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J.F. Marc des Jardins, PhD

Associate Professor, Religions and Cultures


J.F. Marc des Jardins, PhD
Office: S-R 205  
R Annex,
2050 Mackay
Phone: (514) 848-2424 ext. 5732
Email: marc.desjardins@concordia.ca

J.F. Marc des Jardins joined Concordia in 2005 as Assistant Professor after completing a postdoctoral degree on Conflict Resolutions at the Institute of Asian Research at The University of British Columbia.  He teaches courses on the various Buddhist traditions (Indian, Tibetan, Chinese, Japanese and South Asian) as well as Chinese Popular Cults, Daoism and Tibetan religions. His research focuses on the Tibetan Bön religion and local societies and he has been actively engaged in field-based research along the Sino-Tibetan borderlands since 1991. Dr. des Jardins combines anthropological field methods with textual analysis and historiography. He has recently published a monograph entitled Le sûtra de la Mahâmâyûrî: rituel et politique dans la Chine des Tang (618-907) (Presse de l'Université Laval 2011) which is a study and translation of a key Chinese Buddhist grimoire important in the history of esoterism in Buddhism. In this work, he illustrates how Chinese indigenous cultural and political traditions were highly compatible with the Buddhist ritual traditions of Medieval India.

In 2011, Dr. des Jardins was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor, and is currently working on different translation and research projects on the indigenous Bön Research which seeks to promote and support scientific research on indigenous Tibetan cultural and social traditions.

Education

PhD (McGill University)

Research interests

Tibetan Bön, (its history, practices, beliefs, scriptures and religious lineages)
Tibetan Religions and Society
Chinese Daoism and popular cults along the Sino-Tibetan frontiers
Western China history, societies and religious minorities

Traditions

Buddhism


Courses taught

Teaching


UNDERGRADUATE COURSES(selection) all taught at Concordia University unless stated

RELI 226Introduction to Buddhism

RELI 349 Religionsof China and Japan

RELI 350 TheravadaBuddhism

RELI 364 MahayanaBuddhism

RELI 385 Women andBuddhism

RELI 398J ChineseBuddhism

RELI 398F Religionand politics in China

RELI 398R ChineseReligions

RELI 398P TibetanReligions

RELI 398Z Religionsof Japan

HIST 378  History of China; from antiquity to theend of the Tang dynasty (The University of British Columbia)

HIST 3350  China in the Twentieth Century: Reformsand Revolutions (Kwantlen Polytechnic University)

 

GRADUATE COURSES(selection)

RELI 616R The GreatPerfection in Tibetan Buddhism

RELI 498/616TChan/Zen Buddhism

RELI 617 Religionsof Tibet: Advance topics

RELI 630/498 Daoismand Chinese Popular Religions: Advanced topics

RELI616P/498H Advanced Topics in Mahayana Buddhism

RELI 616BMeditation practice in East Asia

RELI616K Readings of Mahayana texts : The Yogacara Samdhinirmocana sutra andits

commentaries (Chinese and Tibetan)

RELI498D/616Z Seminar on Tibetan Bön Religion

RELI498E 616W Scriptures of the Numinous : Readings of Daoist Scriptures


Selected publications

Selected Publications

La religion ancienne du Tibet, le Bön. Montréal: Editions Namparaz. (forthcoming 2017)

 

The Treatises on Sutra, Tantra and Mind Accordingto the Bon School. Jean-LucAchard, J.F. Marc des Jardins and Kurt Keutzer, translators. WisdomPublications. The Tibetan Classics Library. (Forthcoming 2017)

 

“A Tibetan Bonpopriest’s grimoire: an example of a collection of magical recipes for daily useby a minority religion specialists” Manuscript Culture. Vol. 9. Centreof the Study of Manuscript Cultures. Universität Hamburg. (Forthcoming 2017).

 

“The heritage of a Bonpomaster: preliminary examinations of Tshul khrims mchog rgyal’s records ofempowerments and masters.” The Journal of the International Association forBon Research. Vol. 2. Charles Ramble and J.F. Marc des Jardins (editors).(Forthcoming2017)

 

“About the Zhangzhungmaster sTag la me ‘bar, was he a Tājik?” Journal of Tibetology. Vol.11.2016.

 

“Notes on the history ofBon and the Ye shes monastery in Nyag rong, Sichuan,” The Journal of theInternational Association for Bon Research, no. 1, December 2013, pp.55-76.

 

As editor in chief. TheJournal of the International Association for Bon Research, no. 1, December2013, 343 pages.

 

“The records of Tshulkhrims mchog rgyal on the Black Phur pa cycle of the Tibetan Bon pos”, Revue d’EtudesTibétaines, no. 23, Avril 2012, pp. 169-203.

 

Le sūtra de la Mahāmāyūrī : rituel et politiquedans la Chine des Tang (618-907). (The sūtra of Mahāmāyūrī : ritual et politics in Tang China (618-907)Presses de l’Université Laval (PUL), Québec, Canada. (2011)

 

“Bon Institutions inContemporary Tibetan Territories and the Dynamics of Religious Authority”, Eastand West, volume 59: 1-4,2010, dedicated to the memory of Professor D. L. Snellgrove.

 

“Tibetan Religionsin British Columbia,” in Asian Religions in BritishColumbia, Daniel Overmyerand Larry de Vries, (Eds.) Vancouver: The University of British Columbia Press.(2010)

 

“Rites of the Deity Tamdrin(Rta mgrin) in Contemporary Bön: Transforming Poison and Eliminating NoxiousSpirits with Burning Stones.” Tibetan rituals, José Cabezon, (Ed.) Oxford UniversityPublications, Chap. 8: 187-205. (2009)

 

“Chine Répressiond’état; “Business as usual”, À Babord: revue social etpolitique, No 27 - déc.2008 / jan. 2009.

 

« La difficilerelation Chine-Tibet », Journal Alternatives, Volume 14 - No. 08 – Mai jeudi 1er mai2008.

 


Recent graduate seminars and reading courses

Scripts of the Numinous: Religous Taoist Texts (2010-11)
Chan/Zen Buddhism (2009-10)

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