Father of Uma Thurman, pioneering Buddhist scholar Robert Thurman, dies at 85

Robert A.F. Thurman, a distinguished academic and the father of actress Uma Thurman, has passed away at the age of 85. Thurman was widely regarded as a leading American scholar of Tibetan Buddhism and maintained a close, decades-long friendship with the Dalai Lama.

News of his death was confirmed by Tibet House US, a cultural center he co-founded. Tributes immediately poured in, with many describing him as a "diva who left the stage" and a figure who "built a bridge between the wisdom of Tibet and the modern world." His influence was significant; Time magazine named him one of the 25 most influential Americans in 1997, and the Indian government awarded him the prestigious Padma Shri award in 2020.

Born in New York to a theater actress and an Associated Press editor, Thurman had a rebellious youth. After an incident that cost him his left eye, he embarked on a spiritual journey that led him from Harvard to the Himalayas in search of meaning. He traveled extensively through Turkey, Iran, and India before encountering Tibetan refugees, a moment he described as "coming home."

After returning to the U.S., Thurman met his first guru, Geshe Wangyal, and quickly became fluent in Tibetan. In 1964, Wangyal introduced him to the Dalai Lama in Dharamsala. This meeting marked the beginning of an extraordinary friendship, with the Dalai Lama, then 29, eager to learn about the Western world from the 23-year-old Thurman.

In 1965, the Dalai Lama personally ordained Thurman, making him the first American Buddhist monk in the Tibetan tradition. However, he later returned his vows, married model and psychotherapist Nena von Schlebrügge, and pursued a doctorate at Harvard. He believed that as a monk, he could not be as active in social movements as he wished, opting instead to become a professor.

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