Robert Thurman (1941 – 2026)

Their Story

Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman was a pioneering American Buddhist scholar whose life embodied a remarkable spiritual and intellectual journey. Born in 1941 in New York, where he participated in his parents' weekly Shakespeare readings alongside luminaries like Laurence Olivier, Thurman took an unconventional path to prominence. A car accident during his Harvard years left him blind in one eye, but instead of diminishing his vision, it sparked a transformative quest. He traveled to India and became the first American ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk, studying directly under the 14th Dalai Lama in the 1960s—a friendship and spiritual partnership that would define his life's work. Thurman eventually left the monastery to pursue marriage and academia, bringing his deep Buddhist insights into the Western intellectual world. As the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University—holding the first endowed chair in Buddhist studies in the West—he became a commanding figure in translating both literal Buddhist texts and the profound philosophical traditions of Tibet for American audiences. His translation of the Vimalakirti Sutra and numerous scholarly works earned him recognition as one of the 25 most influential Americans in 1997. At the Dalai Lama's request, he co-founded Tibet House US with Richard Gere and composer Philip Glass in 1987, establishing a vital cultural institution devoted to preserving Tibetan civilization. A devoted father to five children, including actress Uma Thurman, Thurman bridged East and West, making the wisdom of Buddhism accessible and relevant to modern life.

Sources

• https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Thurman