Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman (born August 3, 1941) is an American
Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
author and academic who has written, edited, and translated several books on
Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...
. He was the
Je Tsongkhapa
Tsongkhapa ( Tibetan: ཙོང་ཁ་པ་, '','' meaning: "the man from Tsongkha" or "the Man from Onion Valley", c. 1357–1419) was an influential Tibetan Buddhist monk, philosopher and tantric yogi, whose activities led to the format ...
Professor of
Indo-Tibet
Tibet (; ''Böd''; ), or Greater Tibet, is a region in the western part of East Asia, covering much of the Tibetan Plateau and spanning about . It is the homeland of the Tibetan people. Also resident on the plateau are other ethnic groups s ...
an Buddhist Studies at
Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
, before retiring in June 2019.
He was the first endowed chair in Buddhist Studies in the West.
He also is the co-founder and president of the
Tibet House US
Tibet House US (THUS) is a Tibetan cultural preservation and education 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1987 in New York City by a group of Westerners after the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, expressed his wish to establish a cultural inst ...
New York. He translated the
Vimalakirti Sutra
The ''Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa'' (Devanagari: विमलकीर्तिनिर्देश) (sometimes referred to as the ''Vimalakīrti Sūtra'' or ''Vimalakīrti Nirdeśa Sūtra'') is a Buddhist text which centers on a lay Buddhist medita ...
from the Tibetan
Kanjur
The Tibetan Buddhist canon is a defined collection of sacred texts recognized by various schools of Tibetan Buddhism, comprising the Kangyur and the Tengyur. The ''Kangyur'' or ''Kanjur'' is Buddha's recorded teachings (or the 'Translation of t ...
into English. He is the father and grandfather of actresses
Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 cover ...
and
Maya Hawke
Maya Ray Thurman Hawke (born July 8, 1998) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is the daughter of Hollywood actors Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman. She began her career in modeling, and subsequently made her screen debut as Jo March in ...
.
Early life and education
Thurman was born in
New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...
, the son of Elizabeth Dean Farrar (1907–1973), a stage actress, and Beverly Reid Thurman, Jr. (1909–1962), an
Associated Press
The Associated Press (AP) is an American not-for-profit organization, not-for-profit news agency headquartered in New York City.
Founded in 1846, it operates as a cooperative, unincorporated association, and produces news reports that are dist ...
editor and
U.N.
The United Nations (UN) is the global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and security, to develop friendly relations among st ...
translator (French and English).
He is of English, German, Scottish, and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish descent.
[ His brother, John Thurman, is a professional concert cellist who performs with the ]Detroit Symphony Orchestra
The Detroit Symphony Orchestra (DSO) is an American orchestra based in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan. Its primary performance venue is Orchestra Hall (Detroit, Michigan), Orchestra Hall at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in Detroit's Midtown, Detroit, ...
. He attended Phillips Exeter Academy
Phillips Exeter Academy (often called Exeter or PEA) is an Independent school, independent, co-educational, college-preparatory school in Exeter, New Hampshire. Established in 1781, it is America's sixth-oldest boarding school and educates an es ...
from 1954 to 1958, then went to Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
, where he obtained his B.A.
A Bachelor of Arts (abbreviated B.A., BA, A.B. or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is the holder of a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the liberal arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree ...
in 1962. He later returned to Harvard for graduate study in Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
, receiving an M.A.
A Master of Arts ( or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA or AM) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Those admitted to the degree have ...
in 1969 and a Ph.D.
A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...
in 1972.
In 1960, he married Marie-Christophe de Menil, daughter of Dominique de Menil
Dominique de Menil (née Schlumberger; March 23, 1908 – December 31, 1997) was a French- American art collector, philanthropist, founder of the Menil Collection and an heiress to the Schlumberger Limited oil-equipment fortune.Helfenstein, Jos ...
and John de Menil
John de Ménil (January 4, 1904 – June 1, 1973) was a Franco-American businessman, philanthropist, and art patron.Helfenstein, Josef, and Laureen Schipsi. ''Art and Activism: Projects of John and Dominique de Menil''. Houston: The Menil Coll ...
and heiress to the Schlumberger Limited
Schlumberger (), doing business as SLB, is a global multinational oilfield services company. Founded in France in 1926, the company is now incorporated as Schlumberger NV in Willemstad, Curaçao, with principal executive offices in Houston, ...
oil-equipment fortune. In 1961 Thurman lost his left eye in an accident while he was using a jack
Jack may refer to:
Places
* Jack, Alabama, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack, Missouri, US, an unincorporated community
* Jack County, Texas, a county in Texas
People and fictional characters
* Jack (given name), a male given name, incl ...
to lift an automobile
A car, or an automobile, is a motor vehicle with wheels. Most definitions of cars state that they run primarily on roads, Car seat, seat one to eight people, have four wheels, and mainly transport private transport#Personal transport, peopl ...
, and the eye was replaced with an ocular prosthetic
An ocular prosthesis, artificial eye or glass eye is a type of craniofacial prosthesis that replaces an absent natural eye following an enucleation, evisceration, or orbital exenteration. Someone with an ocular prosthesis is altogether blind ...
.
Career
After the accident Thurman decided to refocus his life, divorcing de Menil and traveling from 1961 to 1966 in Turkey, Iran and India. In India he taught English to exiled tulkus
A ''tulku'' (, also ''tülku'', ''trulku'') is an individual recognized as the reincarnation of a previous spiritual master (lama), and expected to be reincarnated, in turn, after death. The tulku is a distinctive and significant aspect of Tibet ...
(reincarnated Tibetan lamas). After his father's death in 1962, Thurman came back to the United States and in New Jersey
New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...
met Geshe Wangyal, a Kalmyk Buddhist monk from Mongolia
Mongolia is a landlocked country in East Asia, bordered by Russia to the north and China to the south and southeast. It covers an area of , with a population of 3.5 million, making it the world's List of countries and dependencies by po ...
who became his first guru. Thurman became a Buddhist
Buddhism, also known as Buddhadharma and Dharmavinaya, is an Indian religion and List of philosophies, philosophical tradition based on Pre-sectarian Buddhism, teachings attributed to the Buddha, a wandering teacher who lived in the 6th or ...
and went back to India where, due to Wangyal's introduction, Thurman studied with Tenzin Gyatso
The 14th Dalai Lama (born 6 July 1935; full spiritual name: Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso, shortened as Tenzin Gyatso; ) is the incumbent Dalai Lama, the highest spiritual leader and head of Tibetan Buddhism. He served a ...
, the 14th Dalai Lama
The Dalai Lama (, ; ) is the head of the Gelug school of Tibetan Buddhism. The term is part of the full title "Holiness Knowing Everything Vajradhara Dalai Lama" (圣 识一切 瓦齐尔达喇 达赖 喇嘛) given by Altan Khan, the first Shu ...
. Thurman was ordained by the Dalai Lama in 1965, the first American Buddhist monk of the Tibetan Buddhist tradition, and the two became close friends.
In 1967, Thurman returned to the United States and renounced his monk status (which required celibacy) to marry his second wife, German-Swedish model and psychotherapist Nena von Schlebrügge, who was divorced from Timothy Leary
Timothy Francis Leary (October 22, 1920 – May 31, 1996) was an American psychologist and author known for his strong advocacy of psychedelic drugs. Evaluations of Leary are polarized, ranging from "bold oracle" to "publicity hound". Accordin ...
. Thurman obtained an M.A in 1969 and a Ph.D. in Sanskrit
Sanskrit (; stem form ; nominal singular , ,) is a classical language belonging to the Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan branch of the Indo-European languages. It arose in northwest South Asia after its predecessor languages had Trans-cultural ...
Indian Studies in 1972 from Harvard. He was professor of religion at Amherst College
Amherst College ( ) is a Private college, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Amherst, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1821 as an attempt to relocate Williams College by its then-president Zepha ...
from 1973 to 1988, when he accepted a position at Columbia University
Columbia University in the City of New York, commonly referred to as Columbia University, is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Churc ...
as professor of religion and Sanskrit.
In 1986, Thurman created Tibet House US
Tibet House US (THUS) is a Tibetan cultural preservation and education 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1987 in New York City by a group of Westerners after the Fourteenth Dalai Lama, Tenzin Gyatso, expressed his wish to establish a cultural inst ...
with Nena von Schlebrügge, Richard Gere
Richard Tiffany Gere ( ; born August 31, 1949) is an American actor. He began appearing in films in the 1970s, playing a supporting role in ''Looking for Mr. Goodbar (film), Looking for Mr. Goodbar'' (1977) and a starring role in ''Days of Hea ...
and Philip Glass
Philip Glass (born January 31, 1937) is an American composer and pianist. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential composers of the late 20th century. Glass's work has been associated with minimal music, minimalism, being built up fr ...
at the request of the Dalai Lama. Tibet House US is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to help preserve Tibetan Culture in exile. In 2001, the Pathwork Center, a retreat center on Panther Mountain in Phoenicia, New York
Phoenicia is a Hamlet (New York), hamlet (and census-designated place) of Shandaken, New York, Shandaken in Ulster County, New York, Ulster County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 268 at the 2020 United States census, ...
, was donated to Tibet House US. Thurman and von Schlebrügge renamed the center Menla Retreat and Dewa Spa. Menla (the Tibetan name for the Medicine Buddha
Bhaiṣajyaguru (, zh, t= , , , , ), or ''Bhaishajyaguru'', formally Bhaiṣajya-guru-vaiḍūrya-prabha-rāja ("Medicine Master and King of Lapis Lazuli Light"; zh, t=藥師琉璃光(王)如來, , , ), is the Buddha of healing and medicine i ...
) was developed into a state-of-the-art healing arts center grounded in the Tibetan Medical tradition in conjunction with other holistic paradigms. In 2009, Thurman starred in Rosa von Praunheim
Holger Bernhard Bruno Mischwitzky (born Holger Radtke; 25 November 1942), known professionally as Rosa von Praunheim, is a German film director, author, producer, professor of directing and one of the most influential and famous LGBT social move ...
's film ''History of Hell - Rosas Höllenfahrt''.
Ideas
Thurman is known for translations and explanations of Buddhist religious and philosophical material, particularly that pertaining to the Gelug
file:DalaiLama0054 tiny.jpg, 240px, 14th Dalai Lama, The 14th Dalai Lama (center), the most influential figure of the contemporary Gelug tradition, at the 2003 Kalachakra ceremony, Bodh Gaya, Bodhgaya (India)
The Gelug (, also Geluk; 'virtuous' ...
pa (dge-lugs-pa) school of Tibetan Buddhism
Tibetan Buddhism is a form of Buddhism practiced in Tibet, Bhutan and Mongolia. It also has a sizable number of adherents in the areas surrounding the Himalayas, including the Indian regions of Ladakh, Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, D ...
and its founder, Je Tsongkhapa
Tsongkhapa ( Tibetan: ཙོང་ཁ་པ་, '','' meaning: "the man from Tsongkha" or "the Man from Onion Valley", c. 1357–1419) was an influential Tibetan Buddhist monk, philosopher and tantric yogi, whose activities led to the format ...
.
Recognition and awards
''Time
Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' named Thurman one of the 25 most influential Americans of 1997. In 2003 he received the Light of Truth Award
The Light of Truth Award is a human rights award which is presented nearly annually by the International Campaign for Tibet (ICT), an NGO aiming for the promotion of democracy and human rights for the Tibetan people. The award is presented since ...
, a human rights award from the International Campaign for Tibet
The International Campaign for Tibet (ICT) is a non-profit advocacy group working to promote democratic freedoms for Tibetans, ensure their human rights, and protect Tibetan culture and the environment. Founded in 1988, ICT is the world's larges ...
. New York Magazine named him as one of the "Influentials" in religion in 2006. In 2020 he was a recipient of India's prestigious Padma Shri Award
The Padma Shri (IAST: ''padma śrī'', lit. 'Lotus Honour'), also spelled Padma Shree, is the fourth-highest Indian honours system, civilian award of the Republic of India, after the Bharat Ratna, the Padma Vibhushan and the Padma Bhushan. In ...
for literature and education.
Thurman is considered a pioneering, creative and talented translator of Buddhist literature by many of his English-speaking peers. Speaking of Thurman's translation of Tsongkhapa's ''Essence of Eloquence'' (''Legs bshad snying po''), Matthew Kapstein
Matthew T. Kapstein is a scholar of Tibetan religions, Buddhism, and the cultural effects of the Chinese occupation of Tibet. He is Numata Visiting Professor of Buddhist Studies at the University of Chicago Divinity School, and Director of Tibetan ...
(professor at the University of Chicago
The University of Chicago (UChicago, Chicago, or UChi) is a Private university, private research university in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Its main campus is in the Hyde Park, Chicago, Hyde Park neighborhood on Chicago's South Side, Chic ...
and Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes in Paris) has written that, "The ''Essence of Eloquence'' is famed in learned Tibetan circles as a text of unparalleled difficulty. ... To have translated it into English at all must be reckoned an intellectual accomplishment of a very high order. To have translated it to all intents and purposes correctly is a staggering achievement." Similarly, prominent Buddhologist Jan Nattier has praised the style of Thurman's translation of the ''Vimalakīrti Sūtra'', praising it as among the very best of translations of that important Indian Buddhist scripture.[“The Teaching of Vimalakīrti (Vimalakīrtinirdeśa): A Review of Four English Translations” by Jan Nattier in Buddhist Literature 2 (2000), pg. 234-258]
Personal life
Twice married, Robert Thurman is the father of five children and grandfather to eight grandchildren. With Marie-Christophe de Menil, he has one daughter, Taya; their grandson was the artist Dash Snow
Dashiell A. Snow (July 27, 1981 – July 13, 2009) was an American artist based in New York City.Roberta Smith"Dash Snow, New York Artist, Dies at 27" ''The New York Times'', July 14, 2009. Snow's photographs included scenes of sex, drugs, viole ...
. He also has a great-granddaughter through Snow. Robert and Nena Thurman have four children, including Ganden, who is executive director of Tibet House US, actress Uma Thurman
Uma Karuna Thurman (born April 29, 1970) is an American actress. She has performed in a variety of films, from romantic comedies and dramas to science fiction and action films. Following her appearances on the December 1985 and May 1986 cover ...
, Dechen, and Mipam. Robert and Nena's children grew up in Woodstock, NY
Woodstock is a town in Ulster County, New York, United States, in the northern part of the county, northwest of Kingston. It lies within the borders of the Catskill Park. The population was 6,287 at the 2020 census, up from 5,884 in 2010.
Hi ...
, where the Thurmans had bought nine acres of land with a small inheritance Nena had received. The Thurmans built their own house there.
Selected publications
* ''The Central Philosophy of Tibet: A Study and Translation of Jey Tsong Khapa's Essence of True Eloquence'', Princeton University Press
Princeton University Press is an independent publisher with close connections to Princeton University. Its mission is to disseminate scholarship within academia and society at large.
The press was founded by Whitney Darrow, with the financial ...
, 1991
* ''The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between'' Bantam Doubleday Dell
Doubleday is an American publishing company. It was founded as the Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897. By 1947, it was the largest book publisher in the United States. It published the work of mostly U.S. authors under a number of imprints and ...
, 1994 (translations in Spanish, French, German, Italian, Korean, Japanese, Chinese, Russian)
* ''Essential Tibetan Buddhism'', Castle Books, 1995
* ''Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet'', with Marilyn Rhie Abrams, 1996
* ''Mandala: The Architecture of Enlightenment'', with Denise P. Leidy, Shambhala Publications
Shambhala Publications is an Independent publisher, independent publishing company based in Boulder, Colorado. According to the company, it specializes in "books that present creative and conscious ways of transforming the individual, the societ ...
, 1997 ,
* ''World of Transformation: Masterpieces of Tibetan Sacred Art in the Donald Rubin Collection'', with Marilyn Rhie, Tibet House US/ Abrams, 1999
* ''Inner Revolution: Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Real Happiness'', Penguin
Penguins are a group of aquatic flightless birds from the family Spheniscidae () of the order Sphenisciformes (). They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere. Only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is equatorial, with a sm ...
, 1999
* ''Circling the Sacred Mountain: A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas'' with Tad Wise, Bantam Doubleday Dell
Doubleday is an American publishing company. It was founded as the Doubleday & McClure Company in 1897. By 1947, it was the largest book publisher in the United States. It published the work of mostly U.S. authors under a number of imprints and ...
, 1999
* ''The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture'', Pennsylvania State University Press
The Penn State University Press, also known as The Pennsylvania State University Press, is a non-profit publisher of scholarly books and journals. Established in 1956, it is the independent publishing branch of the Pennsylvania State University ...
, 2000,
* ''Infinite Life: Seven Virtues for Living Well'', Riverhead Books
Riverhead Books is an imprint of Penguin Group (USA) founded in 1994 by Susan Petersen Kennedy.
Writers published by Riverhead include Ali Sethi, Marlon James, Junot Díaz, George Saunders, Khaled Hosseini, Nick Hornby, Anne Lamott, Carl ...
, 2004,
* ''The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (with Lozang Jamspal, et al.)'', Columbia University Press
Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...
, 2005
* ''The Jewel Tree of Tibet: The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism'', Free Press
Freedom of the press refers to legal protections for public communications media.
Free Press may also refer to:
Publications
* ''Free Press'' (CPBF), the journal of the Campaign for Press and Broadcasting Freedom
* ''Free Press'' (Malayalam magaz ...
/Simon & Schuster
Simon & Schuster LLC (, ) is an American publishing house owned by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts since 2023. It was founded in New York City in 1924, by Richard L. Simon and M. Lincoln Schuster. Along with Penguin Random House, Hachette Book Group US ...
, 2005
* ''Visions of Tibet: Outer, Inner, Secret'', photographs by Brian Kistler, introduction by Robert Thurman, ed. Thomas Yarnell, Overlook Duckworth, 2005,
* ''Anger: of the Seven Deadly Sins'', Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...
, 2005,
* ''Life and Teachings of Tsongkhapa'', Library of Tibetan Works and Archives
A library is a collection of books, and possibly other materials and media, that is accessible for use by its members and members of allied institutions. Libraries provide physical (hard copies) or digital (soft copies) materials, and may be a ...
, 2006,
* ''Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet and the World'', Atria Books
Atria may refer to:
Science
*Atrium (heart) (plural: atria), an anatomical structure of the heart
*Atria (genus), a flatworm genus in the family Dendrocoelidae
* Atria (star) or Alpha Trianguli Australis, a star in the constellation Triangulum Aus ...
/ Beyond Words, 2008,
* ''A Shrine for Tibet: The Alice Kandell
Alice S. Kandell is an American child psychologist, author, photographer and art collector interested in Himalayan culture. She worked extensively in the Indian state of Sikkim as a photographer, capturing approximately 15,000 color slides, as we ...
Collection'' with Marylin Rhie, Overlook
A scenic viewpoint—also called an observation point, viewpoint, viewing point, vista point, scenic overlook,These terms are more commonly used in North America. etc.—is an elevated location where people can view scenery (often with binocul ...
, 2010 ,
* ''Tsong Khapa’s Extremely Brilliant Lamp'', Robert Thurman, 2010,
* ''Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp of the Five Stages'', Columbia University Press
Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...
, 2011,
* ''Love Your Enemies: How To Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier'' with Sharon Salzberg
Sharon Salzberg (born August 5, 1952) is an author and teacher of Buddhist meditation practice in the West. In 1974, she co-founded the Insight Meditation Society at Barre, Massachusetts, with Jack Kornfield and Joseph Goldstein. Her emphasi ...
, Hay House
Hay House is a publisher founded in 1984 by author Louise Hay, who is known for her books on New Thought. ''The New York Times'' dubbed Hay "The Queen of the New Age," noting that she became "one of the bestselling authors in ...
, 2013
* ''My Appeal to the World'', 14th Dalai Lama, Sofia Stril-Rever, compiler, Robert Thurman, foreword, Tibet House US, Hay House, 2015,
* ''Man of Peace: The Illustrated Life Story of the Dalai Lama of Tibet'', graphic novel, William Meyers, Robert Thurman, Michael G. Burbank, initiated artistically by Rabkar Wangchuk, art a team effort of five artists coordinated by Steve Buccellato
Steve Buccellato (born May 1968) is a freelance artist and self-publisher who has worked in the comics industry as a colorist
In comics, a colorist is responsible for adding color to black-and-white line art. For most of the 20th century thi ...
and Michael Burbank, Tibet House US,
* ''The Treasury of Buddhist Sciences'', series, editors, Robert Thurman, Thomas Yarnall and ''The Treasury of Indic Sciences,'' series, editors Robert Thurman, Gary Tubb and Thomas Yarnall, are copublished with the American institute of Buddhist Studies and the Columbia University Center for Buddhist Studies; distributed by the Columbia University Press
Columbia University Press is a university press based in New York City
New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's la ...
:
References
External links
*
Tibet House Thurman Biography
Tibet House, New York City
*
First 30 Years of Tibet House
' film
Tibet House US Channel
Menla Retreat, Resort and Spa in upstate New York, the Dalai Lama and Robert Thurman, Spiritual Directors
Sharon Salzberg + Robert Thurman, ''Meeting Our Enemies and Our Suffering''
On Being
''On Being'' is a podcast and a former public radio program. Hosted by Krista Tippett, it examines what it calls the "animating questions at the center of human life: What does it mean to be human, and how do we want to live?" This podcast should ...
with Krista Tippett
Krista Tippett (née Weedman; born November 9, 1960) is an American journalist, author, and public intellectual. Since 2003, she has served as creator and host of the Peabody Award winning program '' On Being''. In 2014, Tippett was awarded the ...
unedited interview
{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurman, Robert
1941 births
Living people
Harvard University alumni
Amherst College faculty
American people of English descent
American people of German descent
American people of Irish descent
American people of Scottish descent
American activists
American curators
Buddhist translators
Columbia University faculty
American Indologists
Robert Thurman
Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman (born August 3, 1941) is an American Buddhist author and academic who has written, edited, and translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism. He was the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at ...
Tibetan Buddhism writers
Tibet freedom activists
Tibetan Buddhists from the United States
Converts to Buddhism
Phillips Exeter Academy alumni
American Buddhist monks
20th-century American monks
20th-century Buddhist monks
American scholars of Buddhism
20th-century American Buddhists
21st-century American Buddhists
21st-century American monks
21st-century Buddhist monks
Recipients of the Padma Shri in literature and education