to spend more time describing my personal life trajectory.”
As for why he changed his mind, Jet Li said: “In the past three years, the COVID-19 epidemic has swept the world, coupled with continuous natural disasters and wars, millions of people have died as a result. I can feel their pain as relatives. In this time of disaster, war, and economic recession, I would like to make some efforts. When I discussed these sufferings with my master, Mingyur Rinpoche, he encouraged me to share my 25 years of pursuit of transcending life and death. Therefore, I changed my original idea of not publishing a book, hoping to help friends who are destined to see life from a different perspective through Buddhism, thereby reducing worries, and gain more happiness. In the past 25 years, I have encountered various problems whether in secular life, film work, charity, or studying Buddhism. Being a child has its pains, and being a parent also has its pains. What is the meaning of this life? Is there reincarnation? And who am I?”
Turn worries into wisdom by learning four heart-changing thoughts: “The first step in spiritual practice should be to understand the four preliminaries. These concepts are: The human life is rare, Karma via causality, life and death are impermanent, and reincarnation faults. This quartet is also called the Four Thoughts of Transforming the Mind. They are the basis for Buddhist disciples to transform their worldly mind into a spiritual mind, which also establishes the determination to escape from reincarnation. The purpose of practicing the four preliminaries is to apply these concepts to all aspects of life. Buddhism is never an unfathomable castle in the air, but is very down-to-earth and can truly feel the sutra of life. For example, impermanence.”
The human life is rare: “When people talk about past and present lives, they all seem to take "people" as the basic assumption. It is extremely rare to be reincarnated as a human being. People's previous lives were most likely not human, but could have been an insect invisible to the naked eye, or a ghost without an actual form. Even if you successfully reincarnate as a human being, you will still have different living conditions. Are your facial features sound at birth? Is your body healthy? Are you reborn in a war-torn place? Do you have the opportunity to receive education? The reincarnation situation of all living beings is completely driven by their own cause and effect. Every time you are reincarnated, it is like having a new mobile phone device. Karma is like cloud data, which will be completely placed in the new device.”
Karma via causality: “Sometimes people question why someone, after doing so many bad things, will end up well in old age? This requires observing the causes from a broader perspective of time and space. Consider the time required for maturity and the conditions that promote it may exceed one lifetime, so the proverb says Evil will be punished. It's not that you don't get retribution, it’s just that the time has yet to come. Through studying Buddhism, I face the harm I have received in a positive way, reflect on myself, and stop blaming other people and things. In the face of those unripe consequences, I can use the power of repentance to purify them.”
The faults of reincarnation: “When I make a movie, the protagonist has a good or bad fate, he can be a hero or a gangster, because I know that these characters are fictional, so Jet Li can play them with detachment, and then change to the next after making one movie. The same is true for life. If my life keeps repeating through reincarnation, I have to start from scratch every time: study hard for ten or twenty years after birth, then try to find a job, try to get married, try to maintain a family, no matter what your will, you must work hard to manage interpersonal relationships, strive for a better job, and expect a better salary. Such a repetitive life plot is very boring and meaningless to me, so I want to try to change it. When playing video games, you can advance as the game progresses. If you die, you can still read the progress and play the next round. If there is no archive mechanism, players have to go through all the processes from scratch every time. This game may not be fun. Repeated routes may make players feel annoyed and bored.”
Life and death impermanence: “There are often death scenes in movies, whether in battle, assassination or illness. These scenes are often the climax, inducing the audience's emotions such as sadness and regret. The same is true in real life. Seeing or knowing the death of relatives or friends is full of sadness and mourning. People's emotion when facing death is mostly surprise, which is the sense of deprivation coming from impermanence. We experience impermanence again and again by wandering in different life forms. This is reincarnation. We have been floating in this structure from life to life, unable to remember any memory of our lives, but our destiny in this life is advancing along with our own good and evil karma. Buddhism leads us to understand impermanence and grasp the present moment, so that we can reduce regrets and leave no regrets in our actions.”
Since there is impermanence, there is good and bad: “Once, I was passing through Hong Kong Airport. The weather was not good and there were many people preparing to go through customs. When I arrived at the automatic customs gate, I took out my ID card and inserted it into the machine. There was no response from the machine. I was feeling strange when a passenger at the back shouted impatiently. After I heard this, I slowly inserted my ID card into the machine again. There was still no response from the gate, and more people behind started shouting. I felt calm at the moment. Knowing that there was a machine failure, I turned around, bowed, and apologized to the passengers behind me. At this time, the person behind the shouting saw that it was me and saw my reaction, and felt a little embarrassed. Precisely because people assume that everything will go as smoothly as they wish, once they encounter difficulties, they begin to become anxious and troubled.”
A fearful situation: “In the early summer of 2005, I was filming the movie Fearless. This movie has a lot of martial arts scenes, some of which are performed on wooden stakes or high platforms. One day while filming, I had an accident and fell from an eight-foot-high stage. There was a loud bang and I fell to the ground on my back, frightening everyone. During the short period of time when I was lying on the ground in a daze, I thought about impermanence. Later, I stood up by myself and felt it. There seemed to be no obvious injuries, so I didn't take it seriously.”
Lucid hibernating: “Since 2020, the COVID-19 virus has been raging around the world. Traffic in various countries has been blocked and public places have been ordered to close. When the epidemic was at its worst, individuals were restricted from going out, and the world seemed to be forced into a large-scale retreat. During this period, I also entered a long period of retreat, from March 2020 to May 2022. During this period of isolated practice, masters such as Mingyur Rinpoche, Tsoknyi Rinpoche, and Dzongsar Rinpoche would come to visit me and guide me in my retreat practice.”
In the postscript, Jet Li wrote: “In the spring of 2022, I took my young daughter to study Dharma with Mingyur Rinpoche in the United States and Europe, which gave me the idea of writing this book. During that year’s Christmas and New Year holidays, our family planned a pilgrimage to Nepal. The younger daughter also made an appointment with the eldest daughter to complete the happy Zen course taught by Mingyur Rinpoche. My youngest daughter showed signs of depression when she was seven years old. Although she has received medical help over the years, she still suffered from depression and anxiety, and was suicidal. However, after these nine months of studying and meditating, she has become better. A big change, like having a new life again. I am happy because of her happiness, so here I am also willing to share this joy with you and extend my most sincere blessings.”
Self-maintenance: “Nowadays, there is so much information about bodybuilding that we can’t see it, and the values of bodybuilding are generally advocated. Is it fitness or vanity? Is it harmful to the body? Are you happy to do this? Or is it just to get praise from others? If exercise and fitness can make you feel happy from the bottom of your heart, the happiness has a positive meaning; if you just long for others to praise you, once there is no applause, aren’t you feeling lost and sad? The body can become strong through training, and the mind can also become strong through training — changes in the mind reflect changes in values and cognition, which are the fundamental factors that affect the judgment of pain and joy.”
In an epilogue called Prayer and Gratitude, Jet Li wrote: “From 1997 to the present, 25 years of studying Buddhism began with the first seven years, focusing on the ignorant groping of the ego; then entering the next seven years, pursuing public welfare undertakings for the greater self; and then entering the third seven years, I entered the path of selfless practice; and in the four consecutive years of retreat practice, the personal stories and reflection topics presented in this book are my pursuit of transcending life and death. In terms of transcending to the other side of life, it is like boarding a luxury cruise ship. The journey will be slower than taking an airplane, but it will be much gentler and more comfortable. I pray that your goal of pursuing liberation will be clearer and clearest, and that you will not be attached to the boat as a means of transportation.”
Making sense of the senses: “There is a very interesting Tibetan Buddhist metaphor: Our body is like a house, and the senses of vision, hearing, smell, taste, and touch are like the doors and windows.”
A 1992 book by Sogyal Rinpoche: “In 1997, before I became a Buddhist, I read his famous masterpiece The Tibetan Book of Life and Death and I felt very deeply about it. When my mother passed away, it was also because of the instructions and guidance in the book that I used Buddhism to send her off.”
I’m reminded of Megadeth’s United Abominations being a swipe at the United Nations: “All living beings are equal and everyone benefits from the common good. The seven billion people in the world are like the seven billion human cells. Countries are the organs and internal organs. Europe is the liver, China is the heart, Africa is the brain, etc. If the five continents act independently, disasters will definitely occur. This is like if the liver stops working, the heart will have no blood to use. If the heart stops working, the blood will not be sent to the head. Of all the organs, no one is more important than the other. Only by working together can they function well. Another example is the extremities of the limbs. Although they may not seem to be important organs, if a powerful virus enters the body from the extremities and is left alone, it will definitely cause disaster. So I say that all mankind is a whole, the earth is a home, and everyone can contribute.”
The five elements of purity: “In order to take their Buddhist practice to a higher level, many lay people will choose to observe the Five Precepts of Lay Buddhists. These five precepts are: abstain from killing, stealing, sexual misconduct, lying, and drinking alcohol. It is not difficult for me to keep these five precepts.”
I can’t help but be reminded of Kung Fu movies when Jet Li says: “In the past ten years, more than a dozen masters have passed away. As I am about to turn sixty, I hope to share the experiences and impressions I gained from my masters as much as possible. I pray that the living guru will live long and that the guru who has passed away will come again with his wishes.”
I’m reminded of the time that I looked at a small town from a high vintage point in the countryside: “If you look back at the relative world from the above level of ultimate truth, it is like looking back at the earth from space. Everything that human beings rely on for survival is just a small point.”