Download James Mullens, is Professor of Religious Studies

James Mullens
James Mullens is the former Chair and
Assistant Professor of Religious Studies. His
area of expertise is Buddhism and culture in
the Indo-Tibetan tradition. He's studied Zen
in Japan and yoga in a Hindu ashram in
India; acted briefly as a bodyguard for the
Dalai Lama; worked on a kibbutz in Israel;
and goes on frequent retreats to St. Peter's
Abbey, in Muenster.
His interest in Buddhist studies and
comparative religions, which he's taught
here for eight years, was first fostered while
he was an anthropology student at Simon
Fraser University in the late '60s. There, he
became involved in First Nations efforts to preserve their cultures, an
interest that later expanded to include other endangered cultures around
the world.
He became especially intrigued by the possibilities for
expanding human consciousness offered by religions such as Hinduism
and Buddhism.
After completing his MA, he traveled to India on a Shastri Institute
exchange in 1974 and later got a job as a consular assistant with the
Canadian High Commission, in New Delhi. It was here that he first began
amassing material for what eventually became the subject of his PhD
thesis (McMaster 1994) and is soon to be published as a book: The
Bodhisattva Ideal in Mahayana Buddhist Education, which looks at aspects
of medieval Buddhism and monastic life in India. He has begun gathering
material for another book, Keepers of the Flame: Stories of Exiles 19591971, which will detail the experiences of those who lived in this cultural
preserve.
Professor Mullens is a contributor to the Encyclopedia of the Great Plains,
(2004) edited by David Wishart which is showcased in the 2007 University
Authors Exhibition.
With his Tibet-born wife Tsering, and their three children, Professor
Mullens maintains close links to the Tibetan community, even living here in
Saskatoon.