Jet Li's New Career

Actor Jet Li, a devout Buddhist, is taking up a new career -- philanthropy. Li has established the Jet Li One Foundation Project in China as a grassroots non-governmental organization (NGO). One Foundation already has contributed to Sichuan earthquake relief.

Lynda Gorov quotes Li in today's Boston Globe: "I need to pay back to the world. I started in China because I know the culture very well. In the future I will help elsewhere in Asia, then maybe five or 10 years later in other places in the world. Wherever they need help, I will do my best."

In recent years there have been occasional unfounded reports that Li was preparing to leave his film career to study Buddhism. Li is a student of Lho Kunsang Rinpoche, a Tibetan teacher of the Kagyu school, but he pursues Buddhist studies and a film career at the same time. Li told Gorov that he is not quitting movies this time, either, but he expects to spend less time on film and more on philanthropy in the future.