Thurman, R.

PersonType	Category:Authors of English Works Category:Professors Category:Translators Category:Western Buddhist Teachers
FirstName / namefirst	Robert
LastName / namelast	Thurman
namemiddle	Alexander-Farrar
MainNamePhon	Robert A. F. Thurman
SortName	Thurman, Robert
bio	Robert A.F. Thurman, renowned Buddhist scholar, activist, teacher, author, and co-founder of Tibet House US, died on Tuesday, June 16, 2026, in Woodstock, New York. He was 84. A lifelong friend of His Holiness the Dalai Lama and the first Westerner to be ordained as a Tibetan Buddhist monk by His Holiness, Thurman dedicated his life to preserving Tibetan culture and furthering Buddhism in America. Throughout his life, he wrote a substantial number of scholarly works and books including Why the Dalai Lama Matters, Wisdom Is Bliss, and a translation of the Tibetan Book of the Dead. In 2020, he retired from his thirty-year career as the Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University. He remained active in his work for Tibet House and Menla, his retreat center in the Catskills, up until his death.(Source: Lions Roar) Read more here: https://tricycle.org/article/robert-thurman-has-died/ and here: https://www.chronogram.com/wellness/spirituality/robert-thurman-woodstock-buddhist-scholar-dies-84/ Bio for events: Robert Thurman was a recognized worldwide authority on mind science and spirituality, Asian history, philosophy, Tibetan Buddhism, and H. H. the Dalai Lama. Robert Thurman will continue to be an advocate of the relevance of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist sciences, arts, and practices in our daily lives well beyond his death. He was a leading voice for the value of reason, wisdom, peace, and compassion. He was named one of Time magazine's 25 most influential Americans and has been profiled by The New York Times and People Magazine. He recently was awarded the Padma Shri Award, the President of India’s fourth highest civilian honor for achievement in enriching Indian education and literature. An author and Jey Tsong Khapa Professor Emeritus of Indo-Tibetan Buddhology at Columbia University, Thurman lectures internationally at universities, companies, conferences and think-tanks. His many books include Inner Revolution, a ground-breaking history of Indian and Tibetan Buddhism and a call for an enlightened ethics and politics; The Central Philosophy of Tibet, on Buddhist science; Wisdom and Compassion: The Sacred Art of Tibet, on Buddhist art; Essential Tibetan Buddhism, an anthology of key works of Tibetan authors; Infinite Life, a yogic commentary on Shantideva’s Bodhisattva Career; and The Tibetan Book of the Dead, a study of the Tibetan science and art of dying and navigating the rebirth process; Why the Dalai Lama Matters, a win-win plan to solve China’s Tibet catastrophe; Man of Peace, a 300 page fully-illustrated graphic novel of the XIV Dalai Lama’s life and the true story of the invasion of Tibet; The Brilliantly Illuminating Lamp, a study and translation of Tsong Khapa’s masterwork on the most advanced yogas for mastering the process of conscious evolution; and his latest, forthcoming, The Esoteric Community Tantra with its Illuminating Lamp Commentary, an introduction with translations to the unexcelled yoga tantras; and Buddha Bliss, a study of the eightfold path as an evolutionary core curriculum. At the request of H.H. the Dalai Lama, Thurman co-founded Tibet House US in 1987 with Tenzin Namgyal Tethong and Philip Glass, a nonprofit dedicated to the preservation and renaissance of Tibetan civilization. It maintains a lively museum and cultural center in New York city, affiliates with Tibet Houses in New Delhi and other national capitals around the world. In 2002 he founded Menla Retreat & Dewa Healing Spa in the Catskill Mountains to advance the practical wisdom and healing arts of Tibetan medicine traditions. Working with the American Institute of Buddhist Studies, an international network of universities, and Indian Buddhist partners, he is currently engaged in establishing the Dharmachakra Buddhist Classics Translation Center in Andhra Pradesh, to complete the multi-generational task of translating from the Tibetan Tengyur the 5000+ originally Sanskrit works from India’s long lost "Library of Alexandria," the Ratnodadhi Library of Nālandā University, into English and other modern Indian and world languages, creating a necessary database for the 21st century collaboration of the Indian and Tibetan Inner Sciences (adhyātmavidyā) with modern, "outer," materialist sciences. Inspired by H. H. the Dalai Lama, Thurman's public presentations take a stand on Buddhism's open ground and thence transport audiences into an expanded vision of the world—the sweep of history, the subtleties of the inner science of the psyche, or the depths of the life of the heart. They help clear away shrouds of confusion and tend to evoke the cheerfulness of an enriched present, with the realistic hope for a peaceful future. (Source: Menla.org)
YearBirth	1941
YearDeath	2026
BornIn	New York, USA
languageprimary	English
languagetranslation	Tibetan; Sanskrit
languagetarget	English
affiliation	Columbia University
affiliationsecondary	Amherst College;American Institute of Buddhist Studies;Tibet House U.S.;Menla Mountain Retreat & Conference Center
StudentOf	The Fourteenth Dalai Lama Tenzin Gyatso
TeacherOf	Thomas Yarnall  ·  David Kittay  ·  John Dunne  ·  Wedemeyer, C.
phduniversity	Harvard University
IsInGyatsa	No
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Full Name

Robert A.F. Thurman

Affiliation

• Jey Tsong Khapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University

• Ph.D. Harvard

Other Information

Robert A. F. Thurman is an American Buddhist writer and academic who has written, edited or translated several books on Tibetan Buddhism. He is the Je Tsongkhapa Professor of Indo-Tibetan Buddhist Studies at Columbia University, holding the first endowed chair in this field of study in the United States. He also is the co-founder and president of the Tibet House New York and is active against the People's Republic of China's control of Tibet. [Source

Homepage: here
List of books: here
Biography
Wikipedia page