James H. Cumming was born in New York City. He grew up on the Upper West Side and received his B.A. from Columbia University and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Mr. Cumming was the articles editor of Penn’s prestigious Journal of International Law, and he won an award for his contribution to that leading journal. He graduated from Penn Law School magna cum laude, ranking among the top seven in his class (Penn does not disclose precise class rank), and he later clerked at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, a court that is often described as the second most important court in the U.S. Mr. Cumming is currently empl…
James H. Cumming was born in New York City. He grew up on the Upper West Side and received his B.A. from Columbia University and his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Carey Law School. Mr. Cumming was the articles editor of Penn’s prestigious Journal of International Law, and he won an award for his contribution to that leading journal. He graduated from Penn Law School magna cum laude, ranking among the top seven in his class (Penn does not disclose precise class rank), and he later clerked at the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals, a court that is often described as the second most important court in the U.S. Mr. Cumming is currently employed as a senior research attorney at the California Supreme Court.
Mr. Cumming’s religion scholarship began informally in 1981, when he became attracted to the philosophy of nondual Kashmiri Shaivism. His innate intellectual curiosity motivated him to pursue a disciplined course of independent study in the field of religion while simultaneously excelling in his professional career as an appellate lawyer. In the 1990s, Mr. Cumming learned to read Sanskrit, and his studies included all the leading classics of Hinduism, focusing in particular on the Mahabharata, the Srimad Bhagavatam, and the Upanishads. In the 2000s, Mr. Cumming learned Hebrew and completed a comprehensive study of Jewish mysticism, including such classics as the multi-volume Zohar, the texts of Lurianic Kabbalah and Sabbateanism, the Tanya, and the writings of Nachman of Breslov. He also studied the Hebrew scriptures, using the esoteric hermeneutical methods described in the Sifra di-Tzni’uta, the Idra Rabba, and the Idra Zuta to unlock the incontrovertible hidden meanings of the Torah. (See Cumming, James H., Torah and Nondualism: Diversity, Conflict, and Synthesis (Ibis Press 2019).) Most recently, Mr. Cumming’s research has focused primarily on Western philosophy and, in particular, the ideas of the great Dutch-Jewish philosopher Baruch Spinoza (1632–1677 c.e.).
Mr. Cumming has traveled extensively in India, spending significant periods of time pursuing informal studies in that country. He is the father of two sons and lives with them and his wife in Berkeley, California.
