(Aug 3, 1941 – Jun 16, 2026)
OBITUARY
(TibetanReview.net, Jun18’26) – Professor Robert AF Thurman, the first Westerner to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk by His Holiness the Dalai Lama and who went on to become an acclaimed Buddhist scholar who devoted himself also to advocate for Tibet and preserve its culture has reached the end of his life on Jun 16, aged 84.
Known as much for his Buddhist scholarship as for his famed Hollywood star daughter Uma Thurman, Thurman has left behind a lifetime of work connecting Tibetan wisdom with Western audiences and helping preserve a culture close to his heart.
Born in Manhattan on Aug 3, 1941, Thurman was a restless spirit which got him expelled from Phillips Exeter Academy in 1958 for slipping away to join Fidel Castro’s guerrilla army in Cuba.
In 1961 a freak accident while changing a flat tyre cost him his left eye. Confronted with his own mortality, 20-year-old Thurman dropped out of Harvard, left his first wife, and set out to travel across Asia. He eventually reached India, where he encountered Tibetan lamas living in exile. He later recalled, “the minute I met the Tibetans, I knew they had what I wanted.”
He mastered Tibetan in a matter of months. His brilliance caught the attention of the Dalai Lama, sparking a lifelong friendship. The two young men traded knowledge: Thurman studied Buddhist texts under the spiritual leader, while tutoring the Dalai Lama in nuclear physics, Freudian psychology, and American constitutional law.
Though ordained by the Dalai Lama in 1965, Thurman eventually returned his robes upon the advice of his mentor, Geshe Wangyal, a Tibetan Buddhist monk of Kalmyk heritage, who convinced him that he could better promote Buddhism in the West as a scholar and teacher.
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Thurman then returned to Harvard to earn a doctorate in Indic studies, eventually spending over 30 years as the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. In the classroom and through more than 20 books—including popular bestsellers like ‘Inner Revolution’ and an acclaimed translation of the ‘Tibetan Book of the Dead’—he made Buddhism more accessible to Western readers, teaching it as a guide to living an ethical and meaningful life.
The government of India awarded to him its Padma Shri in 2020 for his distinguished contributions to Literature and Education. It is one of India’s highest civilian awards, given to recognize exceptional contributions in various fields. Thurman received this rare and prestigious honour for his decades of work interpreting and popularizing Buddhist culture.
At the Dalai Lama’s request, he partnered with his wife Nena, actor Richard Gere, and composer Philip Glass to co-found Tibet House US in New York City in 1987, serving as its president to preserve Tibetan culture. He also led the American Institute of Buddhist Studies and established the Menla Retreat & Dewa Spa, their meditation and holistic wellness center in the Catskill Mountains of New York that offers Tibetan Medicine practices and other healing modalities.
Thurman also testified in the US Congress on the situation in Tibet, urging Washington to strongly support the Tibetan cause in the face of China’s ongoing oppression and threat to Tibet’s identity.
Washington-based Tibet advocacy group International Campaign for Tibet, chaired by Richard Gere, honoured Thurman with its Light of Truth award in 2003 for his significant contributions to public understanding of Tibet and its people.
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In his condolence message, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi ,writing on X on Jun 17, described Thurman as “an eminent scholar of Buddhism, a distinguished teacher and a lifelong friend of India” who “popularised Buddhist thoughts globally and also built enduring bridges of understanding between cultures.”
And the Dalai Lama has written of Thurman: “Bob lived a meaningful life and has left behind a legacy that will continue to inspire future students of Tibetan Buddhism and culture for generations to come.”
Besides, Sikyong Penpa Tsering of the Central Tibetan Administration has written that Thurman was “one of the earliest and most influential voices in promoting Tibetan Buddhism in the West” and he “his life to sharing the wisdom and values of Tibetan Buddhism with the world.” He said the “Tibetan people will remember Professor Thurman with deep gratitude for his lifelong friendship, dedication and service.”
Gere has called Thurman “a steadfast friend and tireless advocate for the Tibetan people and His Holiness the Dalai Lama” and recalled their joint effort “in organizing the very successful International Year of Tibet in 1991.”
In addition to his daughter Taya, Thurman had four accomplished adult children with Nena—actress Uma Thurman; Ganden, executive director of Tibet House; Dechen, an actor and massage therapist; and Mipam, an actor turned real estate agent—as well as eight grandchildren, among them Uma’s daughter, Maya Hawke, and son Levon Hawke, who are both actors.