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48 EASTERN HORIZON | FACE TO FACE

Zhi Yi of Eastern Horizon interviewed Ven. Ji Ru on 26
Carrying the June 2025, where he shared about his Theravāda roots

and transition to Mahāyāna tradition, his early training
Dharma Across of mindfulness of the body in Thailand, his experience of

using Chinese martial arts to help meditation practice,
Traditions and the challenges he faced while in the US.

Zhi Yi: Can you share what inspired the transition
By Ven. Ji Ru from the Theravāda tradition to Chinese Mahāyāna

tradition?
Venerable Ji Ru (继如法师) was originally born in
Malaysia. He was ordained as a monk and studied Ven Ji Ru: I was first ordained in Southern Thailand,
Theravāda Buddhism in Thailand in 1980. He later and it was actually my Muslim friend who sent me to
studied Chinese Buddhism and ordained in that the Sg. Golok area by boat. I studied very hard there,
tradition under the late Ven. Zhu Mo (竺摩長老) I learnt the Thai language, memorized and translated
in Penang in 1986. Venerable Ji Ru held several the Dharma. After some time, my teacher decided that
important teaching and administrative positions in I was ready to be ordained. It was there that I met my
the Buddhist community in Malaysia before going to Dharma brother, who was a British veteran in Vietnam
the United States in 1992. He is currently the abbot war. He encountered Buddhism after the war, and he
had very deep understanding of the Dharma. He was
of the Mid-America Buddhist Association (MABA) down-to-earth and steadfast. He usually translated
in Augusta, and the president of the International the texts using a typewriter. When we first met, he
Buddhist Friendship Association (IBFA) in Chicago. asked why, as a Chinese descendant, I didn’t become
a merchant. That question made me reflect and re-
evaluate my situation. I began to wonder if I should
go out and see the world. Later, I met a Christian
missionary in northeastern Thailand, who asked, “if
Buddhism is so good, why are Buddhist countries so
poor?” I recalled my visit to Burma, where people even
wanted the copper coins from Thailand because the
conditions were so poor. That made me realize that
the Dharma is great, but it may not directly improve
people’s material condition. Another turning point
came while I found the translation of the Diamond
Sūtra, Lotus Sūtra and Kṣitigarbha Sūtra into Thai. I
couldn’t understand the content fully because they
were so different to the Sūtra that I had studied. One of
my teachers explained that Mahāyāna sūtras are more
Ven. Ji Ru consistently participates in the day-to-day work at MABA, descriptive, and must be experienced mindfully, not
often working alongside monastics and laypeople. (Volunteer work in
2025)Buddhist Society at Nalanda Buddhist Society. just understood logically. Until then, I did not know that
Chinese Buddhism had such a rich history.

After returning to Malaysia, I sought a virtuous and
highly respectable teacher, so I went to Miao Ying
temple (妙應寺) in Seremban to see Ven. Ji Guang (寂

晃長老), thinking I could learn the Dharma, traditional