Robert Thurman

Robert Alexander Farrar Thurman (August 3, 1941 – June 16, 2026) was an American Buddhist philosopher and writer, best known for his work in Tibetan Buddhism. He was the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, before retiring in 2019. He held the first endowed chair in Buddhist Studies in the West. He was of English, German, Scottish, and Scots-Irish/Northern Irish descent. before going to Harvard University, where he obtained his B.A. in 1962. He later returned to Harvard for graduate study in Sanskrit, receiving an M.A. in 1969 and a Ph.D. in 1972.

Career

In 1961, Thurman lost his left eye in an accident "involving a racecar and a car jack", and the eye was replaced with a glass eye. After the accident, Thurman said, he 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 (Tibetan lamas)

After his father's death in 1962, Thurman came back to the United States and in New Jersey met Geshe Wangyal, a Kalmyk Buddhist monk from Mongolia who became his first guru. 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.

In 1986, at the request of the Dalai Lama, Thurman created Tibet House US along with his wife Nena, Richard Gere, and Philip Glass. 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, 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) was developed into a state-of-the-art healing arts center grounded in the Tibetan Medical tradition in conjunction with other holistic paradigms.

In November 2025, Thurman gave a talk organized by the Office of Tibet, London, and Enacting Peace in the Parliament of the United Kingdom, hosted by Chris Law, Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Tibet to celebrate the Dalai Lama's 90th birthday.

Death

Thurman died at his home in Woodstock, New York, on June 16, 2026, at the age of 84. Legacy

In their obituary of Thurman, The New York Times called him the "leading interpreter of Tibetan Buddhism" with a reputation of being the Dalai Lama's "man in America".

Thurman was considered to have been a pioneering, creative, and talented translator of Buddhist literature by many of his English-speaking peers. 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.

Personal life On June 7, 1960, he married Marie-Christophe de Menil, daughter of Dominique de Menil and John de Menil and heiress to the Schlumberger Limited oil-equipment fortune. Their daughter Taya Thurman was born on March 5, 1961.

Thurman was the father of five children and grandfather to eight grandchildren. Through his daughter, Taya, his grandson was the artist Dash Snow. Through his daughter Uma and her husband Ethan Hawke, his grandchildren are actors Levon Hawke and Maya Hawke. In 2003 he received the Light of Truth Award, a human rights award from the International Campaign for Tibet. 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 for literature and education.

Works The Central Philosophy of Tibet: A Study and Translation of Jey Tsong Khapa's Essence of True Eloquence, Princeton University Press, 1991 The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Natural Liberation Through Understanding in the Between Bantam Doubleday Dell, 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, 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, 1999 Circling the Sacred Mountain: A Spiritual Adventure Through the Himalayas with Tad Wise, Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1999 The Holy Teaching of Vimalakirti: A Mahayana Scripture, Pennsylvania State University Press, 2000, Infinite Life: Seven Virtues for Living Well, Riverhead Books, 2004, The Universal Vehicle Discourse Literature (with Lozang Jamspal, et al.), Columbia University Press, 2005 The Jewel Tree of Tibet: The Enlightenment Engine of Tibetan Buddhism, Free Press/Simon & Schuster, 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, 2005, Life and Teachings of Tsongkhapa, Library of Tibetan Works and Archives, 2006, Why the Dalai Lama Matters: His Act of Truth as the Solution for China, Tibet and the World, Atria Books/Beyond Words, 2008, A Shrine for Tibet: The Alice Kandell Collection with Marylin Rhie, Overlook, 2010 , Tsong Khapa's Extremely Brilliant Lamp, Robert Thurman, 2010, Brilliant Illumination of the Lamp of the Five Stages, Columbia University Press, 2011, Love Your Enemies: How To Break the Anger Habit & Be a Whole Lot Happier with Sharon Salzberg, Hay House, 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 and Michael Burbank, Tibet House US,