Beyond Life and Death: The Way of True Freedom

Actor and martial artist Li chronicles his search for spiritual meaning in his inspiring debut. Already a martial arts champion in China by the time he was a teenager, Li landed his first major film role in 1982’s The Shaolin Temple, when he was 19. He went on to star in more than 20 international martial arts movies throughout the ’90s. As his fame increased, so did his desire for deeper meaning, pushing him toward philanthropy and a rigorous study of Buddhism and Taoism. Li’s narrative unspools at a leisurely pace, intertwining explanations of spiritual concepts with accounts of the death of Li’s mother in the late ’90s and his harrowing experience surviving the 2004 tsunami in Thailand. His reflections on aging (“Taoism teaches me to age like a tree—shedding leaves naturally. Buddhism reminds me not to mourn them”) and nonviolence (“If you love everyone, there is no offense or defense”) are especially potent. Readers willing to tune into the book’s meditative wavelength will be rewarded with a touching account of one man’s quest for inner peace. This is a balm. Agent: Marc Gerald, Europa Content. (May)